By Manas Mishra and Patrick Wingrove (Reuters) – Drugmakers including Merck & Co, AstraZeneca Plc and AbbVie Inc said on Thursday they are open to acquisitions and reported a ramp up in research and development spending as the industry’s larger players look for new sources of future revenue. Several top drugs such as AbbVie flagship…
LONDON (Reuters) – British businesses were their most optimistic in nearly a year in April, boosted by growing hopes about the economy, according to a Lloyds Bank survey on Friday that could add to pressure on the Bank of England to keep on raising interest rates. Lloyds said its Business Barometer gauge of confidence –…
By Stephanie Kelly NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil prices steadied on Thursday, paring losses from the previous session, after a top Russian official said global oil markets were balanced. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said OPEC+ does not see the need for further oil output cuts but is always able to adjust its policy….
By Sam Tobin LONDON (Reuters) -Queen Elizabeth knew that Rupert Murdoch’s UK newspaper arm had been spying on her family and their friends, and authorised her staff to “draw a line” under the issue, according to an email released on Thursday in a lawsuit by her grandson Prince Harry. Harry is suing Murdoch’s News Group…
By Richa Naidu LONDON (Reuters) – Despite some signs inflationary pressures are easing, Unilever warned on Thursday of big increases in the prices of dairy, soybean oil, cocoa and sugar in the first half of this year – potentially bad news for fans of its Ben & Jerry’s Half Baked ice cream. Unilever, which is…
By Paul Sandle LONDON (Reuters) – For all the thunder about Xbox versus PlayStation, it was the nascent cloud market that led to Britain’s surprise decision to block Microsoft’s record Activision Blizzard takeover. Microsoft has been working for months to satisfy concerns about the $69 billion deal raised by Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA),…
LONDON (Reuters) – The boss of Britain’s antitrust regulator said blocking Microsoft’s acquisition of ‘Call of Duty’ maker Activision Blizzard was the right decision for the UK after both companies said it sent the wrong message to the global tech industry. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) blocked the deal on Wednesday, saying it could…
A look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets from Mike Dolan The Big Tech earnings season is going some way to justifying the striking outperformance of its mega cap shares this year, with Meta Platforms the latest to impress overnight and Amazon advancing ahead of its readout on Thursday. Perhaps even more…
By Lawrence White LONDON (Reuters) – Allegations made against British bank Barclays’ former CEO Jes Staley regarding his ties with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein are “very serious”, the lender’s current CEO C.S. Venkatakrishnan said on Thursday. In a call with reporters after the lender’s first quarter results were published, Venkat said he was not in…
By Richa Naidu LONDON (Reuters) – Unilever’s store ice cream brands, which include Ben & Jerry’s and Magnum, are losing market share to supermarket own-brands as consumers seek cheaper alternatives after big price hikes for some of the world’s top-selling labels. The British company, which sells Cornettos cones and Talenti tubs, on Thursday reported a…
