The daily business briefing: May 9, 2016

1. Uber and Lyft suspend service in Austin after losing regulation fight

Uber and Lyft said they would suspend service indefinitely in Austin starting Monday after voters in the Texas capital defeated a ballot measure seeking to repeal regulations on the ridesharing services. Uber and Lyft said the new local rules, including background checks with fingerprinting for drivers, make it hard for them to operate in the city. Ridesharing Works for Austin, funded entirely by Lyft and Uber, spent more than $8 million fighting the regulations, while an opposing political action committee spent just $125,000.

USA Today

2. Oil prices increase as Canada's production falls and China's demand rises

Oil prices rose early Monday as a massive wildfire continued to reduce Canada's output by more than 1 million barrels a day, and China reported strong crude imports in April. China contributed to the upward pressure with data showing its oil imports rose by 7.6 percent in April — its third straight month with imports surpassing 30 million barrels. "This is giving the market hope that China's appetite for crude will remain elevated at a time when the world is flooded with oil," said optionsExpress energy analyst Ben Le Brun.

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Reuters The Wall Street Journal

3. Twitter cuts off intelligence agencies' access to data service

Twitter has suspended U.S. intelligence agencies' access to a service that sifts through its posts in the latest in a series of stand-offs between tech companies and the government. The service, provided by Dataminr Inc., sends alerts about terror attacks and other potentially significant events as they are occurring. Twitter owns a 5 percent stake in Dataminr, the only company Twitter allows to access and sell its entire real-time stream. Twitter said the government can "review public accounts on its own, like any user could."

The Wall Street Journal New York

4. Saudi Arabia replaces its once-powerful oil minister

Saudi Arabia fired its longtime oil minister, Ali al-Naimi, over the weekend. Naimi had forcefully opposed lowering the oil-rich nation's production when prices dropped, a break with tradition. Naimi, who served in the post since 1995, designed the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' policy shift in 2014 to resist cutting production despite a global oil-supply glut that has dragged down oil markets for months. His successor, Saudi Arabian Oil Co. Chairman Khalid Al-Falih, pledged to maintain the country's near-record output.

MarketWatch Bloomberg

5. China indexes drop after trade data disappoints

Chinese stocks fell sharply on Monday to eight-month lows after weak trade data released on Sunday dampened hopes of an economic rebound in the world's second largest economy. An article published in the People's Daily — the Communist Party's mouthpiece — warned the recovery would be "L-shaped" rather than "U-shaped," further hurting sentiment. More key data coming this week is expected to show that activity slowed in China in April after a strong March.

Reuters