NEW YORK (Reuters) - A tight U.S. presidential race is leading some investors to brace for an unclear or contested election result that could trip up this year's booming stock market rally. With less than a month before the election, polls and prediction markets show Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump in a virtual dead heat. Harris led Trump...

(Reuters) - Rio Tinto's $6.7 billion buyout of Arcadium will give it a suite of lithium filtration technologies that are poised to revolutionize how the metal is produced for the electronics and electric vehicle industries. Arcadium's expertise in so-called direct lithium extraction (DLE) is the real prize for Rio, analysts said, and vaults it into contention with Eramet, Sunresin, Exxon...

* EBRD and IFC to fund newly merged telecoms company * Merger involves Ukraine's Lifecell and Datagroup-Volia * Ukrainian economy has been battered by war By Olena Harmash KYIV, Oct 10 (Reuters) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Finance Corporation will fund Ukraine's newly merged telecoms company with $435 million, the lenders said on Thursday....

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Fast Retailing ( FRCOF ), owner of clothing brand Uniqlo, booked its third consecutive year of record profit on Thursday, helped by a cheap yen. Operating profit rose 31% to 500.9 billion yen ($3.35 billion) in the 12 months through August from 381.1 billion yen a year earlier, the apparel maker said in a statement. That...