Section

Business

Markets, industries, and the forces reshaping the region's economy.

Page 6

Business

Volkswagen's Electric Car Orders Overtook Petrol and Diesel Orders in Germany for the First Time

The shift, driven by the sold out ID. Polo, has been fast enough that Volkswagen is cancelling extra shifts at its Wolfsburg petrol car plant and adding shifts at its electric factories in Emden and Zwickau instead.

Sep 27, 2026/2 min read

The Volkswagen plant in Wolfsburg, Germany, where the company builds its petrol and diesel Golf and Tiguan models, photographed in April 2009

Business

Oracle Sent a 'Force Majeure' Notice Over Its Own Flagship Stargate Data Centre in New Mexico

The notice, sent to the Blue Owl Capital unit developing Project Jupiter, protects Oracle from liability if the site misses its 2028 target, after delays to the natural gas pipeline meant to power its fuel cells.

Sep 26, 2026/2 min read

A data centre server room, illustrative of the Stargate campus described and not Project Jupiter itself, photographed in March 2013

Business

BASF Approached Evonik About a Takeover That Would Reshape Europe's Chemicals Industry

The world's largest chemicals group has sounded out Evonik's management and its controlling shareholder, the RAG-Stiftung foundation, about a deal valuing its German rival at around twelve billion euros including debt.

Sep 26, 2026/2 min read

A LyondellBasell chemical plant in Wesseling, Germany, illustrative of the European chemicals industry BASF and Evonik compete in, photographed in June 2014

Business

The 30-Year Treasury Yield Hit Its Highest Level Since 2004 as Oil Climbed on Iran-Hormuz Talk

Long-dated US borrowing costs reached a 22-year high on Thursday, driven by surging energy prices, strong business activity data and a national debt above 40 trillion dollars, even as Brent crude eased off its intraday peak on Hormuz reopening reports.

Sep 25, 2026/2 min read

The New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street, illustrative of the bond and equity markets described, photographed in July 2012

Business

Wall Street Fell as the Ten-Year Treasury Hit Its Highest Yield Since 2007 on Fresh Inflation Worry

The Dow and S&P 500 slipped 0.7 and 0.8 per cent and the Nasdaq fell 1.1 on Wednesday as the ten-year yield climbed to about 5.11 per cent. Nvidia dropped 1.5, Broadcom 2.6 and Micron 2.2 as investors took profit after the prior week's chip rally.

Sep 24, 2026/2 min read

The New York Stock Exchange facade on Wall Street with a large American flag, photographed in July 2012

Business

Oil Fell Below 102 and Stocks Had Their Best Day Since August on UN-Week Hopes, a Trillion-Dollar AMD and a Meta Rally

Brent settled at 101.20, an eleven-day low, as Trump said he would meet Pezeshkian in New York and Saudi crude found its way through Hormuz at 2.9 million barrels a day. The S&P 500 rose 1.5 per cent, Meta 11.4, and the ten-year slipped back under five.

Sep 22, 2026/3 min read

The New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street with flags across its facade, photographed in July 2012

Business

The Fed Raised Rates for the First Time Since 2023. Warsh Said Conditions Were Not Restrictive. The Dow Lost 631

A unanimous quarter point takes the funds rate to 3.75 to 4 per cent. The median official sees 4.1 per cent by December, sixteen of eighteen expect at least one more rise, and the ten-year went back through five per cent while the chairman spoke.

Sep 17, 2026/3 min read

The Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Board Building on Constitution Avenue in Washington, in a Federal Reserve photograph from 2011

Business

SoftBank Borrowed Another 11.9 Billion Dollars to Keep Funding OpenAI, and Its Shares Fell 13 Per Cent the Same Day

Twenty banks lent Masayoshi Son more than he asked for: a two-year facility to pay off a 25.9 billion dollar bridge due today and carry a commitment that reaches 65 billion by October. Public investors were less generous.

Sep 15, 2026/2 min read

Sam Altman of OpenAI, Masayoshi Son of SoftBank and Japan's prime minister Shigeru Ishiba at a meeting in Tokyo in February 2025, in an official Japanese government photograph

Business

The Ten-Year Touched Five Per Cent, Brent Held Near 107, and Chip Stocks Fell on a Warning From the People Who Sell Them

The Fed decides Wednesday with a rise at ninety per cent, the Bank of Japan is expected to follow on Friday, German Bunds are at a 2009 high and gold sits near 4,300. Nvidia lost two per cent after Anthropic and OpenAI asked the industry to slow down.

Sep 15, 2026/3 min read

The Charging Bull sculpture on Broadway near Wall Street in New York, with pedestrians passing behind it

Business

Petrol Drove a Third of August's Inflation, Core Ran Hot, and the Market Now Treats Wednesday's Rate Rise as Done

Prices rose 0.4 per cent in August and 3.4 per cent over the year. Petrol is up 27 per cent, airfares 23. Core came in a tenth hotter than forecast, and futures moved from a coin toss to nine in ten for a quarter-point rise on 16 September. Stocks rose anyway.

Sep 12, 2026/4 min read

A petrol station price board in the United States showing regular, mid-grade and premium prices, photographed in April; the gasoline index has risen 27 per cent in a year

Business

Oil Above a Hundred Has Made Next Week's Fed Meeting a Coin Toss on a Rate Rise, and the Treasury Tripled Its Buybacks

Wall Street fell for a third day as Brent settled at 101 dollars and the ten-year yield touched its highest since 2023. Futures price a better than even chance of a quarter-point rise on 16 September. What the buyback means, and what to watch.

Sep 10, 2026/3 min read

The columned facade of the New York Stock Exchange on Broad Street, hung with American flags