With a view to avoiding a U.S. government ban for TikTok, its Chinese owner ByteDance Ltd. signed binding agreements, backed by President Donald Trump, with three managing investors to form a joint venture to operate the U.S. operations of the video-sharing app, media reported citing a memo. With the deal, the social video platform, which is used regularly by more than 170 million Americans...
Professional services company Accenture plc (ACN) reported Thursday weak profit in its first quarter, while adjusted earnings and top line beat market estimates. Further, the firm issued second-quarter revenue view, and trimmed fiscal 2026 earnings view on a reported basis. However, the firm maintained annual forecast for adjusted earnings and revenue growth.
Consumer sentiment in the U.S. rebounded by less than previously estimates in the month of December, according to revised data released by the University of Michigan on Friday. The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index for December was downwardly revised to 52.9 from a preliminary reading of 53.3. Economists had expected the index to be upwardly revised to 53.4.
Existing home sales in the U.S. saw a modest increase in the month of November, the National Association of Realtors revealed in a report released on Friday. NAR said existing home sales rose by 0.5 percent to an annual rate of 4.13 million in November after jumping by 1.5 percent to an upwardly revised rate of 4.10 million in October.
Russia's central bank cut its interest rate by 50 basis points on Friday but reiterated that it will maintain policy tight to bring inflation back to the target. The Board of Directors, led by Governor Elvira Nabiullina, decided to cut the key rate to 16.00 percent from 16.50 percent. The decision matched market expectations. The bank has lowered the interest rate by 400 basis points since Jun
The UK has committed to provide 600 million pounds worth of air-defense capabilities, including cutting edge turrets that can shoot down Russian drones to support Ukraine through the winter. The air defense package for Ukraine comes as Russia's aerial strikes plunges homes, hospitals, and power stations into darkness. The announcement came as UK Defense Secretary John Healey and his German coun
G7 Foreign Ministers have called on China to release Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon and politician Jimmy Lai, who was found guilty under the controversial national security law. The Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States and the High...
President Donald Trump has announced that he is ordering "a total and complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers going into, and out of, Venezuela." In a lengthy statement he posted on Truth Social Tuesday, Trump said he is designating the Nicolas Maduro regime in Venezuela a foreign terrorist organization "For the theft of our assets, and many other reasons, including terrorism, drug smuggl
Stocks showed a strong move to the upside during trading on Friday, extending the significant rebound seen over the course of Thursday's session. With the upward move, the major averages further offset the weakness seen earlier in the week. The tech-heavy Nasdaq reached new highs for the session going...
European stocks closed higher on Friday, and several markets in the region climbed to fresh highs, with investors reacting to the interest rate decisions by major central banks. Expectations of more monetary easing by the Federal Reserve contributed as well to the positive mood in the markets.
Asian stocks advanced on Friday as concerns over artificial intelligence spending and valuations eased and signs of cooling U.S. inflation bolstered expectations of looser U.S. monetary policy next year. The Japanese yen extended losses for a second day running, helping ease fears of a sharp yen carry...
A quiet news day didn't stop several high-volatility healthcare and cannabis stocks from posting sharp after-hours gains on Friday, with traders leaning into recent catalysts and technical momentum. Tilray Brands, Inc. (TLRY): +11.36% After Hours Tilray jumped to $13.53, extending a volatile week...
Asian stock markets are trading mostly lower on Monday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, dragged by tumbling technology stocks fueled by losses on the tech-heavy Nasdaq, which saw heavy selling among the technology stocks on renewed concerns over lofty valuations. Renewed pessimism over the outlook for interest rates is also weighing on the markets.
European stocks are likely to open higher on Monday as investors ponder whether tech stocks can keep supporting their lofty valuations and heavy AI spending may translate into profits as quickly as once expected. A host of economic data, including U.S. reports on employment, consumer price inflation...
Asian stocks fell on Monday as investors fretted over tech valuations and digested disappointing economic data from China. Gold soared nearly 1 percent to a seven-week high in Asian trading as the U.S. dollar struggled to regain traction ahead of the release of delayed U.S. jobs and inflation data...
Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación, S.A.B. de C.V. (VLRS) shares surged 15.75 percent, or $1.31, to $9.63 on Friday, possibly extending gains following news that Volaris and Grupo Viva Aerobus agreed to form a new Mexican airline group under a holding company structure aimed at expanding low-fare travel and connectivity within Mexico and internationally.
December 19, 2025 15:10 ET U.S. inflation data and interest rate decisions by major central banks were the highlights of this busy week for economics news flow. Employment data and survey results on the housing markets also gained attention in the U.S. In Europe, the European Central Bank and Bank of England announced their policy decisions and macroeconomic projections.
Sentiment in global markets remains diverse as markets digest the cooling in U.S.CPI, the widely expected rate hike by Bank of Japan, as well as rising prospects of a Russia-Ukraine peace deal.
President Donald Trump has signed a Proclamation expanding full restrictions and entry limitations of nationals from 39 countries "to protect U.S. national security and public safety interests." Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had said earlier this month that the U.S. Government was planning to widen the travel ban that Trump announced on 19 countries to more than 30. In a proclamation h
As we enter the final month of the year, it is a good time to review the biotech and pharmaceutical companies with drug candidates pending FDA decisions and see what's ahead on the regulatory front this December.
The Bank of Japan raised its benchmark rate by a quarter-point to the highest level in three decades as inflation continued to remain above the target and hinted at further hikes. The policy board, headed by Ueda Kazuo decided, by a unanimous vote, to hike the uncollateralized overnight call rate to "around 0.75 percent" from "around 0.5 percent."
UK retail sales dropped unexpectedly in November as the Black Friday effect was slightly weaker than usual, data from the Office for National Statistics showed Friday. Retail sales dropped marginally by 0.1 percent in November from a month ago. The decline confounded expectations for an increase of 0.3 percent but this was slower than October's 0.9 percent decrease.
German consumer confidence is set to drop at the start of the year 2026 as rising inflation fears weigh on income expectations and purchase decisions, monthly survey data published jointly by NIQ/GfK and the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions showed Friday. The forward-looking consumer confidence index fell to -26.9 in January from revised -23.4 in December.
The World Health Organization has warned that amid an early start to the Northern Hemisphere influenza season, a new variant of the virus is rapidly gaining ground. Influenza and other respiratory viruses are surging, Dr Wenqing Zhang, Unit Head for Global Respiratory Threats at the Department of...
New analysis from the World Health Organization's global expert committee on vaccine safety has found that, based on available evidence, there is no link between vaccines and autism spectrum disorders, or ASD. The conclusion reaffirms WHO's position that childhood vaccines do not cause autism. The...
A new EU-funded report confirms that urgent bloc-level action is needed to tackle cardiovascular diseases, which is the European Union's number one killer. The 'State of Cardiovascular Health in the EU' report reveals that cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death and disability in the EU, accounting for one-third of all annual deaths and affecting over 60 million people. These fi
The European Commission and the World Health Organization have signed a 3.5 million EURO agreement under the EU4Health program to strengthen the global response to antimicrobial resistance. This partnership will support the WHO in monitoring the development of antimicrobials and medical countermeasures,...
Menards, the home improvement retailer, is set to pay $750,000 to Wisconsin as part of a consumer protection settlement involving multiple states, as announced by Attorney General Josh Kaul on Wednesday.
Facebook is rolling out a new limit on how many links some users can share in their posts unless they sign up for a paid plan.
Canadian stocks climbed sharply on Friday as increases in the price of precious metals and oil pushed up commodity-linked stocks that aided the rise in the index.