Drought-hit Panama Canal further restricts maximum ship depth

By Elida Moreno PANAMA CITY (Reuters) – The Panama Canal will expand restrictions on the largest ships crossing the waterway, one of the world’s busiest trade passages, the canal authority’s administrator said on Wednesday, citing shallower waters due to drought. The measure follows a series of depth restrictions in the 50-mile (80 km) canal since…

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Telecom Italia sounds out buyers for stake in enterprise unit -Bloomberg News

(Reuters) – Telecom Italia is restarting its efforts to sell a minority stake in its enterprise unit, potentially valued at more than 6 billion euros ($6.6 billion), Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. The company’s CEO Pietro Labriola started sounding out potential investors about a deal earlier this month by…

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Powell: Half-point of additional hikes a ‘good guess’ of policy outcome

By Howard Schneider WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Further Federal Reserve rate increases are “a pretty good guess” of where the central bank is heading if the economy continues in its current direction, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in remarks on Wednesday to lawmakers on Capitol Hill. In response to a question late in a three-hour hearing before…

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Wall Street extends sell-off as Powell hints at further rate hikes

By Stephen Culp NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks closed lower on Wednesday as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s congressional testimony reinforced the central bank’s objective to rein in inflation as he hinted at the likelihood of further interest rate hikes. All three major U.S. stock indexes notched their third straight daily declines, with megacap…

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Bitcoin eyes third straight day of gains after touching two-month high

(Reuters) – Bitcoin rallied for a third straight day after hitting its highest level since mid-April, boosted by BlackRock’s plan to create a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) even as the sector faces U.S. regulatory scrutiny. BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager, filed last week for the exchange which would allow investors to get stakes in…

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Oil rallies as grain markets tighten, dollar falls on Fed Chair comments

By Shariq Khan BENGALURU (Reuters) -Oil prices gained a dollar a barrel on Wednesday as U.S. corn and soybean prices raced to multi-month highs, raising expectations that crop shortfalls around the globe could lower biofuels blending and increase oil demand. Brent futures rose $1.22, or 1.6%, to settle at $77.12 a barrel, while the U.S….

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Twitter has failed to pay millions in worker bonuses, lawsuit claims

By Daniel Wiessner (Reuters) – Twitter Inc is facing a lawsuit claiming it failed to pay workers millions of dollars in promised bonuses, adding to a pile of court cases filed since Elon Musk acquired the social media company. Mark Schobinger, who was Twitter’s senior director of compensation and left the company last month, filed…

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