Economy
Hong Kong led another rally across Asian markets Friday thanks to a surge in tech giants, while the yen extended gains against the dollar on revived hopes for US interest rate cuts.
The iconic Nina Ricci, Paco Rabanne and Jean-Paul Gaultier labels make their market debut Friday as Spanish fashion and beauty group Puig begins trading on the Madrid stock exchange. Among its brands are Paco Rabanne, Nina Ricci, Charlotte Tilbury, Carolina Herrera and Dries Van Noten.
Turkey said Thursday it was suspending all trade with Israel until it allows aid to enter Gaza unhindered during its offensive against Hamas militants in the territory.
Russian energy giant Gazprom said Thursday it suffered a record annual loss last year as the European market was practically shut to its gas exports due to sanctions over Moscow's military operation in Ukraine. Exports to Europe have long been Gazprom's top earnings source, but following the start of the conflict in Ukraine European nations sought to reduce their reliance upon Russian natural gas.
US antitrust authorities cleared ExxonMobil's acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources under the condition that the shale producer's former CEO be barred from the company's board, regulators announced Thursday. In October, ExxonMobil announced the acquisition of the fellow Texas-based Pioneer for about $60 billion in a big bet on the Permian Basin, a key US shale region.
The US trade deficit was wider than analysts anticipated in March -- hovering close to the biggest in nearly a year -- with exports and imports both declining, according to government data published Thursday. For March, exports and imports were both lower.
British oil and gas giant Shell announced Thursday that first-quarter earnings fell but beat expectations in a "strong" performance, and unveiled another bumper stock buyback. Shell had already warned last month that it expected lower natural gas sales in the first quarter after a particularly strong performance in the final three months of 2023.
Danish shipping giant Maersk posted a huge drop in net profit for the first quarter on Thursday as Yemeni rebel attacks force it to avoid the vital Red Sea route.
The OECD raised its global economic growth forecast for 2024 on Thursday, driven by strong performances in the United States and emerging countries while Europe lags behind. Central banks worldwide raised interest rates in efforts to combat inflation, which rose after countries emerged from Covid lockdowns and soared further following Russia's assault on Ukraine in 2022.
Economy
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