Reuters - Before the Bell

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Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Spotify hit with $1.6 billion copyright lawsuit

(Reuters) - Music streaming company Spotify was sued by Wixen Music Publishing Inc last week for allegedly using thousands of songs, including those of Tom Petty, Neil Young and the Doors, without a license and compensation to the music publisher.

Dominion Energy to buy Scana Corp in $7.9 billion deal

(Reuters) - Dominion Energy Inc said on Wednesday it would buy Scana Corp in an all-stock deal that values the electric utility company at about $7.9 billion.

Stock futures rise on signs of strong global economic growth

(Reuters) - U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher opening for Wall Street on Wednesday as signs of quickening economic activity around the world encouraged risk-on sentiment among investors.

World stocks smash new records as New Year party rolls on

LONDON (Reuters) - World stocks hit fresh highs on Wednesday with European markets joining the party as early indications suggest 2018 will be another year of synchronized global growth led by a robust European economy.

Amazon, Google cut speaker prices in market share contest: analysts

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google both discounted their virtual assistant speakers so deeply over the holiday shopping season that they likely lost a few dollars per unit, highlighting a sharply different strategy from Apple Inc as it prepares its HomePod speaker, analysts said.

U.S. blocks MoneyGram sale to China's Ant Financial on national security concerns

(Reuters) - Ant Financial's plan to acquire U.S. money transfer company MoneyGram International Inc collapsed on Tuesday after a U.S. government panel rejected it over national security concerns, the most high-profile Chinese deal to be torpedoed under the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

More than half of new Norway car sales now electric or hybrid

OSLO (Reuters) - Sales of electric and hybrid cars exceeded half of new registrations in Norway in 2017, a record aided by generous subsidies that extended the Nordic nation's lead in a shift from fossil-fuel engines, data showed on Wednesday.

China central bank can tell local governments to regulate bitcoin miners' power use: source

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's central bank told a top-level government internet finance group that the monetary authority can tell local governments to regulate the power usage of bitcoin miners to gradually reduce the scale of their production, a source said.

Britain's open to foreign investment, trade minister Fox tells China

BEIJING (Reuters) - British trade minister Liam Fox said on Wednesday that London would continue to welcome foreign investment, after a U.S. panel rejected a Chinese acquisition of a U.S. money transfer company on national security concerns.

Samsung's U.S. washing machine factory to begin operations in Jan: exec

SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd plans to begin operating its new washing machine factory in the United States this month, a top executive said on Wednesday, as it awaits a U.S. government decision on curbing imports of washers.