Category: Business

China’s export growth accelerated in January amid mounting trade tension with Washington while imports surged as factories stocked up ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. Exports rose 11.1 percent compared with a year earlier to $200.5 billion, up from December’s 10.9 percent growth, trade…

Dutch lender Rabobank’s California unit agreed Wednesday to pay $369 million to settle allegations that it lied to regulators investigating allegations of laundering money from Mexican drug sales and organized crime through branches in small towns on the Mexico border. The subsidiary, Rabobank National Association,…

The rollercoaster ride continued in financial markets Tuesday, with sharp swings rocking major indexes from Asia, Europe and North America. The volatility intensified just a day after the steepest drop on Wall Street on Monday, after the Dow Jones Industrial index plunged nearly 1,200 points. But…

In the heartland of the tequila industry, in Mexico's western state of Jalisco, a worsening shortage of agave caused by mounting demand for the liquor from New York to Tokyo has many producers worried. The price of Agave tequilana, the blue-tinged, spiky-leaved succulent used to…

Peru’s trade minister defended China as a good trade partner on Tuesday, after U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned Latin American countries against excessive reliance on economic ties with the Asian powerhouse. Eduardo Ferreyros said Peru’s 2010 trade liberalization deal with China had allowed…

U.S. stock prices fluctuated wildly Tuesday after regaining ground following a sharply lower open on the heels of selloffs earlier in the day in Asia and Europe. The volatility continued unabated one day after The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed the most points in one…

China's decision last month to ban the import of certain types of waste and crack down on "foreign garbage" has had a ripple effect worldwide, forcing countries to quickly rethink their waste strategies. That includes China, where its own fight against recycled waste has only…

The U.S. trade deficit hit the highest level in nine years in 2017, defying President Donald Trump's efforts to bring more balance to America's trade relationships.   The Commerce Department said Tuesday that the trade gap in goods and services rose to $566 billion last…

Venezuela's central bank on Monday announced a devaluation of more than 99 percent of its official exchange rate with a new foreign exchange platform. The central bank said the first auction of its new DICOM system yielded an exchange rate of 30,987.5 bolivars per euro,…

U.S. President Donald Trump's tax reform could bring almost $2 trillion back to the United States as U.S. firms repatriate cash piles from foreign affiliates, a U.N. report said Monday. Ending the incentive to hoard cash overseas could produce a stimulus effect in the United…

U.S. stocks plunged in highly volatile trading on Monday, with both the S&P 500 and Dow Industrials indices slumping more than 4.0 percent, as the Dow notched its biggest intraday decline in history with a nearly 1,600-point drop and Wall Street erased its gains for…

Recent losses on global financial markets, including those in the U.S., have some investors concerned about expectations for their holdings and plans for the future. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 2.5 percent Friday, its largest percentage drop since Britain's decision in June 2016 to…

Over the last decades, growing economic hardships forced people in cities and villages around the world to leave their hometowns to find work in other countries. Dreaming of returning one day and enjoying a better life where they grew up, many invested most of their…

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's Latin American tour took him Saturday to Argentina, where he talked with officials about conservation and diplomacy. Traveling from Mexico City after meeting with the Mexican president and other senior officials on Friday, Tillerson arrived in Bariloche, a lakeside…

The window opened Friday for oil, gas, uranium and coal companies to make requests or stake claims to lands that were cut from two sprawling Utah national monuments by President Trump in December, but there doesn’t appear to be a rush to seize the opportunities.…

Britain has made clear its desire to be part of China's so-called 'One Belt One Road Initiative' — a cornerstone of President Xi Jinping's vision to boost Chinese investment and influence across Asia, Europe and Africa. There are, however, concerns over the financial and humanitarian…

Another solid month for the U.S. economy as American companies added 200,000 new workers to their payrolls last month. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.1 percent, but wages are rising. Although the number of unemployed Americans continues to fall, recruiting agencies say they've never…

U.S. stocks slumped Friday, pulling down the Dow Jones industrial average by more than 650 points and handing the market its worst week in two years. Technology, banks and energy stocks accounted for much of the broad slide. Several major companies, including Exxon Mobil and…

Stocks closed sharply lower in New York on Friday, extending a weeklong slide, as the Dow Jones industrial average plunged more than 600 points.  The drop capped stocks' worst week in two years. The Dow's drop was its biggest in percentage terms since June 2016. Several giant…

Britain has made clear its desire to be part of China's so-called "One Belt One Road" initiative — a cornerstone of President Xi Jinping's vision to boost Chinese investment and influence across Asia, Europe and Africa. But there are concerns about the financial and humanitarian…

With an eye on general elections next year, India has announced several populist measures that include a health insurance program for 500 million people, and billions of dollars for rural development and affordable housing in its annual budget.   Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the…

When Janet Yellen leaves the Federal Reserve this weekend after four years as chair, her legacy will include having shattered a social barrier: She is the first woman to have led the world's most powerful central bank, a position that carries enormous sway over the…

A new political dawn in Zimbabwe has sparked talk among farmers of land reform and the return of some whites who lost their land and livelihoods to President Robert Mugabe during a 37-year rule that drove the economy to collapse. Mugabe, 93, resigned in November…

Many refugees would like to buy low-carbon stoves and lights but poor access in camps and a lack of funding is forcing them to rely on "dirty and expensive" fuels, a report said Tuesday. Millions of refugees worldwide struggle to access energy for cooking, lighting…

A colorful paint job has transformed one of Mumbai's drab hilltop slums into a tourist destination, even prompting comparisons with Italy's picturesque Amalfi Coast. During a recent journey on a Mumbai metro train, Dedeepya Reddy was struck by the grim appearance of a slum in…

Hackers who stole around $530 million worth of cryptocurrency from the Coincheck exchange last week — one of the biggest such heists ever — are trying to move the stolen “XEM” coins, the foundation behind the digital currency said on Tuesday. NEM Foundation, creators of…

Middle Eastern countries should pursue fiscal policies to support growth and build broader tax bases to fund infrastructure projects and social spending, the head of the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday. "A key priority is building broader and more equitable tax bases. All must pay their…

Venezuela is abandoning the most-overvalued of its two official foreign exchange rates, which had been used for state imports of food and medicine amid a worsening economic crisis.   The move could potentially encourage businesses to import more and put more goods on store shelves…