ViacomCBS Inc. said it is renaming itself Paramount Global and will refer to itself as Paramount, underscoring the company's emphasis on its Paramount+ streaming service and evoking the heritage of its roughly century-old film studio.
ViacomCBS Chair Shari Redstone unveiled the name change at an investor presentation Tuesday, saying it reflected the company's "promise to be the best." Before the presentation began, ViacomCBS played a video showing Ms. Redstone and ViacomCBS Chief Executive Bob Bakish driving up to the event in Bumblebee, an alien disguised as a bright yellow car from the company's "Transformers" franchise.
Retail Sales to Show Consumer Appetite for Spending Amid High Inflation
Americans are expected to have increased retail spending last month as the Omicron surge of Covid-19 eased and prices rose.
Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expect the Commerce Department to report on Wednesday that retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 2.1% in January, a sharp rebound from December's 1.9% month-over-month decline.
Japan's Stock Market Plans Revamp to Draw More Investors
TOKYO-The Tokyo Stock Exchange, a former global No. 1 turned also-ran, has a plan for revival that calls for sweeping out the market's dusty corners where small and lightly traded companies loiter.
The exchange recently unveiled its biggest overhaul in 60 years that includes tougher standards for its top section, which will be renamed "Prime" and start operating in April.
China Inflation Eases as Economy Could Use a Boost
HONG KONG-Inflationary pressure in China continued to ease in January, offering room for Beijing to stimulate growth while more major economies are looking to tighten policy to curb rising prices.
The producer-price index, a gauge of wholesale prices charged by manufacturers, rose a lower-than-expected 9.1% from a year earlier, down from December's 10.3%, National Bureau of Statistics data published on Wednesday show. Softening coal and steel prices helped lead the index lower, said Dong Lijuan, a senior statistician with the bureau.
Eurozone Industrial Production Rose in December, Beating Forecasts
Industrial production in the eurozone rose in December, beating forecasts despite global supply-chain strains and rising input prices.
Output from factories, mines and utilities across the region rose 1.2% in December compared with November, the European Union statistics agency Eurostat said Wednesday. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a 0.1% increase.
U.K. Annual Inflation Accelerated to 5.5% in January
The rate of inflation in the U.K. quickened in January, holding at a three-decade high, as energy prices remain elevated and supply chains continue to struggle with the lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The consumer price index--which measures what consumers pay for goods and services--increased 5.5% in January, compared with a year earlier, the U.K.'s Office for National Statistics said Wednesday.
China Aims to Tamp Down Iron-Ore Prices, But Impact Is Tipped to Be Short-Lived -- Talking Markets
China's attempts to curb speculation in the iron-ore market have jolted prices of the steel ingredient lower, but market experts don't see the impact lasting.
Concerns around Chinese intervention have flared at a time when demand for iron ore has been stunted by steel production restrictions in China, aimed at improving air quality for the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games.
Senate Republicans Block Vote on Biden's Fed Nominees
WASHINGTON-Senate Republicans refused to attend a crucial committee vote on President Biden's nominees to the Federal Reserve over a disagreement with Democrats on one of the candidates, delaying the confirmation of all five picks, including Chairman Jerome Powell.
Republicans had earlier said they wouldn't attend a Senate Banking Committee vote on the nominees because of concerns they had with Sarah Bloom Raskin, nominated to serve as vice chairwoman for bank supervision.
SEC Probes Trading Affiliates of Crypto Giant Binance's U.S. Arm
The Securities and Exchange Commission is examining the relationship between the U.S. arm of Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, and two trading firms with ties to Binance's founder, people familiar with the probe say.
The two trading firms, Sigma Chain AG and Merit Peak Ltd., act as market makers that trade cryptocurrencies on the Binance.US exchange. One area of focus for regulators is how Binance.US disclosed to customers its links to the trading firms, the people say.
Russia Says Troops Withdraw From Crimea but U.S. Warns Ukraine Invasion Still Possible
MOSCOW-Russia's Defense Ministry said it was withdrawing troops from Crimea following the completion of military drills as Western intelligence reports that Moscow could invade its smaller neighbor as soon as Wednesday didn't immediately materialize.
Defense officials said the troops were returning to their permanent place of deployment, but their destination could not be independently confirmed and large Russian military exercises continued across a broad front elsewhere near Ukraine.
Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Banks Hit by Suspected Cyberattacks, Officials Say
Ukraine's Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces websites and online services of two state-owned banks were disrupted by suspected cyberattacks on Tuesday, government and bank officials have said.
The country's defense ministry said in an English-language Facebook post that its web portal suffered a likely distributed denial of service attack, in which hackers flooded the website with traffic to overload its systems and take it offline.
Biden Administration Seeking Additional $30 Billion for Covid-19 Response
WASHINGTON-The Biden administration told Congress it needs an additional $30 billion in coronavirus response aid, according to people familiar with the matter.
Health and Human Services Department officials outlined the request for additional aid in a briefing with congressional staff on Tuesday, the people said. The request includes $17.9 billion for medical countermeasures like antivirals, $4.9 billion for testing capacity and $2.7 billion to combat future variants, the people said.
Write to sarka.halas@wsj.com
TODAY IN CANADA
Earnings:
Barrick Gold 4Q
Galiano Gold 4Q
goeasy 4Q
iA Fincl Corp. (IAG.T) 4Q
Keyera Corp. (KEY.T) 4Q
North American Construct (NOA.T) 4Q
Nutrien 4Q
Shopify 4Q
Western Forest Pdcts (WEF.T) 4Q
Economic Indicators (ET):
0830 Dec Wholesale trade
0830 Dec Monthly Survey of Manufacturing
0830 Jan CPI
Other News:
'Freedom Convoy' Protesters in Canada's Capital City Dig in After Tougher Measures
The Canadian government on Tuesday defended its decision to invoke unusual emergency powers to quell protests that have paralyzed the capital for 19 days, with the country's top security official calling a small group behind the current demonstrations a serious threat.
"There have been those who have tried to characterize these illegal blockades [as being] about vaccines and mandates and fatigue with the pandemic. That is not what is driving this movement right now," Marco Mendicino, Canada's Public Safety Minister, said at a news conference Tuesday.
"What is driving this movement is a very small, organized group that is driven by an ideology to overthrow the government through whatever means they may wish to use," he said.
A spokesman for Mr. Mendicino didn't immediately respond to a request for comment regarding what evidence the government has of possible political violence.
Market Talk:
Canada's Inflation Data Seen Having Little Impact on Canadian Dollar
The release of Canada's January inflation data later should support the case for the Bank of Canada to raise interest rates aggressively in 2022 but the Canadian dollar is unlikely to rise materially, ING says. Headline inflation should stabilize marginally below 5.0% and core inflation may accelerate slightly, which should underpin the need for rate rises, ING analysts say in a note. "Still, markets are pricing in six hikes in 2022 (also our call), which means that the upside room for front-end rates and CAD after the CPI release may be quite limited today, " ING says. USD/CAD falls 0.3% to 1.2683.
Expected Major Events for Wednesday
00:01/UK: Jan Scottish Retail Sales Monitor
04:30/JPN: Dec Tertiary Industry Index
07:00/UK: Jan UK producer prices
07:00/UK: Jan UK monthly inflation figures
09:30/UK: Dec UK House Price Index
09:30/UK: Nov Card Spending statistics
12:00/US: 02/11 MBA Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey
13:30/CAN: Dec Wholesale trade
13:30/CAN: Dec Monthly Survey of Manufacturing
13:30/US: Jan Advance Monthly Sales for Retail & Food Services
13:30/CAN: Jan CPI
13:30/US: Jan Import & Export Price Indexes
14:15/US: Jan Industrial Production & Capacity Utilization
15:00/US: Dec Manufacturing & Trade: Inventories & Sales
15:00/US: Feb NAHB Housing Market Index
15:30/US: 02/11 EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report
23:50/JPN: Dec Orders Received for Machinery
23:50/JPN: Jan Provisional Trade Statistics for the Month
All times in GMT. Powered by Kantar Media and Dow Jones.
Expected Earnings for Wednesday
A&W Revenue Royalties Income Fund (AW.UN.T,AWRRF) is expected to report for 4Q.
AMC Networks Inc (AMCX) is expected to report $0.10 for 4Q.
Allete Inc (ALE) is expected to report $1.09 for 4Q.
Altra Industrial Motion Corp (AIMC) is expected to report $0.49 for 4Q.
Analog Devices (ADI) is expected to report $0.41 for 1Q.
Armstrong Flooring Inc (AFI) is expected to report $-0.26 for 4Q.
BGC Partners (BGCP) is expected to report $0.36 for 4Q.
Barrick Gold Corp (ABX.T,GOLD) is expected to report $0.38 for 4Q.
(MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires
02-16-22 0610ET
