Headlines

Airline group Abra has decided to terminate talks on a potential merger between Brazilian carrier Gol, which it controls, and rival Azul , a securities filing showed late on Thursday, Reuters reported. The move ends prospects for the creation of a dominant airline in Latin America's largest economy, which would have held roughly 60% of the domestic market, surpassing the local unit of Chile-based LATAM Airlines.

The Bank of Mexico cut its benchmark interest rate to a three-year low Thursday as expected and said further reductions are possible, while it still sees inflation returning to its target next year, the Wall Street Journal reported. The five-member board of governors voted 4-1 to lower the overnight interest-rate target by a quarter of a percentage point to 7.50% in a 10th consecutive cut that brought the rate to its lowest level since June 2022. Deputy Gov. Jonathan Heath voted to keep the rate at 7.75%.

Jaguar Land Rover's production shutdown after a cyberattack is hitting businesses in Britain's West Midlands region, a survey showed on Friday, with firms already making redundancies or cutting staff hours in response, Reuters reported. The government is considering financial support for the luxury carmaker, which is owned by India's Tata Motors, after the cyberattack halted production at the start of this month. It has extended the shutdown until October.

Bosch will cut around 13,000 extra jobs at its auto-parts business by 2030, representing about 3% of its global workforce. The cuts, which come on top of thousands of job losses at Bosch in recent years, will mainly affect positions in Germany. The company’s base in the Stuttgart region is set to be the hardest hit, while sites in areas such as Feuerbach and Schwieberdingen will see thousands of job cuts. The engineering giant is seeking to claw back €2.5 billion in losses “as quickly as possible” as Europe’s car industry remains in the doldrums.

President Trump on Thursday announced a slew of steep tariffs on pharmaceuticals, semi trucks, kitchen cabinets and furniture, saying import taxes on those products would go into effect on Oct. 1, the New York Times reported. The effects of the new tariffs are likely to be felt across sectors of the economy, from housing and health care to logistics. The tariffs range from 25 percent to 100 percent, with the highest levies applying to “any branded or patented” pharmaceutical product coming into the United States.

President Trump’s latest tariffs sent shock waves throughout Asia, heaping additional turmoil on companies already grappling with uncertainty, while adding further complexity for trade officials ironing out the details of recently struck trade agreements, the New York Times reported. As the source of about 40 percent of goods imported into the United States, Asia has borne the brunt of Mr. Trump’s campaign to rewrite the rules of global trade.

India said on Friday its officials held “constructive” talks with U.S. counterparts during a visit to Washington this week, and both sides agreed to continue discussions aimed at concluding a mutually beneficial trade deal soon, Reuters reported. "Both sides exchanged views on possible contours of the deal," the commerce ministry said in a statement. Read more.

Canada's monthly gross domestic product rebounded from three months of contraction to grow by 0.2% in July as mining, manufacturing and wholesale trade boosted growth, data showed on Friday, Reuters reported. Canada's GDP had shrunk in the second quarter by 1.6% annualized and economists were closely tracking the July GDP growth figure to get an indication of whether there will be a contraction in the third quarter. Two consecutive quarters of contraction are considered a technical recession.

The pace of price growth in the Tokyo metropolitan area unexpectedly held steady in September, but upward pressure remains, keeping an interest-rate hike in play, the Wall Street Journal reported. Consumer inflation in Tokyo, excluding volatile fresh food prices, climbed 2.5% from a year earlier, government data showed Friday. That matched the pace recorded in August and was below a 2.8% rise expected in a poll of economists by data provider Quick. The yen weakened to 149.94 against the dollar after the data. Tokyo figures are considered an early indicator of nationwide trends.

The trustee for a bankrupt unit of Northvolt AB has found no basis to hold board directors personally liable for unpaid supplier claims of 6.8 billion kronor ($720 million), Bloomberg News reported. The report to the Stockholm District Court found no unlawful value transfers, breaches of statutory loan prohibitions, or fraudulent accounting. The board, including founder Peter Carlsson and CFO Alexander Hartman, are likely to avoid personal liability for the unpaid claims.