Business
Latest stories
China restricts exports of high-tech metals in slap at Washington ahead of Yellen's visit

China has imposed export curbs on two metals used in computer chips and solar cells, expanding a squabble with Washington over high-tech trade ahead of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's visit to Beijing this week.

The controls on gallium and germanium are intended to "safeguard national security," the Commerce Ministry said late Monday. It said exports will require official permission once the rules take effect Aug. 1 but did not say what restrictions might be applied.

W140 Full Story
Global stocks higher after Wall St hits 15-month high ahead of holiday

Global stock markets were mostly higher Tuesday after Australia's central bank kept its key lending rate unchanged and Wall Street hit a 15-month high.

London, Shanghai, Paris and Hong Kong advanced. Tokyo declined. Oil prices rose after Saudi Arabia and Russia said they are extending cuts to the amount of oil they pump to try to prop up prices..

W140 Full Story
Saudi Arabia, Russia cut oil supply again in bid to boost prices

Saudi Arabia and Russia are extending cuts to the amount of oil they pump to the world in a bid to prop up prices, showing how two of the world's largest oil producers are scrambling to boost income from the fossil fuel even as demand has weakened with the economy.

The decision gave a slight boost to oil prices Monday and comes after the Saudis announced a large cut in output for July at the latest meeting of the OPEC+ coalition of oil producers — raising concerns that gasoline prices for U.S. drivers could start ticking up.

W140 Full Story
Tesla sales jump 83% from a year ago as tax credits, broader adoption drive sales

Tesla's second-quarter deliveries rose 83% from a year ago after the company cut prices several times on its four electric vehicle models and buyers took advantage of U.S. government tax credits.

The Austin, Texas, producer of EV, solar panels and batteries said Sunday that it sold a record 466,140 vehicles worldwide from April through June, nearly doubling the 254,695 it sold during the same period a year earlier. The vast majority of the sales were Tesla's popular Model 3 and Model Y versions.

W140 Full Story
US Treasury Secretary to make long-awaited trip to China this week

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will travel to Beijing Thursday as part of an ongoing Biden administration effort to thaw U.S.-China relations, a senior Treasury official said Sunday.

Yellen, who has called the notion of an economic decoupling from China "disastrous," has frequently said in the past year that she would like to visit China. She says the two nations "can and need to find a way to live together" in spite of their strained relations over geopolitics and economic development. Yellen will meet this week with Chinese officials, U.S. companies doing business in China and with Chinese people and will stay through July 9, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the trip.

W140 Full Story
World shares are higher on optimism that price pressures may be easing

World shares rose Monday as investors took heart from reports that show inflation is abating, which might enable the Federal Reserve to back away from interest rate hikes.

U.S. futures were mixed and oil prices edged higher.

W140 Full Story
Thousands of hotel workers in Southern California demand better pay

Thousands of hotel workers in Southern California have walked off the job demanding higher pay and better benefits in what the union is calling the largest strike in its history.

Cooks, room attendants, dishwashers, servers, bellmen and front desk agents at hotels were picketing outside major hotels in Los Angeles and Orange counties just as the summer tourist is ramping up.

W140 Full Story
Saudi extends oil cut of 1 million barrels per day

Saudi Arabia announced on Monday it was extending a voluntary oil production cut of one million barrels per day, in a bid to prop up slumping prices.

The cut which first took effect for July will continue in August and "can be extended", the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported, citing an energy ministry source.

W140 Full Story
France charges Marianne Hoayek in Salameh graft probe

France has charged a former assistant of Riad Salameh, the governor of Lebanon's central bank and a subject of judicial probes at home and abroad, with money laundering.

W140 Full Story
IMF warns lack of Lebanon reforms jeopardizes stability

Without reforms, Lebanon will continue to see triple-digit inflation, and public debt in the small, crisis-ridden country could reach nearly 550% of GDP by 2027, the International Monetary Fund warned in a report.

The report came as a follow-up to a nine-day visit by IMF officials in March.

W140 Full Story