By Arathy Somasekhar (Reuters) – Oil soared nearly 4% on Tuesday, supported by tight supply and expectations that rising coronavirus cases and the spread of the Omicron variant will not derail a global demand recovery. Brent crude gained $2.85, or 3.5%, to $83.72 a barrel, its highest settlement since early November. The global benchmark dropped…

By Koh Gui Qing NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks bounced and Treasury yields retreated on Tuesday in choppy trade as investors absorbed remarks from the Federal Reserve that interest rates are likely to rise this year, as expected. In comments to U.S. lawmakers, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said he expected the Fed would…

By Sinéad Carew (Reuters) – U.S. stock indexes gained ground on Tuesday with Nasdaq leading the advance as investors appeared relieved that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s testimony to Congress did not include any major surprises. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, in a congressional hearing that pointed to his likely confirmation for a second term…

(Reuters) – The average transaction price of new vehicles in the United States shot up nearly 14% in December from the previous year, driven by strong sales of luxury vehicles, auto industry consultancy Kelley Blue Book said in a report on Tuesday. The prices hit a record high of $47,077 last month as new-vehicle inventory…

(Reuters) – Kroger’s King Soopers sweetened its offer to workers to $170 million, a day before workers have threatened to go on strike, calling it their last, best and final offer. The company had earlier offered $148 million in wages and signing bonuses over three years to United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7. (Reporting…

By David Randall NEW YORK (Reuters) – Star stock picker Cathie Wood of ARK Invest doubled down on her bet that deflation, rather than inflation, will be the largest factor in the U.S. economy in the year ahead in a webinar on Tuesday. Wood, whose ARK Innovation ETF was the top-performing U.S. equity fund tracked…

By Uday Sampath Kumar and Praveen Paramasivam (Reuters) – U.S. companies ranging from American Eagle to United Airlines are set for a tepid start to the year as the fast-spreading Omicron variant threatens to slow the fragile rebound in growth by exacerbating supply chain problems and labor shortages. The roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines and easing…

By Elvira Pollina MILAN (Reuters) -Telecom Italia (TIM) is moving closer to appointing a new chief executive, with General Manager Pietro Labriola tipped as frontrunner, four sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. TIM, which faces a 10.8 billion euro ($12.24 billion) takeover approach from U.S. private equity investor KKR, has been without a…

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – The U.S. National Labor Relations Board said on Tuesday that it will send unionization ballots to workers at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama on February 4. Ballots in the election, which is being re-run after the NLRB found Amazon interfered in the vote, will be counted on March 28, according…

(Reuters) – Companies across the United States are revising their back-to-office plans, driven by rising uncertainty around the Omicron COVID-19 variant that has pushed up infections to record levels in the world’s biggest economy. U.S. financial firms were among the first to encourage employees to return to offices, but rising cases have forced most of…