National Business

TORONTO — North American stock markets rose for a fifth straight month in August despite a drop Monday in the TSX, while the Canadian dollar reached its highest level since early January.

CALGARY — A hostile takeover offer by Obsidian Energy Ltd. launched by making public a letter to the CEO of Bonterra Energy Corp. demonstrates growing frustration at the slow pace of consolidation in the sector, energy industry analysts say.

TORONTO — Starbucks Canada says it will start requiring customers to wear facial coverings while in its cafes in mid-September. The company says the rule will come into effect at all of its company-owned cafes in Canada on Sept. 14.

TORONTO — Uber Technologies Inc.

TOKYO — Billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway said Monday it has taken stakes of just over 5% in five major Japanese trading houses in what it says is a long-term investment.

OTTAWA — Canada's federal banking regulator is phasing out requirements around mortgage deferrals for homeowners hard-hit financially by the COVID-19 pandemic.

CALGARY — Whitecap Resources Inc. says it has struck an all-stock deal to buy private oil and gas producer NAL Resources Ltd. for the equivalent of about $155 million. The Calgary-based company says it will issue 58.

TORONTO — The union representing Canadian workers at the Detroit Three automakers have voted to approve strike action if needed in their contract negotiations. In votes that took place over the weekend, Unifor says workers at General Motors voted 95.

NEW YORK — The first wave of big new movies released since the beginning of the pandemic, including Christopher Nolan's “Tenet” and the long-delayed “X-Men” spinoff “The New Mutants," arrived in theatres over the weekend, testing the waters of a radi

NEW YORK — Columbia Artists Management Inc., one of the leading agencies representing classical music performers, says it is shutting down. A statement emailed Saturday to CAMI artists said the agency is closing its doors Monday.