(RTTNews) - European stocks are seen opening broadly higher on Tuesday, though London's FTSE 100 may fall at open as oil prices fluctuated following reports that U.S. President Donald Trump is willing to end the U.S. military campaign against Iran even if the strategically vital
(RTTNews) - European stocks are seen opening broadly higher on Tuesday, though London's FTSE 100 may fall at open as oil prices fluctuated following reports that U.S. President Donald Trump is willing to end the U.S. military campaign against Iran even if the strategically vital
Cape Town wants to break into a global outsourcing industry dominated by India, but it will require overcoming a vast gap in scale and cost competitiveness. Officials and industry groups in South Africa’s second-largest city are pushing to develop global capability centers, hubs that multinational companies use to outsource high-value functions such as building systems for making trades and managi...
Cape Town wants to break into a global outsourcing industry dominated by India, but it will require overcoming a vast gap in scale and cost competitiveness. Officials and industry groups in South Africa’s second-largest city are pushing to develop global capability centers, hubs that multinational companies use to outsource high-value functions such as building systems for making trades and managing risk, and other sophisticated processes. CapeBPO, an industry lobby group funded by the city administration, will present a plan to the municipal cabinet in two months to try and emulate India’s success by establishing hubs to support global companies, Chief Executive Officer Clayton Williams said in an interview. The city’s pitch to overseas companies: diversify beyond India, which is home to more than 1,700 such centers including ones operated by Goldman Sachs Group Inc., aircraft-engine maker Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc and lingerie brand Victoria’s Secret & Co. At stake is a share of a market expected to reach $413 billion by 2030, with India currently accounting for more than a quarter, according to EY research . While South Africa has some of Africa’s most advanced financial, accounting and legal industries, it would still need to scale up rapidly and match India’s cost competitiveness. “It requires some systemic changes,” Mohith Mohan, chief executive officer and founder of Bengaluru-based MOAR Advisory, which has been hired by CapeBPO to help with a feasibility study and potential framework. “Whether it’s with regard to education, government policies, infrastructure” those have to be enacted for the project to be a success, he said. Already, a number of business process outsourcing jobs have shifted to Cape Town from global hubs in India and the Philippines as top companies sought to spread operations across more geographies since the coronavirus pandemic. The industry employs more than 95,500 people in the Western Cape, where Cape Town is located, nearly 70% of whi...
Over its history, Altria (NYSE: MO) has been one of the best-performing stocks on the market, returning 20% annually for much of that time thanks to strong dividend growth and the resilience and recession-proof nature of the tobacco sector. Over the last decade, however, the stock's performance has been much more pedestrian as smoking rates in the U.S. continue to decline and the company's efforts...
Over its history, Altria (NYSE: MO) has been one of the best-performing stocks on the market, returning 20% annually for much of that time thanks to strong dividend growth and the resilience and recession-proof nature of the tobacco sector. Over the last decade, however, the stock's performance has been much more pedestrian as smoking rates in the U.S. continue to decline and the company's efforts to diversify away from cigarettes have mostly backfired. That includes its investments in Cronos Group and Juul Labs, which led to billions in losses, and, more recently, its acquisition of NJOY faced a setback when the U.S. International Trade Commission banned the sale of NJOY Ace devices and pods when it found that it had infringed on patents held by Juul. Despite those challenges, Altria is up roughly 50% over the last two years, trending with a broader surge in tobacco stocks on promising signs for smoke-free products, including Altria's On! oral nicotine pouches. Continue reading
Almonty's tungsten mine in Sangdong, South Korea, in March 2026. Almonty BEIJING — The Iran war is squeezing a global commodities market already pressured by China's export controls and stockpiling efforts. Prices of three niche elements — tungsten, sulfur and helium — have climbed sharply in recent weeks. While none of the commodities are traded as widely as oil, the surge indicates how ripple ef...
Almonty's tungsten mine in Sangdong, South Korea, in March 2026. Almonty BEIJING — The Iran war is squeezing a global commodities market already pressured by China's export controls and stockpiling efforts. Prices of three niche elements — tungsten, sulfur and helium — have climbed sharply in recent weeks. While none of the commodities are traded as widely as oil, the surge indicates how ripple effects from the Middle East conflict could end up restricting production of the semiconductors that power artificial intelligence advances. Tungsten, a metal nearly as hard as a diamond , creates the electrical connection in the core of a semiconductor chip. Sulfuric acid , a byproduct of sulfur , cleans chip wafers . Helium enables smooth production of semiconductors since the gas prevents unwanted chemical reactions in the manufacturing process. Those are just some of the ways in which the three elements have become critical for modern manufacturing, including for defense. Beijing started to ramp up its control over the critical supplies even before the Iran war started on Feb. 28, partly as tensions with the U.S. escalated over the last few years. China started restricting tungsten exports just over a year ago, and in December called for tighter limits on sulfuric acid exports. Helium, a gas that's difficult to store, saw the volume of Chinese imports rise by 15.7% in 2025, after a nearly 65% surge in 2024, according to Wind Information. The Iran war and the ensuing constraints on the Strait of Hormuz , a critical Middle East shipping route for energy and chemicals, has tipped some oversupply situations into undersupply, while exacerbating existing shortages. watch now VIDEO 6:54 06:54 How the Iran war is squeezing metals markets and key industries Europe Early Edition Prices of the three commodities have jumped in some cases by more than oil. The widely used fossil fuel has climbed by more than 50% in March, putting Brent on track for a record month . "While the Chinese ...
Japan’s economy flashed mixed signals in February 2026 as a surprise contraction in retail and industrial sectors offset improvements in the labor market. Retail sales unexpectedly fell 0.2% year-over-year, missing the projected 0.8% gain, while industrial production slumped 2.1% month-over-month—its first decline since November. On a monthly basis, retail trade declined 2.0%, reversing a downward...
Japan’s economy flashed mixed signals in February 2026 as a surprise contraction in retail and industrial sectors offset improvements in the labor market. Retail sales unexpectedly fell 0.2% year-over-year, missing the projected 0.8% gain, while industrial production slumped 2.1% month-over-month—its first decline since November. On a monthly basis, retail trade declined 2.0%, reversing a downwardly revised 3.0% increase in January. On an annual basis, output grew 0.3%, accelerating from a 0.7% rise in January and pointing to the third straight month of increase. However, labor conditions improved, with the unemployment rate falling to 2.6% (vs. 2.7% forecast). The number of unemployed fell by 60 thousand to 1.85 million. Meantime, employment added 10 thousand to 68.27 million, while the labor force increased 40 thousand to 70.12 million. Meanwhile, the jobs-to-applicants ratio stood at 1.19, slightly above both January’s reading and forecasts of 1.18. Separate data showed core consumer prices in Tokyo’s central wards rose 1.7% year-on-year in March 2026, down from 1.8% in February and below expectations. This is the smallest increase since April 2024, influenced by lower processed food inflation. The Nikkei 225 Index fell 2.2% to below 50,800, while the broader Topix Index dropped 1.4% to 3,492 on Tuesday, marking a fourth consecutive session of losses. The Japanese yen stabilized around 159.6 per dollar on Tuesday, holding gains from the previous session. More on Japan economy: EWJ: Why Japan Is At Risk From Surging LNG And Oil Prices EWJ: Buying An Oversold Japan How Using Moving Averages To Make Allocation Changes Can Improve Risk Adjusted Returns Asia markets in red as Middle East escalation triggers 4.5% slide in Nikkei BoJ March meeting: Rates steady at 0.75% but ready to hike ‘without delay’ if outlook holds
Repay ( RPAY ) to acquire Kubra Data Transfer for ~$372M in an all‑cash transaction. The deal will be financed through a combination of cash on hand and debt, supported by a $500M term loan commitment and a $100M revolving credit facility from Truist Bank. The acquisition is expected to close in Q2. Post-transaction, Repay ( RPAY ) anticipates net leverage of around 4.0x, with a target to reduce i...
Repay ( RPAY ) to acquire Kubra Data Transfer for ~$372M in an all‑cash transaction. The deal will be financed through a combination of cash on hand and debt, supported by a $500M term loan commitment and a $100M revolving credit facility from Truist Bank. The acquisition is expected to close in Q2. Post-transaction, Repay ( RPAY ) anticipates net leverage of around 4.0x, with a target to reduce it below 3.0x within 18 months. KUBRA’s technology already serves over 40% of households in the U.S. and Canada , giving Repay a large, embedded base for cross‑selling payments and communications services. Repay ( RPAY ) guides roughly over $15M in annual run‑rate cost synergies and over $5M in technology savings over the next three years, plus over $5M in incremental revenue opportunities by 2028 from the integrated platform and cross‑selling. Repay ( RPAY ) stock price fell 5% on Monday during after-market hours of trading. More on Repay Repay Holdings Corporation 2025 Q4 - Results - Earnings Call Presentation Repay Holdings Corporation (RPAY) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript Repay targets 10–12% revenue growth in 2026 while advancing AI and AP platform integration Repay stock gains after Q4 revenue beats; issues strong full-year revenue guidance Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Repay
(RTTNews) - DXC Technology Co. (DXC), an IT services company, on Tuesday announced that the European Central Bank has selected its German unit under a single framework agreement for IT infrastructure managed services and end-user computing.
(RTTNews) - DXC Technology Co. (DXC), an IT services company, on Tuesday announced that the European Central Bank has selected its German unit under a single framework agreement for IT infrastructure managed services and end-user computing.
Top Democrats on the Senate Commerce Committee reportedly challenged the head of the Federal Communications Commission in a Monday letter, criticizing his approval of Nexstar Media Group’s merger with Tegna without a full commission vote. Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, and Senator Maria Cantwell, a Washington Democrat, jointly told FCC Chairman Brendan Carr that he improperly allowed agency...
Top Democrats on the Senate Commerce Committee reportedly challenged the head of the Federal Communications Commission in a Monday letter, criticizing his approval of Nexstar Media Group’s merger with Tegna without a full commission vote. Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, and Senator Maria Cantwell, a Washington Democrat, jointly told FCC Chairman Brendan Carr that he improperly allowed agency staff to green-light the merger even though it involved waiving major anti-consolidation rules, according to a copy of the letter reviewed by Bloomberg . Significant questions of policy must be addressed by the full FCC in a vote, the senators said. A federal judge in California has ordered Nexstar ( NXST ) to pause its integration with rival broadcast station group Tegna after TPG ( TPG )-owned DirecTV filed a lawsuit challenging the deal on antitrust grounds. “The FCC’s decision is baseless and blatantly political — and will have disastrous consequences for consumers across the country. For Colorado, it will likely result in even greater consolidation of local news coverage, further depriving Coloradans of access to a healthy and competitive news market. That is why we’ve opposed this merger every step of the way,” Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet and Congressman Joe Neguse said in a statement earlier this month. “As the appropriations process begins for the next fiscal year, it is critical for the Congress to utilize every tool to rein in the lawlessness of this regulatory agency, among others. We intend to do so.” More on Nexstar Media Nexstar Media's Aim For Scale Drives Instant Value, But Shares No Longer Cheap Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NXST) Presents at Deutsche Bank 34th Annual Media, Internet & Telecom Conference Transcript Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NXST) Presents at Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference 2026 Transcript Nexstar ordered by court to pause Tegna merger after DirecTV suit Eight states ask judge to temporarily block Nexstar, Tegna...