Business

By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Trump administration said Thursday it aims to speed up the deployment of self-driving vehicles but will maintain rules requiring reporting of safety incidents involving advanced vehicles. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Thursday released a new framework to boost autonomous vehicles. “This administration understands that we’re in a race with China to out-innovate, and the stakes couldn’t be higher,” Duffy said. “Our new framework will slash red tape.” The … Read more…

(Reuters) -Meta Platforms said on Wednesday it is expanding advertising on its social network Threads to all eligible advertisers globally, as it looks to generate new revenue streams amid brand uncertainty over tariffs. Launched in July 2023, the Threads app was positioned as a challenger to Elon Musk-owned X, in a bid to win users from the de facto micro-blogging site amid its chaotic takeover by the billionaire entrepreneur. Meta, one of the world’s largest … Read more…

By Arathy Somasekhar HOUSTON (Reuters) -Some tankers Chevron had chartered to move crude from Venezuela to the United States this month are now being marketed for spot contracts elsewhere, sources said, after state company PDVSA canceled loading permits and ordered the firm to return cargoes amid payment uncertainty related to sanctions. The marketing of the vessels indicates that Chevron does not expect to load all the cargoes it typically ships from Venezuela in a month … Read more…

By Stephen Nellis and Max A. Cherney SANT CLARA, California (Reuters) -Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co on Wednesday unveiled technology for making faster chips and putting them together in dinner-plate sized packages that will boost performance needed for artificial intelligence applications. It said its A14 manufacturing technology will arrive in 2028 and will be able to produce processors that are 15% faster at the same power consumption as its N2 chips due to enter production this … Read more…

By Shadia Nasralla (Reuters) -Activist investor Elliott Management has urged BP to boost its free cash flow to $20 billion by 2027 from around $8 billion last year through significant spending cuts and cost reductions, a source familiar with the situation said on Tuesday. Elliott has increased its stake in BP to just over 5% in the form of derivative contracts, according to a regulatory notice on Tuesday, placing Elliott between top shareholders BlackRock and … Read more…

(Reuters) – JP Morgan sees gold prices crossing the $4,000 per ounce milestone next year, following increased recession probabilities amid boosted U.S. tariffs and an ongoing U.S.-China trade war, the bank said in a note on Tuesday. The bank now expects gold prices to reach an average of $3,675/oz by 4Q25, on the way towards above $4,000/oz by 2Q26, with risks skewed towards an earlier overshoot of these forecasts if demand surpasses its expectations. “Underpinning … Read more…

(Reuters) – Accounting firms Baker Tilly and Moss Adams have agreed to merge in a $7 billion deal, making it one of the largest firms in an industry that is partly owned by private equity investors the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The combined firm will retain the Baker Tilly name and become the sixth-biggest accounting firm in the United States, the report said. Baker Tilly did not immediately respond to a Reuters request … Read more…

(Reuters) -Toyota Motor unit Hino Motors and Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus, a subsidiary of Germany’s Daimler Truck, are moving to finalize a merger agreement, Nikkei Asia reported on Tuesday. The two auto groups aim to establish a holding company for the truck units and list it on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Prime market in April 2026, the report stated, without disclosing its source. The companies agreed in May 2023 to merge the truck operations … Read more…

(Reuters) – Citi Research raised its gold price target for the next three months to $3,500 per ounce from $3,200, led by fresh buying from Chinese insurers and safe-haven flows amid tariff risks and market weakness, it said in a note on Thursday. China’s recent move to let 10 insurers allocate up to 1% of their total assets to gold could generate annual demand of around 255 tonnes, equal to roughly a quarter of total … Read more…

By Chris Prentice and Saeed Azhar NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. banking regulators said on Friday they approved Capital One’s $35.3 billion purchase of Discover Financial Services , paving the way for the combined firms to become the nation’s eighth-largest bank. The deal has been closely watched by financial executives, who see it as a litmus test for how quickly the administration of President Donald Trump will approve mergers in a sector they see as ripe … Read more…