Businesses including BP PLC, Shell PLC and Apple Inc. have begun cutting ties with Russia as it continues its attacks on Ukraine. On Sunday, BP said it plans to exit its roughly 20% stake in oil company Rosneft Oil Co., followed by Shell a day later saying it would pull back from its joint ventures with Gazprom PJSC and end its financing of the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline project.
Elon Musk Invites UAW to Hold Union Vote at Tesla
Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk said he was open to the United Auto Workers union holding a vote about organizing labor at the company after long resisting such a move.
"Our real challenge is Bay Area has negative unemployment, so if we don't treat and compensate our (awesome) people well, they have many other offers and will just leave!" Mr. Musk said via Twitter late Wednesday. "I'd like hereby to invite UAW to hold a union vote at their convenience. Tesla will do nothing to stop them," he said.
Peloton Founder Sells $50 Million of Shares to Firm Backed by Michael Dell
Peloton Interactive Inc.'s founder and former chief executive, John Foley, has sold about $50 million worth of shares in the company to an investment firm backed by computer entrepreneur Michael Dell, according to a securities filing Wednesday.
Mr. Foley, who stepped down in February as troubles mounted at Peloton, still holds enough shares after the sale to maintain effective control of the exercise-equipment maker.
Amazon Workers at Second New York Warehouse to Hold Union Vote
Amazon.com Inc. workers at a second company facility in New York will vote on a union, escalating one of a growing list of labor battles for the e-commerce giant.
The National Labor Relations Board has told labor representatives they have demonstrated enough support among employees to hold an election on whether to unionize an Amazon facility named LDJ5 in New York's Staten Island, according to labor organizers and the company.
Citgo Sales Process Put in Motion With Venezuela's Shares Still Frozen
A federal judge put in motion a sale process for Venezuela's stake in Citgo Petroleum Corp. "up to and including selecting a winning bid," even as the U.S. government continues to block any change in control of the Houston-based refiner.
Judge Leonard Stark of the U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Del., approved a sale procedure for the shares of Citgo's U.S. holding company, a valuable state asset controlled by the U.S.-backed opposition to Venezuela's authoritarian regime.
Chinese Auto Makers Dive as New Sales Data Shows Continued Sector Weakness
Chinese auto stocks dived on Thursday, after new sales data from a few key electric-car makers remained muted in a sign of continued consumption slowdown and chip-supply constraints.
Shares of Great Wall Motor Co. slumped as much as 13% during the session before ending 11% lower in Hong Kong. Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. slid 5.8% and BYD Co. dropped 2.7%. EV makers XPeng Inc. and Li Auto Inc. lost 1.8% and 3.8%, respectively.
Russia Batters Ukraine's No. 2 City Kharkiv, as Kyiv Offensive Stalls
KYIV, Ukraine-Russian forces pounded Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, with airstrikes in a bid to break the will of the country's resistance as Moscow's offensive toward Kyiv stalled amid fierce Ukrainian counterattacks and logistics mishaps.
Russian missile debris fell near Kyiv's central train station on Wednesday night, damaging a major heating pipeline, with the blast wave breaking the station's windows. Thousands of civilians, particularly women and children, are sheltering in the station at night as they await evacuation trains to western Ukraine. Ukrainian officials said the missile was shot down by Kyiv's air defenses.
Fed's Powell Set to Discuss Rate-Rise Plans With Senate Lawmakers
WASHINGTON-Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is set to return to Capitol Hill on Thursday morning for the second of two days of testimony, this time before the Senate Banking Committee.
Before a House panel on Wednesday, Mr. Powell offered an unusually explicit preview of anticipated policy action when he said he would propose a quarter-percentage-point interest-rate increase at the central bank's meeting in two weeks amid high inflation, strong economic demand and a tight labor market.
Derby's Take: Monetary Policy Rules Point to Fed Being Way Behind the Curve
Monetary policy rules show the Federal Reserve may be well behind the curve in its effort to cool inflation.
A report this week from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland said that, based on a mix of simple monetary policy rules, the median view of the federal-funds rate suggests it should be at 3.23% right now, not at the near-zero level it has been at since March 2020. Under those rules, the rate would rise to 3.72% by the first quarter of next year and to 3.95% by the first quarter of 2024, the Cleveland Fed said.
U.S. Officials Detail Efforts to Enforce Raft of New Russia Rules
Law enforcement and regulatory agencies are preparing to enforce a raft of new export control rules and initiatives as part of the U.S. government's response to the invasion of Ukraine.
Officials from the U.S. Justice Department, U.S. Commerce Department and other federal agencies spoke Wednesday at a conference on white-collar crime in San Francisco about their efforts to contribute to the Biden administration's response to Russia's military actions in Ukraine.
A Closed Russia Market After Invasion Challenges U.S. Fund Managers
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has created a conundrum for U.S. investment firms, pressuring them to unload Russian securities when the country's stock market is closed and foreigners are blocked from selling shares there.
In response to sanctions and other steps the U.S. and other countries have taken to punish Russia, the Moscow exchange suspended stock trading every day this week through Wednesday. Russia on Monday banned brokers from selling securities owned by foreign investors.
Eurozone Growth Rebounded in February Ahead of Ukraine's Invasion, PMIs Show
Eurozone economic growth regained momentum in February to reach its strongest pace since last September, according to the latest purchasing managers index by IHS Markit.
After slumping in January to an 11-month low, the eurozone composite PMI rose to 55.5 in February from 52.3 in the previous month.
Ukrainian Government Bonds Sink to New Lows Following Russian Military Escalation
Bonds issued by the Ukrainian government hit new lows Wednesday despite assurances from foreign governments and global institutions that they would continue to buttress Ukraine's wartime finances.
On Wednesday, a Ukrainian government bond coming due in September was quoted between 36 and 40 cents on the dollar, down from 65 cents on Friday, according to data from FactSet. A 2033 bond was quoted between 23 to 26 cents on the dollar Wednesday, down from 45 cents Friday.
China Services Activity Drops to Six-Month Low, Weighed by Strict Covid-19 Curbs
A private gauge of China's services sector retreated further in February and slipped to a six-month low, as Beijing's strict anti-coronavirus restrictions weighed on consumer spending.
The Caixin China services purchasing managers index dropped to 50.2 in February from 51.4 in January, Caixin Media Co. and research company IHS Markit said Thursday. The reading remained above the 50 mark, which separates month-to-month activity expansion from contraction.
Jan. 6 Committee Says Trump and Allies Might Have Committed Crimes
WASHINGTON-The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol said in a court filing Wednesday that President Donald Trump and some of his allies might have committed crimes by seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
The filing came as part of legal proceedings over the testimony of John Eastman, a lawyer and professor at Chapman University who advanced a fringe legal theory after Mr. Trump's loss to Joe Biden. Mr. Eastman claimed that Vice President Mike Pence could stop certification of the election on Jan. 6, 2021, as part of his ceremonial role as vice president. The panel's immediate aim with the filing was to force Mr. Eastman to hand over thousands of pages of emails that he is suing to withhold.
Greg Kelly, Former Ghosn Aide at Nissan, Gets Six-Month Suspended Sentence
TOKYO-Former Nissan Motor Co. executive Greg Kelly was found guilty of helping former Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn evade Japan's pay-disclosure laws during one fiscal year, but the Tokyo District Court cleared him of other charges and gave him a suspended sentence, meaning he probably won't have to serve prison time.
The court found Mr. Kelly guilty in connection with Nissan's financial report for the fiscal year ending March 2018, but said he wasn't guilty of wrongdoing on other Nissan reports stretching back nearly a decade.
U.S. Officials Detail Efforts to Enforce Raft of New Russia Rules
Law enforcement and regulatory agencies are preparing to enforce a raft of new export control rules and initiatives as part of the U.S. government's response to the invasion of Ukraine.
Officials from the U.S. Justice Department, U.S. Commerce Department and other federal agencies spoke Wednesday at a conference on white-collar crime in San Francisco about their efforts to contribute to the Biden administration's response to Russia's military actions in Ukraine.
Write to sarka.halas@wsj.com
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