Chinese and U.S. officials met face-to-face Thursday in an attempt to resolve a dispute over technology that has taken the world’s two largest economies the closest they’ve ever come to a trade war. A high-powered U.S. delegation arrived in Beijing for talks with Chinese officials aimed at defusing the tensions, though analysts say they appear […]

Oil traded near $67 a barrel as traders weighed rising U.S. stockpiles against growing expectations of renewed sanctions on Iran’s crude trading. Futures in New York were little changed after a 1.9 percent drop on Tuesday. U.S. crude inventories rose 3.43 million barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute was said to report. That compares […]

Terrorist group ISIS raised billions of pounds from oil sales, taxing millions of residents and trading in products such as sulphur and cement. The story of how the so-called Islamic state became one of the richest terror groups in the world – possibly the wealthiest ever seen – has been revealed by Sedgefield MP Phil Wilson. Drawing […]

DALLAS (AP) — Rising fuel costs are eating into airline profits, dampening expectations for the rest of 2018, and setting the stage for higher fares. Fuel is the airlines’ second-biggest expense after labor, so when it rises — at American it was up 40 cents a gallon from a year ago — so does the […]

NEW YORK – The dollar held steady on Friday despite a government report showing slower first-quarter economic growth, with the currency on track to end its strongest week since November 2016, having gained 1.6 percent. On Tuesday, the U.S. benchmark government bond yield US10YT=RR broke through the psychologically significant 3 percent level for the first […]

LONDON – The euro held near eight-week lows on Thursday as traders prepared for European Central Bank President Mario Draghi to speak with investors searching for any signals about when the ECB will begin unwinding its stimulus. The single currency trimmed earlier gains to trade flat at $1.2164 EUR= after the ECB kept rates unchanged as widely […]

LONDON  – Costa Coffee will be spun off after parent Whitbread (WTB.L) yielded to pressure from hedge funds who argued it was being held back by being grouped with the Premier Inn hotel chain. The world’s second biggest coffee chain after Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O) has attractive, long-term international potential, Whitbread said. Former brewing group Whitbread […]

Microsoft may not be a favorite in the race to a becoming the country’s first trillion-dollar public company. But recently, after its younger tech peers whizzed past in valuation, Microsoft has become the second most valuable firm—albeit intermittently—for the first time since 2015. On Tuesday, Microsoft was valued at $714 billion, about $3 billion above Alphabet and […]

NEW YORK – Oil prices rebounded from an early slide to finish higher and strengthen further in post-settlement trade, as investors feared U.S. sanctions could dampen Iran’s output. “It’s tweet by tweet,” said Phil Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group, saying the market is swinging in response to posturing from the United States and OPEC […]

Count this as another great week for e-commerce titan Jeff Bezos. On Wednesday, the Amazon founder and CEO released his latest annual shareholder letter, announcing that Amazon’s Prime subscription service has more than 100 million members globally. The news, disclosed for the first time by Bezos, sent his net worth soaring further. The fortune of the world’s […]