Business Highlights
Roundup of top economy stories
FRANKFURT, Germany — The European Central Bank says it will step up its bond-buying stimulus in the coming months. The move comes as the eurozone’s recovery from the pandemic is expected to lag a full year behind that of the U.S. That is because Europe is being held back by slow vaccine rollouts and less relief spending. The central bank said Thursday that over the next quarter the purchases would be conducted “at a significantly higher pace than during the first months of the year.” ECB officials have expressed concern at a rise in longer-term borrowing rates, which can hurt businesses as they try to emerge from the pandemic recession. NEW YORK — The biggest IPO in years is rolling out on the New York Stock Exchange where Coupang, the South Korean equivalent of Amazon in the U.S., or Alibaba in China, will begin trading under the ticker “CPNG.” It’s actually the largest initial public offering from an Asian company since Alibaba went public about seven years ago. And it’s the biggest in the U.S. since Uber raised more than $8 billion in 2019. Coupang has raised about $4.6 billion, outsizing last month’s $2 billion capital raise by the dating app Bumble. Coupang priced 130 million shares at $35 each, valuing the company at about $60 billion.
WASHINGTON — U.S. long-term mortgage rates again rose modestly this week against the backdrop of an improving economy and further distribution of coronavirus vaccines. Rates remain near historic lows, however.
The benchmark 30-year loan stayed above the 3% mark, a level it breached last week for the first time since July 2020.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average rate on the 30-year fixed-rate home loan rose to 3.05% from 3.02% last week. By contrast, the benchmark rate stood at 3.36% a year ago.
The average rate on 15-year fixed-rate loans, popular among those seeking to refinance their mortgages, increased to 2.38% from 2.34% last week. Molson Coors Beverage Co. said Thursday it has been hit by a cyberattack that disrupted its brewing operations and shipments.
In a regulatory filing, the Chicago-based company said it has hired forensic information technology experts and legal counsel to help it investigate the incident.
“The company is working around the clock to get its systems back up as quickly as possible,” Molson Coors said in its filing.
Molson Coors wouldn’t say how many facilities were impacted. The company operates seven breweries and packaging plants in the U.S., three in Canada and 10 in Europe.
In addition to its namesake brews, its brands include Miller Lite, Pilsner Urquell and Blue Moon.
Molson Coors also wouldn’t say if the cyberattack was related to a global hack of servers running Microsoft Exchange email software. That breach has impacted small businesses, law firms, city governments and manufacturers.
It’s not the first time a major beverage maker has been targeted in a cyberattack.
In November, Milanbased Campari Group said it was the victim of a ransomware attack that caused a temporary technology outage and compromised some business and personal data.