Oct 21 Reuters India39;s UltraTech Cement reported a biggerthanexpected decline in secondquarter profit on Monday, weighed by prices that fell to near fiveyear lows. The country39;s top cement maker reported a 36 decline in consolidated net profit to 8.2 billion rupees for the quarter ended Sept. 30. Analysts, on average, had expected a profit of 10.53 […]

Oct 21 Reuters Microsoft will allow customers to build autonomous artificial intelligence agents starting in November, the software giant said on Monday, in its latest move to tap the booming technology. The company is positioning autonomous agents programs which require little human intervention unlike chatbots as apps for an AIdriven world, capable of handling client inquiries, […]

Oct 21 Reuters India39;s UltraTech Cement said on Monday it was seeing early signs of a price recovery, after it reported a sharp drop in secondquarter profit due to persistently low prices of the construction material. Prices have been improving since the end of August and so far in October, have held steady, Atul Daga, UltraTech39;s […]

Reuters Jeff Bezosbacked Perplexity AI has begun fundraising talks in which it is looking to more than double its valuation to 8 billion or more, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. Perplexity has told investors it is looking to raise around 500 million in the new funding round, the Journal reported citing people familiar […]

SHANGHAI, Oct 21 Reuters More than 20 Chinese listed companies have announced plans to tap special central bank lending for share purchases, according to exchange filings, days after the People39;s Bank of China PBOC kicked off the 42 billion funding scheme. The PBOC launched the relending programme on Friday, allowing listed companies or their major shareholders to […]

European banks report Q3 earnings this week and next Focus on fading interest rate boost, cost controls UniCredit move stirs MA chatter LONDON, Oct 21 Reuters Europe39;s biggest banks are healthier than at any point since the 200809 financial crisis, but investors want reassurance that they can trust their longer term earnings power as interest […]

ZURICH, Oct 21 Reuters UBS is offloading part of the Credit Suisse business it acquired last year with a deal to sell the fallen bank39;s 50 stake in credit card provider Swisscard. UBS will sell its 50 holding in the company to its joint venture partner American Express, Swisscard said in a statement. Terms of the […]

PARIS, Oct 21 Reuters Sanofi said on Monday it had entered exclusive talks for the sale of a 50 controlling stake in its consumer health business Opella to U.S. private equity firm Clayton Dubilier Rice CDR. The French pharmaceutical company said its Opella business has been valued at around 16 billion euros 17.38 billion, or 14 […]

STOCKHOLM, Oct 21 Reuters Norway39;s largest bank DNB said on Monday it had agreed to buy Swedish investment bank and asset manager Carnegie from private equity firm Altor and minority owners for around 12 billion Swedish crowns 1.14 billion. DNB said in a statement it expects to finalise the allcash deal, which is subject to authority […]

MUMBAI, Oct 21 Reuters Shares of India39;s Kotak Mahindra Bank and RBL Bank slumped on Monday as the lenders reported a jump in bad loans that hurt their secondquarter profit and margins, a trend that could continue for a few more quarters. Kotak39;s shares slid as much as 6 to a near twomonth low in early trade, […]