The daily business briefing: December 26, 2016

1. Iran says it negotiated reduced price on Boeing airliners

Iran said on Sunday that it had negotiated a lower price for 80 new airliners it is buying from Boeing. The U.S. jet maker said the deal was worth $16.6 billion, but Tehran's deputy transport minister, Asghar Fakhrieh-Kashan, said Iran was paying "about 50 percent of that amount," according to a report by Iran's IRNA state news agency. The deal is the first such major purchase from an American company since the lifting of sanctions against Tehran nearly a year ago, under an agreement aiming to rein in Tehran's nuclear program. Iran also has signed a deal to buy 100 jets from Airbus, Boeing's European rival.

Reuters

2. Snapchat buying Israeli augmented reality startup Cimagine

Messaging app Snapchat's parent company, Snap, has agreed to acquire the Israeli augmented reality firm Cimagine for between $30 million and $40 million, the financial daily Calcalist News reported. Cimagine says on its LinkedIn page that it works with brands such as Southern California furniture store franchise Jerome's and global beverage giant Coca Cola, using its cloud-based mobile platform to help them improve their sites and mobile apps. Snap is expected to launch a spring IPO that could raise up to $25 billion.

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USA Today Calcalist

3. Trump says he will shut down his charitable foundation

President-elect Donald Trump said over the Christmas weekend that he plans to shut down his charitable foundation. Trump said he had told his lawyers to get to work on closing the foundation, although he did not provide a timeline for shutting it down. As he prepares to take office in January, Trump has faced criticism over how the foundation collected and spent money. Trump said in a statement that the organization had "done enormous good works." It also has been a source of controversy, following reports that Trump used its money in some cases to pay settlements for his for-profit businesses. One of Trump's sons, Eric Trump, last week said he was suspending his charitable foundation after questions arose over whether donors would get special access to the first family.

The Washington Post

4. Global stocks mixed in light trading

Global stocks were mixed on Monday, as Japanese shares fell in light trading and Chinese stocks recovered from early losses. Markets in the U.S. and many other countries remained closed on the day after Christmas. The Shanghai Composite Index fell by 1.1 percent, adding to a similar loss on Friday, then recovered as construction stocks gained on a government promise of $260 billion in infrastructure spending next year. Seiji Iwama, a fund manager with Daiwa SB Investments Ltd. in Tokyo, said that he expected "2016 ending with little disturbance" after months of volatility over the U.S. election and the U.K.'s vote to leave the European Union.

Bloomberg

5. China reduces solar and wind power rates as construction costs drop

China is cutting what it pays for electricity from new solar and wind power generators to reflect their declining construction costs, the country's price regulator and economic planner said Monday. The move, which will reduce solar farm tariffs by 19 percent and those for wind farms by 15 percent, comes after average solar panel prices fell by about 30 percent this year, according to data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The World Economic Forum reported this month that solar and wind power is now the same price as power from fossil fuels, or cheaper, in more than 30 countries.

Bloomberg Quartz