The pace of the US service sector’s growth picked up in last month, according to a new report. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its services index rose to 52.6 last month from 52 in November. A reading above 50 indicates expansion.

The ISM survey of US services covers industries ranging from Continue reading this post…

Samsung Electronics has said it expects to report a big jump in profits for the final three months of last year, thanks largely to record smartphone sales.

The South Korean firm said it expects operating profits for the period to be $4.5bn, 73% higher than a year a earlier. Continue reading this post…

Chinese oil firm Sinopec has agreed a $2.2bn deal with Devon Energy, giving it access to shale deposits in the US.

Sinopec will get a one-third stake in five new shale projects, with the firms expecting to drill 125 wells this year. Continue reading this post…

World’s largest electronics manufacturer, Samsung, and six other LCD screen manufacturers have settled claims they conspired to fix prices.

The firms were accused in 8 US states of working together to raise the price of screens for TVs and computers. Continue reading this post…

US consumer confidence rose for the second month in a row, to an eight-month high in December, new data suggests.

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index rose almost 10 points to 64.5 in December, up from a revised 55.2 in Continue reading this post…

Sears Holdings, the department store group which owns the two major retail chains, blamed falling sales.

In the eight weeks to Christmas Day, sales at Kmart fell 4.4% and by 6% at Sears. The company, which has 2,200 outlets in the US, says Continue reading this post…

Stores may have attracted shoppers early with fat discounts last week, but the shopping bonanza came with a price, according to data released by a research firm late Thursday.
ShopperTrak, a Chicago-based firm, said more customers shopped Continue reading this post…

Massachusetts is suing five major banks alleging “illegal” and “deceptive” conduct in the way they seized homes during the financial crisis.

Bank of America, JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, and GMAC must pay for the “harm” caused, the writ says. Continue reading this post…

India’s biggest drugmaker, Ranbaxy, has won an approval from authorities to sell its version of the world’s best-selling medicine in the US.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted it permission to sell a generic version of anti-cholesterol drug Lipitor. Continue reading this post…

JP Morgan Chase shot down a report that it was holding hundreds of millions of dollars in missing MF Global client funds.

JP Morgan said that, much like other banks, it has been holding MF funds and awaiting instructions from the bankrupt company’s trustee. Continue reading this post…