Global News

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Retail sales volumes in Brazil posted in November their biggest drop in five months, government statistics agency IBGE said on Wednesday, affected by higher fuel prices and a weak Black Friday performance last year.
Brazil's retail sales fell 0.6% in November from October, IBGE reported, a deeper drop than the 0.3% one expected by economists polled by Reuters and the first negative reading since July.
The latest data came in as consumption stutters in Brazil amid a lack of credit growth, higher interest rates and rising consumer prices, research manager Cristiano Santos said in a statement.

South Korean solar energy company Qcells on Wednesday said it would invest $2.5 billion to expand its manufacturing capacity in the United States, creating as many as 2,500 jobs in Georgia.
The announcement by the solar division of conglomerate Hanwha Corp is one of the biggest corporate manufacturing commitments since the passage of U.S. President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which includes over $300 billion in subsidies to tackle climate change.
Some of those incentives are aimed at boosting domestic manufacturing of clean energy products that are currently made primarily in China, such as solar cells and panels.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A tumultuous start for the new U.S. Congress has some investors worried about what could be a prolonged battle over raising the U.S. debt ceiling later this year.
The U.S. Treasury is expected to reach its mandated $31.4 trillion borrowing limit in 2023, and Republicans see that as an opportunity to curb President Joe Biden's spending on Democratic initiatives such as climate change and new social programs.
While fights over raising the debt limit are nothing new in Washington, some investors worry the Republican party's narrow majority in Congress could give the party’s hard-liners the upper hand, making it much harder to reach a deal this time around.