Adidas to buy back 1 billion euros of shares

Adidas AG (ADS.XE) said Tuesday that it plans to buy back shares worth up to 1 billion euros ($1.12 billion) in 2020.

The German sporting-goods company said the now-started buyback program is the third tranche of a share-repurchasing plan that it originally announced in March 2018.

In the two previous tranches, the company bought back a total of 8.3 million shares for EUR1.8 billion.

Adidas said it has returned a total of EUR3 billion to shareholders through its dividend policy and share buybacks since the program launched nearly two years ago.

Write to Kim Richters at [email protected]

Accenture To Strengthen SAP Capabilities With Acquisition Of Maihiro

Accenture (ACN) has agreed to acquire maihiro, a provider of SAP-based customer experience, customer relationship management, and commerce services. Headquartered in Munich, maihiro has approximately 160 professionals in offices across Germany and Austria. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The acquisition is expected to close in early 2020.

“Together with maihiro, we will have more expertise and capacity to serve clients in Austria, Switzerland, Germany and across Europe. Combined with Accenture’s end-to-end capabilities, client relationships and global delivery capabilities, we can provide scale and global reach for multinational clients,” said Dirk Appelhoff, Accenture SAP Business Group lead in Europe.

Rupee regains 11 paise against U.S. dollar amid ease in U.S.-Iran unrest

A rebound in the domestic equity markets also supported the rupee

The Indian rupee on Tuesday reclaimed some lost ground, rising 11 paise to close at 71.82 against the U.S. dollar as receding fears of a larger conflict in the Middle East helped crude oil prices ease.

Besides, a rebound in the domestic equity markets also supported the rupee.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened on a positive note at 71.73 against the U.S. currency. During the session, the domestic currency stayed strong and swung between a low of 71.87 and a high of 71.68. It finally closed at 71.82, showing a gain of 11 paise over its previous closing.

The rupee had slipped 13 paise to 71.93 against the greenback on Monday.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.12% to 96.78.

Brent futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.62% to $68.48 per barrel.

On the equity market front, the BSE benchmark Sensex ended 192.84 points, or 0.47%, higher at 40,869.47. While, the broader Nifty rose 59.90 points, or 0.50%, to finish at 12,052.95.

Starbucks launches Oatmilk Honey Latte in select U.S. stores

Starbucks Corp. SBUX, -0.79% launched the Oatmilk Honey Latte at 1,300 stores in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin on Tuesday. Oatmilk was added to the menu in Europe in January 2018, and has been available at some Starbucks Reserve locations since March 2019. The drink is one of three plant-based beverage Starbucks introduced on Tuesday. Rounding out the list are the Coconutmilk Latte and the Almondmilk Honey Flat White. The Coconutmilk Latte and Almondmilk Honey Flat White are available across the U.S. and Canada. Coconut milk has been available since 2015 and almond milk since 2016. Starbucks stock has gained 38.6% over the past year while the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.35% has gained 27.3% for the period.

ADM Acquires Yerbalatina Phytoactives – Quick Facts

ADM (ADM) has acquired Yerbalatina Phytoactives, a natural plant-based extracts and ingredients manufacturer, based in Brazil. Yerbalatina uses proprietary cool-drying technology to transform fruits, vegetables and other plants into a wide variety of extracts and ingredients for customers in the food, beverage and health industries.

Vikram Luthar, president of ADM’s Health & Wellness business, said: “Yerbalatina’s wide array of natural botanical extracts – including organic-certified ingredients – combined with their R&D capabilities and market expertise, are exciting additions to our pantry as we continue to build our leadership position in science-based microbiome solutions for human and animal health.”

Bitcoin Ends 2019 On A Better Note Than Last Year

Bitcoin may be standing nowhere near its all-time high of nearly $20000 reached two years ago, but as 2019 comes to a close, the most popular cryptocurrency has managed to regain the strength it lost a year ago.

The virtual currency was trading at $7,224 as of this writing – 95 percent increase from $3689 recorded on 2018 December 31.

From its weak position at the beginning of 2019, Bitcoin has been on a strong recovery path in the following months. Despite a struggling crypto market, Bitcoin continued to grow with frequent bullish movements.

The first two quarters proved decisive with more than 300 percent improvement in value.

Bitcoin touched the year’s peak of $12575 on July 9. And a bearish outlook emerged in the third quarter of the year, which witnessed some dramatic fluctuations in price levels.

Bitcoin experienced mostly a downward trend during the rest of the year, and in the last quarter it struggled to break above $7500.

After dipping to $6538 on December 17, the price has remained consolidated above $7,000.

In a market where the trading volume and market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies suffered, Bitcoin managed to stand out, less affected.

Tuesday, Bitcoin’s market capitalization remains at $131.98 billion, with a 24-hour trade volume of $21 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Japanese ambassador to Lebanon requests more cooperation on Ghosn -statement

BEIRUT, Jan 7 (Reuters) – Japan’s ambassador to Lebanon on Tuesday requested greater cooperation from President Michel Aoun in dealing with former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn in order to avoid negative repercussions for their bilateral ties, Lebanon’s presidency said in a statement.

Ambassador Takeshi Okubo discussed with Aoun Japan’s “great concern” over the Ghosn case and said he is making great efforts to preserve relations between Lebanon and Japan, the statement said. (Reporting by Eric Knecht and Tom Perry; editing by Jason Neely)