Factory activity in Europe and Asia cooled in August after a strong July, as new orders dwindled in the face of escalating tensions in Ukraine and a patchy recovery in China, purchasing managers indexes showed.
Industry
Asian shares inch down, dollar on top of the heap
Asian shares inched lower early on Wednesday after a lackluster day on Wall Street, while the dollar was close to 14-month highs against a basket of major currencies after data underscored that the U.S. economy's modest expansion continues to chug along.
Dollar General sweetens Family Dollar bid, may go hostile
Dollar General Corp (DG.N) raised its bid for Family Dollar Stores Inc (FDO.N) to $9.1 billion, and warned it may turn hostile and appeal directly to shareholders if the new offer was rejected.
U.S. factory activity expands in August at fastest pace since April 2010: Markit
The U.S. manufacturing industry expanded in August while employment in the sector grew at its fastest pace since March of last year, an industry report showed on Tuesday.
'Back to normal' for AstraZeneca CEO, despite Pfizer rumors
Though speculation is rife of a new Pfizer bid, AstraZeneca's chief executive is not holed up with advisers in London or New York. Instead, he has spent the last three days immersed in heart science in Barcelona.
Latest News
Factory activity in Europe and Asia cooled in August after a strong July, as new orders dwindled in the face of escalating tensions in Ukraine and a patchy recovery in China, purchasing managers indexes showed.
European Union antitrust regulators will decide by Oct. 3 whether to clear world No. 1 online social network Facebook's $19 billion offer for mobile messaging startup WhatsApp, the European Commission said on Monday.
Apple Inc plans to enable its next iPhone to become a mobile wallet by allowing owners to securely make mobile payments in a store with the touch of a finger, Bloomberg said on Sunday, citing a person familiar with the situation.
Dutch brewer Heineken (HEIN.AS) has agreed to sell its Mexican packaging business Empaque to Crown (CCK.N) for $1.23 billion including debt, shedding a non-core business it acquired when entering the Mexican market in 2010.
Citigroup Inc (C.N) has told senior staff in Europe that they would receive fixed monthly pay in addition to their salaries in an attempt to compensate for rules that limit bonuses to up to twice the level of base salaries, the Financial Times reported, citing several people.
Barclays is selling its Spanish retail and corporate banking operations to Caixabank, the two companies said on Sunday, as the British bank starts shrinking its struggling European divisions as part of a major overhaul.
Apple Inc plans to enable its next iPhone to become a mobile wallet by allowing owners to securely make mobile payments in a store with the touch of a finger, Bloomberg said on Sunday, citing a person familiar with the situation.
Asian shares balked at the starting gate on Monday, skittish in the face of a deepening Ukraine crisis, while the euro touched a fresh one-year low ahead of this week's European Central Bank meeting.
Swatch Group is happy to go it alone with a launch next year of watches with "smart" features to compete with so-called wearable gadgets from the big tech companies, a market potentially worth $93 billion.
