Oil giant Aramco, whose dividend remains vital to helping Saudi Arabia contain a huge deficit, may have to sell assets and borrow more to fulfil its fiscal role amid uncertainty in oil prices, market specialists said.
U.S. business activity slowed in the first half of December as renewed restrictions to slow a resurgence in new COVID-19 infections hurt the services sector.
WASHINGTON :U.S. retail sales fell more than expected in November, likely weighed down by raging new COVID-19 infections and decreasing household income, adding to growing signs of a slowdown in the economy's recovery from the pandemic recession.
U.S. congressional negotiators neared a US$900 billion deal to address COVID-19, including direct payments to Americans but no financial aid for states and cities and no liability protections for businesses, Politico reported on Wednesday.
The European Union set out plans on Wednesday to help banks to jettison soured loans more easily and continue lending to households and business hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Large energy, transport and financial companies as well as digital providers and makers of medical and computer devices could be fined up to 2per cent of their global turnover for breaching EU cybersecurity rules under a European Commission proposal.
Facebook Inc said on Wednesday it is testing a new, less data-intensive version of its photo and video sharing app Instagram in India, a key growth market for the U.S. social media giant.
U.S. stock index futures rose on Wednesday tracking further progress toward a bumper coronavirus stimulus package, while markets hoped for an affirmation of continued easy monetary policy from the Federal Reserve's last meeting for the year.
Deutsche Bank does not have to pay former investors in its retail subsidiary Postbank a higher compensation than offered in its 2010 tender offer, a German court ruled on Wednesday.
