Plus, winter storm leaves over 25 people dead
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According to a recent Mastercard report, U.S. retail sales rose 7.6% from Nov. 1 through Christmas Eve, Dec. 24. This year’s sales growth is less than the 8.5% reported during the same period last year. Mastercard’s SpendingPulse measures in-store and online retail sales across all forms of payment. More: - U.S. consumers were more cautious with their spending following months of high inflation, rising interest rates, and uncertainty about the state of the economy.
- According to the report, electronic sales fell 5.3% between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24, compared to last year.
- Apparel sales rose 4.4%, and online sales rose 10% over the same period.
- Sales in restaurant categories rose 15.1%.
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Toyota produced a record 833,104 vehicles in November, up 1.5% compared to last year. The company said it sold 796,484 cars globally in November, up 2.9% YoY. Toyota said it's domestic output fell 3.3% to 266,174 units; however, its foreign output rose 3.8% to 566,930. More: - Including vehicles assembled by its subsidiaries Daihatsu Motor and Hino Motors, the company's output and sales totaled 982,552 units and 884,112 units, respectively.
- On the news of the record-breaking month, Toyota shares rose ~0.3% in Tokyo.
- The stock is down ~13% YoY.
- Fellow Japanese automaker Nissan reported a 23% decline in global output to 248,961 vehicles in November.
- Honda reported a 12% drop in output to 325,996 units in November compared to last year.
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Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Russia was ready to resume its liquified natural gas supplies to Europe through the Yamal-Europe Pipeline. Russia is also in talks with Turkey to supply natural gas through its hub in the country. More: - The Yamal-Europe pipeline supplies liquified natural gas to western Europe.
- The pipeline has remained mostly unused following the Russia-Ukraine war.
- By the end of the year, Russia will have shipped 21 billion cubic meters of liquefied natural gas to Europe.
- Novak added that Russia has agreed to increase its gas supplies to Azerbaijan for domestic consumption.
- Russia is also in talks with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to increase its gas supplies to the countries.
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The FTC has ordered Mastercard to stop prohibiting the use of competing networks to process debit payments. Moving forward, Mastercard has to start providing competing payment networks with the customer account information they need to process payments. More: - Mastercard said it reached an agreement with the agency on routing certain debit card transactions.
- The company said it plans to continue working with the FTC to update its processes to comply with the recent order and provide consumers with more choices.
- Mastercard added that it did not think its current practices were illegal and provided merchants with options.
- Holly Vedova, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, called the new order a win for consumers and merchants who rely on debit card payments to operate their businesses.
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The Defense Department awarded several contracts to companies on Friday, including Lockheed Martin and Boeing. Lockheed Martin received defense contracts worth over $1B. Boeing was awarded contracts worth nearly $500M. More: - Lockheed Martin’s contract procures long lead time materials, parts, components, and efforts necessary to maintain on-time production.
- It also includes delivery of 118 Lot 18 aircraft F-35 aircraft for the Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, non-U.S. Department of Defense participants, and Foreign Military Sales customers.
- Earlier this month, Lockheed Martin was awarded a $431M contract to deliver new High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and support services for the U.S. Army and its foreign allies.
- Boeing was awarded a $497M firm-fixed-price contract for CH-47F helicopters.
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Tesla suspended production at its Shanghai plant on Saturday, a day ahead of a planned 8-day production break. The move comes as the EV maker struggles with a re-surge in COVID-19 infections among its workers and suppliers. More: - Tesla informed workers of the pause a day earlier than initially planned.
- The company told employees production would resume on Jan. 2.
- Tesla told Chinese news outlet Global Times that the company had planned for annual maintenance of its car-manufacturing lines in Shanghai this week.
- The company added that workers would take a break during the maintenance.
- Earlier this year, Tesla shut down its Shanghai plant for weeks due to COVID-19-related disruptions.
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- At least 27 people have died in Buffalo, N.Y., due to the winter storm sweeping across the U.S. At least 40 people have been killed throughout the U.S. due to the storm.
- China is ending its inbound quarantine requirement in early January. Starting Jan. 8, people arriving in China will no longer be required to quarantine; however, they would still need to have a negative COVID-19 test result within 48 hours of departing their location.
- Microsoft was fined $64M by France’s data-protection regulator, the CNIL, for failing to make it easy for Bing search engine users to reject cookies used for online ads.
- The EU’s top court ruled on Thursday that Amazon could be held responsible for selling counterfeit Louboutin shoes on its platform.
- China sent about 71 fighter jets to the region surrounding Taiwan on Sunday. Beijing said the move was a response to provocation by Washington and Taipei. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said it also detected seven Chinese naval vessels in waters near Taiwan on Sunday.
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 |  | Vanessa Omeokachie is a writer for Inside.com; she writes the daily Inside Business newsletter. Her interests include finance, technology, and entrepreneurship. In her free time, she enjoys reading, hiking, attending concerts and music festivals, traveling, and exploring. Connect with her on Twitter @VanessaOmeo or on LinkedIn. |   | | Editor | Vibha Chapparike is a Freelance Writer & Editor at Inside.com. With her post-graduation in Management and Finance completed, Vibha is expanding her knowledge in venture capital, business, startups, and technology. She has had a career in public relations and communications. An ardent reader and writer currently residing in Singapore, you can follow Vibha on Twitter @VChapparike. | |
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