Bloomberg The Middle East’s benchmark equity indexes all advanced on Sunday, tracking a global stock rally on optimism that a Democratic sweep in the US will boost fiscal spending in the world’s largest economy. Egypt’s EGX 30 Index climbed for a third day to lead regional gains as the government reported declining inflation. Meantime, Saudi shares increased, hovering at their …

Bloomberg Plug Power Inc., a fuel-cell company that’s struggled to turn a profit, surged in value to nearly $25 billion after striking a deal with a South Korean conglomerate to promote hydrogen technology in Asia. Shares in the Latham, New York, company jumped more than 50%, when SK Group agreed to pay $1.5 billion for a 10% stake in it. …

Bloomberg Oil posted the biggest weekly gain since late September as Saudi Arabia’s plan to slice output spurred a surge in physical crude buying. Futures in New York advanced $3.72 this week and Brent oil topped $55 a barrel for the first time since February. Saudi Arabia’s pledge earlier this week to cut production by 1 million barrels a day …

JAKARTA / WAM/Reuters A Sriwijaya Air plane with 62 people on board lost contact after taking off from Indonesia’s capital Jakarta on a domestic flight on Saturday and rescuers said suspected debris had been found in the sea off the city, Reuters reported. The Boeing 737-500, en route to Pontianak in West Kalimantan, disappeared from radar screens after taking off …

Bloomberg India’s petroleum consumption fell for the first time in more than two decades in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic shuttered businesses and factories, hurting demand from one of the world’s largest users of the fuel. Total petroleum demand declined 10.8% last year from 2019, and was at a five-year low of 193.4 million tons, according to Bloomberg calculations of …

Bloomberg Boeing Co reached a $2.5 billion agreement to settle a criminal charge that it defrauded the US government by concealing information about the 737 Max, the ill-fated jet model involved in two fatal crashes that killed 346 people. The planemaker entered into a deferred prosecution agreement in the Northern District of Texas. In turn, the Justice Department will dismiss …

Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc has shuttered Prime Pantry, a grocery and household essentials delivery service that was one of the retailer’s early forays into selling food online. The program closed last week, an Amazon spokeswoman said, and thousands of products previously available under the Prime Pantry banner were folded into the company’s main retail site. Launched in 2014, Prime Pantry featured …

Bloomberg WestJet Airlines Ltd said it would reduce capacity by a further 30% in February and March, affecting the jobs or pay of roughly 1,000 employees and bringing the number of domestic and international flights it operates down to levels not seen in almost 20 years. The cuts come after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government ordered travellers to present a …

Bloomberg Ryanair Holdings Plc slashed its winter schedule, while denouncing new coronavirus-related travel restrictions as “draconian” and calling for faster vaccine rollouts in the UK and its home country of Ireland. Europe’s biggest discount airline said it will offer few flights from January 21 until the travel curbs are lifted. The cutbacks go beyond ones made earlier in the week …

Bloomberg Shopify Inc said it shut down e-commerce stores affiliated with President Donald Trump in response to the storming of the US Capitol by Trump supporters. “We have terminated stores affiliated with President Trump,” a company spokeswoman said by email. “Shopify does not tolerate actions that incite violence.” The shutdown affects the Trump Organization’s official store, TrumpStore.com, and a campaign …