By Kanishka Singh (Reuters) -The White House said on Wednesday it was encouraged by a U.S. judge’s decision not to dismiss the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust lawsuit against Facebook. “Certainly we are encouraged by the district court’s decision”, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters. “We’ve been clear and he (President Joe Biden) has…

By Jarrett Renshaw and Stephanie Kelly (Reuters) – The Biden administration is considering lowering the 2022 ethanol blending mandate below the proposed 15 billion gallons amid backlash from the oil refining lobby and unions arguing the shrinking U.S. ethanol industry can no longer support the target, according to two sources familiar with the administration’s thinking….

By Erwin Seba HOUSTON (Reuters) – Negotiators for the United Steelworkers union and Marathon Petroleum Corp, which is representing oil refiners and chemical makers, are scheduled to begin talks on Thursday on a new contract for 30,000 workers across the United States. The talks come as oil demand has nearly returned to 2019 levels before…

By Kylie Madry, Valentine Hilaire and Carolina Pulice MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – After Citigroup Inc on Tuesday announced plans to sell its Mexican consumer banking business, analysts said homegrown billionaires such as Carlos Slim and Ricardo Salinas Pliego were among front-runners to buy the Citibanamex assets. With the finance ministry saying it is watching the…

(Reuters) – The U.S. economy expanded at a modest pace through the end of last year, with American firms saying growth continues to be constrained by supply chain disruptions and labor shortages while prices exhibited “solid growth,” a survey conducted by the Federal Reserve showed on Wednesday. “Although optimism remained high generally, several districts cited…

By Howard Schneider WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. consumer inflation running at levels not seen in more than a generation will keep the Federal Reserve on track with interest rate hikes and other changes expected in coming months to try to tame the surge in prices. That’s the take from economists and analysts as year-over-year inflation…

By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. consumer prices increased solidly in December as rental accommodation and used cars maintained their strong gains, culminating in the largest annual rise in inflation in nearly four decades, which bolstered expectations that the Federal Reserve will start raising interest rates as early as March. The report from the…

By Bozorgmehr Sharafedin LONDON (Reuters) – Oil prices that rallied 50% in 2021 will power further ahead this year, some analysts predict, saying a lack of production capacity and limited investment in the sector could lift crude to $90 or even above $100 a barrel. Though the Omicron coronavirus variant has pushed COVID-19 cases far…

PARIS (Reuters) – Tereos, the French sugar and ethanol group, has sealed an agreement with grain cooperative Axereal to sell its stake in their malt business and is consulting unions on a plan to close its sugar activities in Romania, it said in a document to investors. Tereos, the world’s second largest sugar producer by…

LONDON (Reuters) – Zurich Insurance could exceed its targets for the 2022 financial year as the business has performed well during the COVID-19 pandemic, CEO Mario Greco said on Wednesday. Europe’s fifth-largest insurer set out ambitious three-year targets in Nov 2019, including raising its target for business operating profit after tax return on equity (BOPAT…