Bloomberg Global trade in goods might be close to plateauing — albeit at a record level — amid an outlook clouded by regional imbalances and coronavirus outbreaks that slow economic activity, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) said. The Geneva-based trade body’s goods trade barometer rises to 110.4 in March, the highest in records going back to 2016, according to a …

Bloomberg Oil snapped a run of declines as a US industry report pointed to a drop in domestic crude stockpiles. West Texas Intermediate rises 0.5% after a four-day losing run that was the longest since March. The American Petroleum Institute reported that crude inventories fell 1.16 million barrels last week, including a draw at the key storage hub in Cushing, …

Bloomberg Walmart Inc’s pandemic-driven gains in e-commerce slowed last quarter and profit margin fell, raising questions about the retailer’s ability to maintain momentum even after it topped Wall Street’s sales expectations. The company’s US online sales rose 6% in the second quarter, the company said in a statement. That was down from earlier in the pandemic, when soaring e-commerce demand …

Bloomberg US transportation and health agencies are extending the mask mandate for air passengers and other travellers until mid-January as the Delta variant of Covid-19 continues to surge. The sometimes controversial requirement for people to cover their faces on public forms of transportation had been set to expire on September 13. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said in an emailed …

Bloomberg London private housing rents fell in July compared with a year earlier as the ability to work from home meant that being close to city center offices was no longer a priority for workers. The 0.1% decline set the UK capital apart from other regions, where rental prices climbed by almost 2% on average, Office for National Statistics (ONS) …

Bloomberg US equity-index futures fluctuated between gains and losses, while the dollar halted a two-day rally, as investors assessed the outlook for economic recovery and awaited the latest Federal Reserve minutes to gauge the direction of monetary policy. Contracts on the S&P 500 Index slipped 0.1% after the underlying gauge falls by the most in four weeks. The dollar halted …

Bloomberg Shares in HDFC Bank Ltd jumped after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said it would allow the lender to issue new credit cards, partially removing a months-long ban. The lender will roll out the preparations and strategies it has put in place to “come back with a bang” in credit cards, it said in a statement. It will …

Bloomberg Oil fell for a fourth day, heading for the longest run of losses since March, on the threat to demand from the delta coronavirus variant. West Texas Intermediate futures declined 0.5% after losing almost 3% over the previous three sessions. US gasoline consumption fell for a third week, according to a survey by Descartes Labs, while data from China …

NEW DELHI / WAM India has launched a series of competitions to popularise Expo 2020 Dubai as its preparations gather steam for participation in the world exposition in just over six weeks. “The main purpose of these competitions is to amplify the core message of the Dubai World Expo: Connecting Minds, Creating the Future,” according to an overview of the …

Bloomberg Wall Street has been predicting that the pandemic-fuelled boom in Americans fixing up their homes would fizzle as the economy reopened. But it hasn’t so far and could be entering a new phase that prolongs growth. Home Depot Inc and Lowe’s Cos have benefited from homeowners taking on do-it-yourself projects in droves, with the retail giants combining to add …