Author: Press Room

Zara’s owner Inditex is looking to the U.S. as an engine for growth. If American shoppers can be tempted to spend more on its fast-fashion outfits, investors should find the shares are a good fit.  Inditex’s (ticker: ITX.Spain) expansion in the U.S. has been cautious. It only has 101 U.S. stores, having opened its first in New York in 1989.  That could change under CEO Oscar Garcia Maceiras, who has been in charge for just over a year. Over the next two years the company plans 30 projects—including new stores, relocations and enlargements—in major American cities.  That will include new…

China has launched military manoeuvres around Taiwan in retaliation against President Tsai Ing-wen’s meeting with senior US lawmakers including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California this week.The People’s Liberation Army on Saturday announced three days of drills, saying it would “conduct Taiwan encirclement combat readiness, patrol and joint sharp sword exercises” in the Taiwan Strait and waters and airspace north, south and east of Taiwan until Monday.The manoeuvres began after Tsai returned late on Friday from a 10-day trip that culminated in talks with McCarthy, the most senior elected US official to meet a Taiwanese president on American soil.According to Taiwan’s…

In his yearlong battle with Disney, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has repeatedly leaned on the element of surprise in his attempts to outmaneuver the entertainment giant and its army of executives, high-priced lawyers and politically connected lobbyists. “Nobody can see this coming,” DeSantis told a top Republican legislative leader as they planned a move against Disney last year, he recalled in his new book. But when Disney finally struck back and thwarted, for now, a DeSantis-led state takeover of its long-standing special taxing district, it was the Republican governor who was seemingly caught off guard. The same February morning Disney…

Tupperware Brands Corp. late Friday issued a going-concern warning, saying that it has hired financial advisers to help navigate its near-term difficulties. “Tupperware has embarked on a journey to turn around our operations and today marks a critical step in addressing our capital and liquidity position,” Chief Executive Miguel Fernandez said in a statement. “The company is doing everything in its power to mitigate the impacts of recent events, and we are taking immediate action to seek additional financing and address our financial position,” Fernandez said. The advisers would help the company, synonym with storage containers and other kitchen products,…

The numbers: Deposits at U.S. banks rose slightly in the last week of March, but lending to businesses declined for the second week in a row. Deposits rose at both large and small banks, according to data released Friday by the Federal Reserve. The deposit figures are unadjusted. There has been a sharp drop-off in lending. There has been a sharp drop-off in lending since the Silicon Valley Bank collapse. Total commercial and industrial loans fell $68 billion over the two weeks since the startling bank run led the government to close the bank. Key details: Deposits at large U.S.-owned…

The number of people working more than one job is on the rise. Multiple jobholders reached 8,137,000 in March, or 5.1% of the total employed population, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s up from close to 7.5 million people during the same period last year, or 4.7% of the total employed population.  But the March level was still lower than the pre-pandemic level of 8,181,000 million in February 2020 at 5.2% of the total employed population.  Among those holding multiple jobs, the number of people working their primary job full-time while taking on a…

ZURICH (Reuters) – Austria’s government is monitoring the global banking turmoil although there are so far no signs of it spreading to the country’s financial sector, Finance Minister Magnus Brunner said in an interview published on Saturday. “Our banks did their homework very well after the financial crisis. They are very well prepared,” Brunner told Swiss newspaper Neue Zuercher Zeitung. He also defended Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) which has come under fire for continuing to operate in Russia despite the war in Ukraine. The Austrian lender is now the most important Western bank in Russia, offering a lifeline to people…

Topline The banking crisis is far from over, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon wrote Tuesday morning in an annual letter to shareholders, offering the most in-depth insight into recent industry-wide turbulence from the head of the country’s biggest bank yet. Key Facts “Repercussions” from the ongoing banking calamity will linger “for years to come,” Dimon wrote, referring to the failures of American banks Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank and the unraveling of Swiss stalwart Credit Suisse over a two-week period last month. Dimon pointed to shortcomings among bank management at the collapsed institutions, federal regulators and venture capitalists pushing…

By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) – The dollar strengthened on Friday after data showed an increase in jobs in the world’s largest economy last month, suggesting that the Federal Reserve may have to raise interest rates next month. Prior to the jobs report, the rate futures market had been betting that the Fed would pause at the May policy meeting. The market has now priced in a 70% chance the Fed will raise interest rates by 25 basis points (bps), though multiple rate cuts have also been factored in by the end of the year.     Friday’s data showed…

By Guy Faulconbridge MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia warned the West on Friday that unless obstacles to its exports of grain and fertilisers were removed, then Ukraine would have to export grain over land and Moscow would work outside the UN-brokered landmark grain export deal. The Black Sea grain deal is an attempt by the United Nations to ease a food crisis that predated the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but was made worse by the most deadly war in Europe since World War Two. The deal, first signed by Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN in July last year and twice…