US consumer confidence fell slightly in September as Americans grew more wary about the outlook in coming months, a closely watched report released Tuesday showed. The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index fell to 79.7 in September, down…
Russia on Tuesday opened a criminal probe into suspected piracy against foreign and local activists from environmental lobby group Greenpeace who staged an open sea protest over the Arctic oil work of the energy giant Gazprom. Four Russians and 26 foreign…
US single-family home prices continued to rise in July but at a slightly slower monthly pace, according to a key survey released Tuesday. The S&P Case-Shiller 20-city composite home price index rose 1.8 percent from June, decelerating from June’s 2.…
Shareholders of US pork giant Smithfield Foods approved on Tuesday the company’s $7.1 billion purchase by China’s Shuanghui International, the largest-ever Chinese takeover of a US company. “This is a great transaction for all Smithfield stakeholders…
Russia’s biggest oil company, state-controlled Rosneft, on Tuesday forecast that its net profits for 2013 would increase to almost $14 billion, helped by the acquisition and consolidation of BP’s former joint venture TNK-BP. “At the current time, net…
Plans by mining companies to dig for gold in Romania and Greece have triggered massive opposition, with academics and environmentalists stressing that risks far outweigh benefits for the Balkan nations. In Romania, Canadian firms Gabriel Resources and…
The US credit union regulator has filed an anti-trust lawsuit against 13 major international banks as part of the global crackdown in the Libor rate-rigging scandal. The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) said it aims to recover some of the…
1204 GMT: There were no leaks or “chatter” intercepted from Somalia’s Shebab rebels ahead of the mall attack, intelligence sources from two foreign countries tell AFP. The sources, who cannot be identified, said Shebab’s operations are closely monitored…
Credit Suisse said Tuesday it plans to close some clients’ accounts as it focuses on high-value customers in some countries and pulls out of others altogether. “We’ve decided to focus on certain segments and markets and exit some countries that are…
Applied Materials and Tokyo Electron, US and Japanese makers of tools to produce semiconductors and displays, said Tuesday they will merge to increase efficiency and to better meet changing customer demands. The merger, which will create a new firm…
After unleashing an energy revolution in the United States, shale gas and oil are now becoming energy game-changers worldwide, a break with the past whose ramifications are still unclear. Thanks to the advent of hydraulic fracturing technology — used…
ITS turnaround playbook turned out to be every bit as disappointing as its lamentable PlayBook tablet computer. Having tried and failed numerous times to revive its fortunes, BlackBerry announced on September 23rd that it had struck a preliminary $4…
HONG KONG — If Tolstoy had written a history of foreign corporations in China, it might have started something like this: “Companies that succeed in China do so for similar reasons; every company that fails, fails in its own way.” Since China…
US automaker Chrysler reluctantly filed papers for an initial public stock offering after Italian parent Fiat failed to reach a deal to purchase the stake of a workers’ trust fund. Sergio Marchionne, who leads both Chrysler and Fiat, had repeatedly…
Spain’s Telefonica has reached a deal to raise its stake in the shareholding pact that controls Telecom Italia, Italian media reported late Monday. The Spanish communications giant, which currently owns 46.18 percent of shareholding pact Telco, will…