(Reuters) – Billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX has raised $337.4 million in equity financing, the rocket company disclosed in a regulatory filing on Wednesday. SpaceX, which counts Alphabet Inc and Fidelity Investments among its investors, hit $100 billion in valuation following a secondary share sale in October, according to CNBC. It had raised about $1.16…

  By Dan Burns (Reuters) -The U.S. trade deficit in goods mushroomed to the widest ever in November as imports of consumer goods shot to a record ahead of the second straight COVID-distorted holiday shopping season along with industrial supplies, while exports slipped after a historic gain a month earlier. The goods trade gap reported…

  By Stephanie Kelly NEW YORK (Reuters) -Oil prices steadied on Wednesday, after government data showed U.S. crude and fuel inventories fell last week, but concern that rising coronavirus cases might reduce demand weighed. Brent crude fell 8 cents to $78.86 a barrel by 12:58 p.m. EST (1748 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude…

  By Erwin Seba HOUSTON (Reuters) -The U.S. National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday impounded ballots that will decide whether the United Steelworkers (USW) continues to represent workers at an Exxon Mobil oil refinery in southeast Texas, according to the union and company. The NLRB has said it may impound the ballots while it reviews…

  BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s debt-laden Tsinghua Unigroup on Wednesday said creditors had backed a draft restructuring proposal for the chip conglomerate after local media reported that a strategic investment of 60 billion yuan ($9.42 billion) was on the way. Creditors representing more than 90% of outstanding claims voted in favor of the draft restructuring proposal…

  By Katanga Johnson and Abhinav Ramnarayan WASHINGTON (Reuters) -An early rally in major stock indexes slowed on Wednesday as uncertainty over the surge in infections caused by the Omicron variant tempered optimism harsh new measures on commerce and movement can be avoided. After a weak session in Asian stock markets, European stock markets opened…

  MADRID (Reuters) -Spanish authorities have selected local automotive group QEV Technologies as lead candidate to take over Nissan’s main plant in Barcelona after Chinese carmaker Great Wall Motor withdrew its interest, Nissan said on Wednesday. Catalonia-based engineering group QEV plans to turn the facility into a hub for electric vehicles, including participation from Swedish…

  By John McCrank NEW YORK (Reuters) -The dollar edged lower in thin holiday trading on Wednesday, while the safe-haven yen touched a one-month low as investors looked beyond a surge in Omicron cases. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six global peers, was down 0.282% at 95.859, having been slightly positive in…

  By Stephanie Kelly NEW YORK (Reuters) -Oil prices rose on Wednesday after government data showed U.S. crude and fuel inventories fell, offsetting worries that rising coronavirus cases might reduce demand. Brent crude rose $1.16, or 1.5%, to $80.10 a barrel by 10:55 a.m. EST (1555 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $1.25,…

  By Stephanie Kelly NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. crude stocks, gasoline and distillate inventories fell last week, while U.S. oil production rose to the highest since May 2020, Energy Information Administration data showed on Wednesday.     Crude inventories fell by 3.6 million barrels in the last week to 420 million barrels, compared with analysts’…