By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A new U.S. congressional committee on China approved reports on Wednesday pushing back on Beijing over its treatment of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities and seeking to deter the initiation of a conflict with Taiwan, hoping some of its recommendations become law this year. Members of the Republican-led House of…
By Stephanie Kelly NEW YORK (Reuters) -Oil prices rose 2% on Wednesday, after a large unexpected drawdown in U.S. crude inventories and a warning from the Saudi energy minister that raised the prospect of further OPEC+ production cuts. Brent crude futures rose $1.52, or 2%, to settle at $78.36 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate…
By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -An international aid agency in Afghanistan hopes to have an interim arrangement within days to allow its Afghan female staff to return to work in the southern province of Kandahar – the birthplace of the Taliban and home to the supreme spiritual leader. Norwegian Refugee Council Secretary General Jan…
By Howard Schneider WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Federal Reserve officials “generally agreed” last month that the need for further interest rate increases “had become less certain,” with several saying that the quarter-percentage-point hike they approved might be the last, according to minutes of the May 2-3 meeting released on Wednesday. Others cautioned the U.S. central bank…
By Svea Herbst-Bayliss NEW YORK (Reuters) – Jana Partners, the biggest investor in pet food company Freshpet , wants to replace four board members to better supervise capital expenditures and position the company more favorably for a possible sale in the future. The activist investor now owns a 9.3% stake and on Wednesday criticized the…
(Reuters) -Shares of U.S. regional lender PacWest Bancorp fell nearly 2% on Wednesday, as investor optimism over its property lending unit sale and the divestment of real estate loans became overshadowed by the debt ceiling impasse. A deal to raise the U.S. debt limit remained elusive, weighing on investor sentiment, as negotiations between Democrats…
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Wednesday that seeing a greater concentration among the largest banks would not be desirable and she believes it is important to maintain a diverse banking sector. A mix of large banks, regional banks and mid-sized community banks would be the healthiest option, Yellen said. “Banks of…
(Reuters) – Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller on Wednesday said that while inverted yield curves in the context of stable inflation often point to a bad economic outlook, the current yield curve inversion may signal better times ahead. “What you’re seeing in the inversion is not so much fears about bad economic outcomes in the…
By Sinead Cruise and Amy-Jo Crowley LONDON (Reuters) -Deutsche Bank and Citigroup admitted anti-competitive activity by exchanging sensitive information on UK government bonds between 2009 and 2013, Britain’s anti-trust watchdog said, as it provisionally found five banks in breach of competition rules. HSBC, Morgan Stanley and Royal Bank of Canada, meanwhile, have not admitted any…
By Laura Matthews NEW YORK (Reuters) – Expectations for lower returns in stocks and bonds are sending some pension funds into currency markets to diversify their portfolios and bolster performance. While both equities and fixed income have partially rebounded from last year’s steep declines, some portfolio managers worry the scope for upside in either asset…
