Qualcomm says it will drop NXP bid, barring last-second reprieve

Qualcomm says it will drop NXP bid, barring last-second reprieve

Qualcomm says it will drop NXP bid, barring last-second reprieve

BEIJING/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O), the world's biggest maker of chips for mobile phones, on Wednesday said it intends to drop its bid to buy Dutch chipmaker NXP Semiconductors (NXPI.O) after so far failing to secure approval from China against the backdrop of wider Sino-U.S. trade tensions. The $44 billion bid was the largest-ever merger in the semiconductor industry when announced in October 2016, just days before the election of U.S. President Donald Trump, and would hand Qualcomm a new market as growth in mobile phone demand slows. The deal became embroiled in a trade standoff between China and the United States, two countries who have clashed on issues including ownership of technology and patents.


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Wall Street rises on U.S.-EU trade deal hopes, tech gains

Wall Street rises on U.S.-EU trade deal hopes, tech gains

Wall Street's major indexes rose on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump said he hoped to reach a trade deal with Europe as he met with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. The S&P 500, the Nasdaq and the Dow all hit session highs as both Trump and Juncker struck a conciliatory tone on trade in their statements to reporters. The Dow, which had been weighed by Boeing Inc's report of higher costs for its aerial refuelling tanker programme, reversed its earlier downward course.


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For Russian business, Putin's summit win over Trump turns sour

For Russian business, Putin's summit win over Trump turns sour

Russia's political and business leaders were quick to chalk up last week's summit with U.S. President Donald Trump as a victory for Vladimir Putin. Now some fear Putin may have overplayed a winning hand and are bracing for a U.S. sanctions backlash. The rouble fell 1.2 percent on Tuesday after two U.S. senators said in a statement they had begun working on new sanctions that would, among other things, take aim at Russian sovereign debt.


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Options traders on edge as Qualcomm-NXP deal deadline looms

Traders in the U.S. options market braced for a large near-term move in the shares of chipmaker Qualcomm Inc and NXP Semiconductors with hours to go before the deadline to get China's nod for a $44 billion (33.42 billion pounds)deal. San Diego-based Qualcomm needs Chinese approval for the deal because the country accounted for nearly two-thirds of its global revenue last year, but Sino-U.S. trade tensions have raised the prospect that the deal could be scuppered. Qualcomm, the world's biggest maker of chips for mobile phones, and Dutch chipmaker NXP said in April they would call off the deal if they were unable to win Chinese regulatory approval by midnight on Wednesday.


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Fiat Chrysler’s Marchionne dies, shares dive on profit slide

Fiat Chrysler's Marchionne dies, shares dive on profit slide

Former Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne, who rescued the Italian and U.S. companies and built them into the world's seventh-largest carmaker, has died, the news breaking moments before the group reported a heavy fall in profit on Wednesday. The announcement of the death of Marchionne, 66, one of the auto industry's most tenacious and respected CEOs, drew tributes from rivals and tears from his closest colleagues, a collective grief that overshadowed a big sell-off in Fiat Chrysler shares. Marchionne had fallen gravely ill after what the company had described as shoulder surgery at a Zurich hospital.


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O Canna-bis! US marijuana companies go public in Canada

O Canna-bis! US marijuana companies go public in Canada

Green Thumb Industries had a business plan, expertise and plenty of ambition to grow its marijuana business. The Canadian Securities Exchange is quickly becoming the go-to place for U.S. cannabis companies orphaned by their own stock exchanges because the U.S. government still considers marijuana an illegal drug. Green Thumb took over a publicly traded Canadian company, added an "Inc." to its name and went public.


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