(Reuters) – Bank of America Corp is encouraging employees to work remotely in the first week of January, according to a person familiar with the matter, as a spike in COVID-19 cases in the United States force Wall Street banks to postpone return-to-office plans. Bank of America, which has pushed employees to get fully vaccinated,…

By Abhijith Ganapavaram (Reuters) – Spirit Airlines Inc flight attendants are receiving triple pay on any work through Jan. 4, their union said, as the budget carrier scrambles to keep its schedules intact after U.S. airlines were hammered by a week of mass cancellations. The holiday season has been marred by delayed or canceled flights,…

By Stephen Culp (Reuters) – Wall Street edged lower in light trading on Friday, with investors taking a breather as they prepared to ring in the new year and close the books on 2021, marking the second year of recovery from a global pandemic. All three major U.S. stock indexes are set for weekly, monthly,…

By John McCrank NEW YORK – The dollar index dipped on Friday in quiet holiday trading, but was set to end 2021 with a gain of nearly 7% as investors bet the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise rates earlier than most other major economies amid surging inflation driven by COVID-19 stimulus initiatives. The dollar index,…

By Katanga Johnson and Tommy Wilkes WASHINGTON/LONDON (Reuters) – Global equities wavered between modest gains and losses on Friday in thin trading but were set to post double-digit gains for the year. Oil prices, meanwhile, retreated from $80 a barrel but still saw their biggest annual rise since 2009. The U.S. dollar, which has had…

(Reuters) – U.S. equity funds received robust inflows for a second week in the seven days to Dec. 29 as investors welcomed signs that the Omicron coronavirus variant won’t bring a big setback to the economy. According to Refinitiv Lipper data, U.S. equity funds lured net purchases of $19.43 billion, compared with their average weekly…

(Reuters) – Wall Street’s main indexes were subdued at open on Friday, looking to clock a third straight annual gain in a year fueled by massive stimulus, COVID-19 vaccine rollouts, and a strong retail participation. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 12.23 points, or 0.03%, at the open to 36,385.85. The S&P 500 opened lower…

By Ahmad Ghaddar LONDON (Reuters) – Oil prices fell on Friday but were set to post their biggest annual gains since at least 2016, spurred by the global economic recovery from the COVID-19 slump and producer restraint, even as infections surged to record highs around the world. Brent crude futures fell $1.2, or 1.5%, to…

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union’s exports of sparkling wine to the rest of the world fell last year for the first time in a decade, Eurostat said on Friday, largely because of a massive drop in champagne sales, though prosecco and cava sold well. The COVID-19 pandemic dampened wine trade globally in 2020, the…

By Ashitha Shivaprasad (Reuters) – Oil analysts have lowered their price forecasts for 2022 as the Omicron coronavirus variant poses headwinds to recovering fuel demand and risks a supply glut as producers pump more oil, a Reuters poll showed on Friday. A survey of 35 economists and analysts forecast Brent crude would average $73.57 a…