Browsing: Business

STRASBOURG: The European Parliament has suspended its work to approve a pending European Union trade agreement with the United States, after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened new tariffs against European allies amid a dispute linked to Greenland. The decision halts planned committee steps needed for Parliament to set its position on the deal, pushing the transatlantic trade package into uncertainty at a moment of rising political friction between Washington and Brussels. The move centers on the Parliament’s international trade committee, which had been preparing to take votes later this month on elements tied to the agreement reached at a U.S.-EU meeting in Turnberry, Scotland,…

MENA Newswire, WASHINGTON: A new study by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy finds that Americans, not foreign exporters, are paying nearly all of the cost of recent U.S. tariffs, as import prices rose almost one-for-one with the duties. The researchers estimate that foreign firms absorbed only about 4% of the tariff burden, while roughly 96% was passed through to U.S. buyers, challenging political claims that tariffs are financed abroad. The analysis draws on shipment-level records covering more than 25 million U.S. import transactions valued at nearly $4 trillion from January 2024 through November 2025. Using unit values and other shipment characteristics, the authors…

MENA Newswire, NEW YORK: The six largest U.S. banks trimmed their combined workforce by about 10,600 positions in 2025, the biggest annual net reduction on Wall Street since 2016, according to year-end headcount totals reported by the firms. The decline left JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley with roughly 1.09 million employees at the end of December, the lowest combined level since 2021. The staffing pullback came as banks continued to manage expenses after years of expansion that followed the pandemic-era rebound in markets and consumer activity. Compensation and benefits remain the largest line item for most…

WASHINGTON: More than seven years after President Donald Trump launched sweeping tariffs on Chinese goods, official data and widely cited economic studies show the measures raised costs inside the United States while leaving the core U.S. goods trade deficit with China largely intact. The tariff program began in 2018 under a federal trade law investigation and has remained a defining feature of the bilateral economic relationship through successive policy adjustments. Congressional and executive branch summaries show the United States imposed additional duties ranging from 7.5% to 25% on roughly $370 billion worth of imports from China, prompting China to retaliate on about $110 billion in…

MENA Newswire, NEW YORK: U.S. stocks rebounded Thursday as a renewed rally in semiconductor shares helped lift major indexes, while smaller companies continued to outperform in a broadening advance. Traders pointed to a surge in chip-related names after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. reported results and outlook that helped steady sentiment around demand for advanced processors used in data centers and other computing workloads. TSMC’s U.S.-listed shares climbed 5.4%, adding momentum to a group that has driven a large share of recent equity gains. Chip-equipment makers led the move, with Applied Materials, Lam Research and KLA each rising more than 7% in the session.…

MENA Newswire, SAN FRANCISCO: Shares of Alphabet Inc. rose sharply on Monday, lifting the Google parent’s market capitalization above $4 trillion for the first time and placing it among a small group of companies to reach that valuation threshold. The milestone was achieved during intraday trading as Alphabet’s Class A and Class C shares touched record highs before paring some gains later in the session. Alphabet’s advance reflects sustained strength in its core advertising business and continued growth in its cloud computing division, which together account for the majority of the company’s revenue. The company’s valuation had been approaching the $4 trillion level in…

MENA Newswire, SAN FRANCISCO: Apple has entered into a multi year agreement with Google to integrate Google’s Gemini artificial intelligence models into Siri, marking one of the most significant partnerships between the two technology companies in recent years and a major shift in how Apple powers its digital assistant. The deal will see Google’s Gemini models used to support a range of Siri functions and other artificial intelligence features across Apple devices, according to people familiar with the agreement and public disclosures by the companies. The integration is expected to roll out beginning in 2026 as part of Apple’s broader artificial intelligence platform,…

WASHINGTON: Senior executives from the largest U.S. oil companies have told President Donald Trump that they are not prepared to make firm investment commitments in Venezuela, underscoring continued caution toward the country’s energy sector despite renewed outreach from the White House, according to people familiar with the discussions and public statements from industry leaders. Trump met this week with executives from companies including Chevron, Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips, urging them to consider large scale investments to help revive Venezuela’s oil production following recent political changes in the country. The president said expanded output could bolster global oil supply and contribute to lower energy prices, while…

MENA Newswire, SAN FRANCISCO: OpenAI and SoftBank Group announced a joint investment of $1 billion in SB Energy, expanding a large-scale effort to build power and data center infrastructure to support artificial intelligence computing in the United States. The investment forms part of the ongoing Stargate initiative, a multiyear program aimed at developing the physical infrastructure required for advanced AI training and deployment. Under the terms disclosed, OpenAI and SoftBank will each contribute $500 million in equity to SB Energy, a company focused on energy generation, storage, and data center development. SB Energy is majority owned by SoftBank and operates as a standalone…

CryptoWire, LONDON: Global financial markets are navigating renewed turbulence after warnings of a potential $17.3 trillion oil price shock that could reverberate across energy, currency, and digital asset sectors. The alert follows heightened geopolitical tension in South America, where the detention of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces has disrupted expectations for global crude supply and triggered volatility in both commodities and cryptocurrencies. Oil prices fluctuated sharply in early-week trading as markets assessed potential consequences for Venezuela’s oil production and export capacity. As one of the world’s largest proven crude reserve holders and a key OPEC member, Venezuela’s stability is viewed as central to balancing…