Wall Street firms retreat from office, holiday parties as virus spreads

Wall Street banks and investment firms are retrenching from their push to get staff back to the office, with Citigroup Inc (C.N), Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N), Carlyle Group Inc (CG.O), Blackstone (BX.N) and MetLife (MET.N) among the latest to adjust plans as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus spreads.
Oil rises towards $75 as U.S. demand and Fed outweigh virus concern

Oil rose towards $75 on Thursday supported by record U.S. implied demand and falling crude stockpiles, even as the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant threatens to put a brake on consumption globally.
COVID curbs freeze Germany’s private sector growth in December – PMI

Growth in German private sector activity evaporated in December as restrictions to break an aggressive fourth wave of coronavirus infections hit the services sector in Europe’s largest economy, a survey showed on Thursday.
Airlines place their bets, looking past pandemic to renew fleets

As the world hunkers down for Omicron, some investors might expect the global jet market to be withering away. Far from it.
From China to Best Buy: Gaming controllers hit bumps on way to U.S. consumers

Fraser Townley eyes two gaping holes in one side of a pallet one of his workers just pulled out of the orange Hapag-Lloyd shipping container that arrived here at his warehouse from China one recent chilly morning.
Dubai leads major Gulf bourses higher as Omicron fears ease

Most stock markets in the Gulf rose in early trade on Tuesday, on receding worries about the impact of the Omicron coronavirus variant, with the Dubai index outperforming the region.
Asia stocks bounce from one-year low, China gains on monetary easing

Asian shares staged a recovery on Tuesday on receding worries about the impact of the Omicron variant while Chinese markets were supported by the central bank easing monetary policy.
Google real estate exec says 5% more workers coming in to office each week

Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) Google has seen an increasing number of employees coming in to its offices each week, particularly younger workers, the company’s real estate chief said during an interview at the Reuters Next conference on Friday.
CBI cuts UK economic growth forecasts on supply chain hit

Britain’s economy looks set to grow more slowly than previously thought this year and in 2023 due to global supply chain problems and the government must encourage longer-term business investment, an employers group said on Monday.
Oil rebounds above $71 on Omicron hopes, Iran talks

Oil rose by more than $1 a barrel to above $71 on Monday as hopes that the Omicron coronavirus variant may cause mostly mild symptoms boosted riskier assets and as the prospect of an imminent rise in Iranian oil exports looked less likely.