Bloomberg Asian shares and currencies rose along with industrial metals as improving U.S. economic data coupled with prospects for stimulus in China spurred risk-taking. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index was set for its biggest three-day rally since August, led by banks and raw-materials producers. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index snapped a five-day winning streak. South Korea’s won and Malaysia’s ringgit ...

Bloomberg Investors in European companies reliant on developing nations for revenue are proving less bullish in the prospects for a rebound in emerging markets than firms including Citigroup Inc. and Fidelity Investment Management. The region’s shares with the highest exposure to developing countries trade near record lows relative to those reliant on Europe and the U.S., according to Morgan Stanley ...

Athens / AFP EU President Donald Tusk on Thursday issued a stark warning to economic migrants not to come to Europe, as he castigated countries for taking unilateral action to tackle the crisis. On a visit to Greece — on the frontline of Europe’s worst migration crisis since World War II — Tusk told economic migrants it was pointless to ...

Bloomberg The pound ended its longest run of gains in seven months versus the euro and struggled to maintain a rally against the dollar as evidence mounted that the U.K. economy is losing momentum. Sterling retreated against 12 of its 16 major counterparts after a February index of U.K. services, which account for about three quarters of the nation’s output, ...

Bloomberg Russia’s service industry grew for the first time in five months as a weaker ruble spurred exports, adding to signs that the recession gripping the world’s largest energy exporter is easing. The Russia Services Business Activity Index rose to 50.9 in February from 47.1 in January, according to a statement released Thursday by Markit Economics. The gauge had held ...

Bloomberg A U.K. services gauge dropped in February as concerns about global growth, market volatility and the possibility of a British exit from the European Union rattled the biggest part of the economy. The Purchasing Managers Index published by Markit Economics on Thursday fell to 52.7 — the lowest since March 2013 — from 55.6. Economists had forecast a reading ...

Bloomberg Germany is falling woefully short of its target to have one million electric vehicles on the streets by 2020 so it feels the need to do something. Enter the taxpayer: the government is considering a €5,000 ($5,419) incentive to lure would-be buyers. That money could be better spent. Electric vehicles’ share of German sales: 0.4% The industry has a ...

Seoul / AfP North Korea fired six short-range projectiles into the sea on Thursday in a show of defiance just hours after the United Nations adopted the toughest sanctions to date on Pyongyang over its fourth nuclear test and rocket launch. Limited displays of military firepower have become a routine response by North Korea to international pressure over anything from ...

Istanbul / AfP Turkish police killed two female leftist militants who hurled grenades and opened fire at an Istanbul police station on Thursday, officials said. The two women—members of the outlawed ultra-leftist Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party–Front (DHKP-C)— had taken refuge in an apartment after their attack. Police then launched an assault on the apartment, and the two were “neutralised”, Istanbul ...

Calais / AFP A group of Iranian migrants sewed their mouths shut in a disturbing protest at the ongoing demolition of the “Jungle” migrant camp in the French port city of Calais on Thursday. AFP journalists said at least nine Iranians had stitched their mouths shut in the southern half of the camp, which is being gradually demolished by French ...