National Business

Shoppers donned masks and boots to brave outdoor lineups in parts of Canada on Saturday, while others turned to the internet to take part in a Boxing Day that bore little resemblance to the holiday of years past.

Beijing has urged residents not to leave the city during the Lunar New Year holiday in February, implementing new restrictions after several coronavirus infections last week.

LOS ANGELES — Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch in California has found a new owner in billionaire businessman Ron Burkle.

TORONTO — Hopes for better times in 2021 drove North American stock markets to positive results as an abbreviated trading day ended at 1 p.m. ET on Christmas Eve. In Toronto, the S&P/TSX composite index closed up 30.31 points at 17,623.

TORONTO — Some of the most active companies traded Thursday on the Toronto Stock Exchange: Toronto Stock Exchange (17,623.88, up 30.31 points.) Zenabis Global Inc. (TSX:ZENA). Health Care. Up 0.3 cents, or 5.6 per cent, to 4.8 cents on 6.

Canadian retailers are expected to offer deep discounts this Boxing Day in a bid to entice shoppers to buy up leftover holiday and seasonal goods and raise enough cash to endure the latest round of pandemic restrictions.

TORONTO — The Weston family says Galen G. Weston has succeeded his father, W. Galen Weston, as the controlling shareholder of Wittington Investments, Ltd., the controlling shareholder of George Weston Ltd.

BEIJING — Chinese regulators on Thursday announced an anti-monopoly investigation of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, stepping up the ruling Communist Party’s efforts to control fast-growing tech industries.

Asian shares were mostly higher on Thursday after stocks eked out small gains on Wall Street following a mixed set of reports on the economy. Benchmarks rose in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney.

CALGARY — TransAlta Corp. says it is selling power transmission assets in Canada and the United States for $439 million to its majority owned subsidiary TransAlta Renewables Inc.