Reuters Business News

Their silhouettes don't stir dreams of adventure like a sports car or trendy SUV, but vans are a rare source of profit for European carmakers, which is why EU regulators are focused on them as they decide whether to back an industry mega-merger.

Colgate-Palmolive on Thursday said it was working to review and evolve its Chinese toothpaste brand, Darlie, the latest in a string of brand reassessments amid a U.S. debate on racial inequality.

Wirecard's auditor has refused to sign off its 2019 accounts over a missing $2.1 billion, sending its shares down more than 60% as the German payments firm warned the delay could cause billions in loans to be called in as early as Friday.

U.S. stocks fell at the open on Thursday as an uptick in COVID-19 infections in the United States threatened to upend bets of a swift economic recovery, with data showing weekly jobless claims remained elevated amid a second wave of layoffs.

The luxury industry will feel the fallout from the coronavirus crisis for the next two years if not longer, Chanel's chief financial officer said on Thursday, warning the French fashion label's 2020 revenues and profit would be significantly hit.

Billions of euros of loans to Wirecard could be called in as early as Friday after the German payments company said its auditor had refused to sign off on its 2019 accounts, knocking more than half the value off its shares on Thursday.

U.S. investors have ramped up investments in growth funds over the past few months on expectations of higher returns and safety, while they dumped value funds despite cheaper prices after this year's pandemic-linked selloff.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Thursday underscored the importance of functional U.S.-China ties and urged Beijing to step up its purchases of U.S. goods and services as agreed under a Phase 1 trade deal despite delays caused by the coronavirus.

Oil prices ticked up on Thursday after U.S. oil product stocks shrank, providing bulls with ammunition ahead of a meeting between OPEC producers and their allies to discuss their future output strategy.

U.S. private equity firm KKR said on Thursday it had reached an agreement to buy Dutch vacation parks firm Roompot from French private equity firm PAI Partners.

A second wave of layoffs amid weak demand and fractured supply chains is keeping new U.S. applications for unemployment benefits elevated, supporting views that the economy faces a long and difficult recovery from the COVID-19 recession.

Kroger Co said it expects to exceed its 2020 outlook for same-store sales and profit after beating Wall Street expectations for quarterly results on Thursday, as the U.S. supermarket chain benefited from consumers stocking up on essentials during the coronavirus lockdowns.

The European Commission is in advanced talks with pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson to reserve or buy up-front doses of its COVID-19 vaccine under development, two officials familiar with the talks told Reuters.

Global stocks drifted lower on Thursday as an increase in new coronavirus cases in some U.S. states and China crushed hopes of a swift world economic comeback from the pandemic.

Wells Fargo & Co said on Thursday its investment adviser Wells Fargo Investment Institute will sell its feeder fund platform to fintech firm iCapital Network for an undisclosed amount.

The U.S. dollar and Japanese yen held their positions on Thursday as concerns about a rise in new coronavirus cases underpinned demand for safe-haven currencies, while the Norwegian crown was a star performer.

Mother's Day during the coronavirus pandemic meant an uptick in sales for Lee's Flower and Card Shop in Washington, D.C.

Nissan's chief operating officer Ashwani Gupta helped engineer the troubled automaker's latest turnaround plan. Now his allies are pressing the board to promote him to co-CEO to drive the new strategy, said four people with direct knowledge.

Hundreds of people who lost jobs during the coronavirus crisis but have been unable to get their unemployment insurance checks converged at the Kentucky Capitol in Frankfort early Wednesday to seek in-person help.

A newly discovered spyware effort attacked users through 32 million downloads of extensions to Google's market-leading Chrome web browser, researchers at Awake Security told Reuters, highlighting the tech industry's failure to protect browsers as they are used more for email, payroll and other sensitive functions.