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Saudi Arabian state oil group Aramco on Sunday reported a 73.4per cent fall in second-quarter net profit, a steeper drop than analysts had expected, hit by lower crude oil prices and declining refining and chemicals margins, as the coronavirus hit demand. DUBAI: Saudi state oil group Aramco's profit plunged 73per cent in the second quarter of the year, as a slump in energy demand and prices due to the coronavirus crisis hit sales at the world's biggest oil exporter. All major oil companies have taken a hit in the second quarter as lockdowns to contain the coronavirus limited travel, which reduced oil consumption and sent prices tumbling to levels not seen in nearly two decades. Aramco, which listed in Riyadh last year in a record US$29.4 billion flotation, said the rapid spread of C...

1. S&P 500 to try again to close at a record high On Tuesday's economic calendar, the government reported much better than expected numbers on July housing starts and building permits. Starts surged 22.6% and permits jumped nearly 19%. 2. Walmart, Home Depot deliver strong earnings Shares of Walmart, which logged an all-time high Monday, rose as much as 6% in the premarket after the company blew away expectations with adjusted per-share earnings of $1.56 on a 5.6% total revenue increase to $137.74 billion. Online sales during the pandemic nearly doubled as customers got packages shipped their homes and used curbside pickup at physical stores. The stock has since pulled back. Shares of Home Depot rose 1% in Tuesday's premarket after the home improvement retailer delivered a 23% increase...

related media assets (image or videos) available. Click to see the gallery. 2 related media assets (image or videos) available. Click to see the gallery. OTTAWA/TORONTO: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday (Aug 11) said he had "full confidence" in Finance Minister Bill Morneau amid reports of a clash over policy between the two men, who also both face an ethics probe. The Globe and Mail newspaper cited unnamed sources as saying Trudeau was uncertain whether Morneau was the right person to handle the recovery from the coronavirus outbreak, prompting analysts to fret about Ottawa's becoming distracted. "Of course the Prime Minister has full confidence in Minister Morneau and any statement to the contrary is false," said a statement from Trudeau's office, praising Mornea...

related media assets (image or videos) available. Click to see the gallery. 2 related media assets (image or videos) available. Click to see the gallery. Robinhood Markets Inc, the fintech startup credited with helping popularize trading among millennials, said on Monday it has raised US$200 million from investment firm D1 Capital Partners at a valuation of US$11.2 billion. REUTERS: Robinhood Markets Inc, the fintech startup credited with helping popularize trading among millennials, said on Monday it has raised US$200 million from investment firm D1 Capital Partners at a valuation of US$11.2 billion. Robinhood is one of the hottest fintech startups in Silicon Valley, having consistently raised large sums at higher valuations from several marquee investors including Sequoia Capital, Ri...

NEW YORK: The Federal Reserve's US$3 trillion bid to stave off an economic crisis in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak is fuelling excesses across US capital markets. The US central bank has pledged unlimited financial asset purchases to sustain market liquidity, increasing its balance sheet from US$4.2 trillion in February to US$7 trillion today. While the vast majority of these purchases have been limited to US Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities, the Fed's pledge to bolster the corporate bond market has been enough to spur a frenzy among investors for bonds and stocks. "COVID-19 is now inversely related to the markets. The worse that COVID-19 gets, the better the markets do because the Fed will bring in stimulus. That is what has been driving markets," said Andrew Brenne...

Wells Fargo chief financial officer John Shrewsberry said on "Closing Bell" that the asset cap imposed on the bank by the Federal Reserve is potentially costing the firm billions in revenue and earnings. He said working to satisfy the central bank enough to have the cap lifted is "the most important work that we're doing." "We've had to do a few things that have definitely cost us interest income at the margins to be able to navigate through that, and we'll continue to as long as the cap is in place," Shrewsberry said. "It's hard to put a number on it, but if our balance sheet as 10% bigger — call it $2.2 trillion versus of just under $2 trillion — there's a few billion dollars worth of revenue, most of which probably falls to the bottom line." Shrewsberry also said that the credit lines...