Page 824 - Business Finance

Trump's economy 'a little under' three percent growth goal: Fed

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration will fall "a little under" its target of 3 percent annual growth of gross domestic product for 2018, the Federal Reserve said Friday in a report that offers an economic scorecard of sorts for the first full year of President Donald Trump's term.

Oil hits 2019 highs on U.S.-China trade hopes, but U.S. output weighs

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices touched their highest since mid-November on Friday and posted weekly gains for the second week in a row, boosted by hopes that U.S.-China trade talks would soon produce a deal, although new record U.S. oil supply limited gains.

Gold eyes second weekly gain as focus shifts to growth fears

(Reuters) - Gold rose on Friday enroute to a second weekly gain as the dollar was subdued by weak U.S. economic data and hopes of a breakthrough in the U.S.-China trade dispute, with a darkening global economic outlook bolstering bullion.

Wall Street trims gains as U.S., China struggle over gaps in trade issues

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were higher in afternoon trading on Friday but pared gains after U.S. officials said the United States and China still have issues to resolve in their ongoing trade talks.

Kraft Heinz' problems shine light on controversial budget tool

LONDON/BOCA RATON, Fla. (Reuters) - Mounting troubles at Kraft Heinz, revealed late on Thursday with a triple-punch of bad news, call into question its reliance on cost-cutting as a way to generate profit growth.

Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway in talks to sell workers comp unit: sources

(Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc is in advanced discussions to sell its Applied Underwriters workers compensation unit to a consortium of insurance firms, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.

Kraft Heinz shares fall 28 percent after writedown, dividend cut

(Reuters) - Kraft Heinz Co shares fell to a record low on Friday a day after the food company disclosed a $15 billion write-down on its marquee brands, raising concern that years of rigorous cost cutting have eroded the value of its Kraft cheeses and Oscar Mayer deli meats.

Oil reaches more than three-month highs on U.S.-China trade hopes

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices reached their highest levels since mid-November on Friday, boosted by hopefulness that the United States and China would soon reach a trade deal, but new record U.S. oil supply limited gains.

VW warns of challenges, to redouble efforts to meet targets

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Volkswagen warned on Friday of a tough year ahead as its preliminary annual results were weighed down by currency effects and supply bottlenecks caused by new emissions testing rules.

Trade tensions, Brexit pose risk to US economy: Fed

Continued trade tensions and Brexit are key risks facing the US economy and could undermine financial stability, the Federal Reserve cautioned Friday. "Potential downside risks to international financial stability include a downturn in global growth, political and policy uncertainty, an intensification of trade tensions and broadening stress in emerging market economies," the Fed said in its semi-annual report on monetary policy. Those concerns caused the Fed to shift to wait-and-see mode after raising interest rates four times in 2018, after "volatility in financial markets and increased concerns about global growth made the appropriate extent and timing of future rate increases more uncertain than earlier." And the prospects that Britain will leave the European Union without an agreement could create "a wide range of economic and financial activities could be disrupted," despite preparations. "Without such a withdrawal agreement, there will be no transition period for important ...

Exxon, Microsoft strike cloud computing agreement for U.S. shale

(Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp and Microsoft Corp have agreed to use cloud technology in the U.S. oil producer's shale operations, they said on Friday, helping to boost profitability in the nation's largest shale field.

Turkish banks to extend maturities of consumer, car loans: banking association

ANKARA (Reuters) - The Turkish banking association will extend maturities of consumer loans to five years from the current three, and car loans to five years from three, its chairman said on Friday.

Wall Street climbs as trade hopes power tech shares

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Friday, as technology shares were boosted by signs of progress in the ongoing trade talks between the United States and China.

In hot job market, Fed still frets about low inflation

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Despite a U.S. unemployment rate that has plumbed its lowest levels in nearly 50 years, Federal Reserve policymakers remain worried about excessively low inflation, a view that helps explain the central bank's recent decision to put interest-rate hikes on hold.

Vistara-Japan Airlines enter into codeshare partnership

Full-service domestic carrier Vistara and Japan Airlines (JAL) on Friday entered into a codeshare partnership intended to open more routes between India and Tokyo.

Restaurant aggregators may be summoned over new FDI norms for e-commerce

The government is likely to summon online restaurant aggregators like Zomato, Swiggy and Foodpanda soon to discuss provisions relating to the revised FDI guidelines on e-commerce segment, said informed sources on Friday.

India's Forex reserves rises by over $150 mn

India's foreign exchange (forex) reserves increased by $150.2 million during the week ended February 15, official data showed on Friday.

Zimbabwe starts trading new currency

Zimbabwe started Friday to trade its new currency, the RTGS dollar, two days after the central bank announced measures to try and resolve a chronic monetary crisis. On Wednesday, the bank unveiled a foreign exchange trading system that effectively devalued its quasi-currency, the bond note, which was officially pegged at parity with the US dollar. "We have basically formalised what is happening. We have basically ensured that no one goes to buy currency from the parallel market," Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya said then. At the start of the century, Zimbabwe regularly posted fiscal deficits it financed by printing money, which led to hyperinflation that wiped out personal savings, left shops empty and made it all but impossible to buy a tank of petrol or daily groceries. Inflation peaked at 500 billion percent before the national currency was abandoned in 2009 in favour of the US dollar and other foreign currencies. Abandoning its own currency ended inflation and ...

Oil hits three-month highs on U.S.-China trade hopes

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices touched more than three-month highs on Friday, supported by rising hopes that the United States and China would soon reach a deal to end their trade war, but new record U.S. oil production limited gains.

Volkswagen warns of challenges, to redouble efforts to meet targets

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Volkswagen warned investors about a tough year ahead as the car and truck making group reported preliminary annual results on Friday that were weighed down by currency headwinds and supply bottlenecks caused by new emissions testing rules.