Bloomberg Supermarket operator Royal Ahold Delhaize NV lowered its profit forecast due to an 11-day strike at its Stop & Shop chain in the US that crippled sales, spoiled produce and drew support from several Democratic presidential candidates. The Dutch-Belgian retailer reached a tentative agreement with five local units, allowing employees to return to work. The strike affected 246 of …

Bloomberg TCI Co is in talks with a health food maker about a potential acquisition this year that’s aimed at diversifying its production base, the company says. The company hopes consumers will be more interested in the products it makes if it has factories outside China and Taiwan, executive deputy general manager William Liao said in an interview. TCI is …

Bloomberg Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts announced that it’s in the process of converting another private jet to its fleet in 2021, to replace the current one, which premiered in 2015 for extravagant group excursions. Like the previous model, the new plane allows travellers to book bespoke adventures around the world, with Four Seasons arranging the trip itinerary and lodging …

Bloomberg Crude leapt to its highest level in almost six months after the Trump administration said it wouldn’t renew Iran oil waivers for China, India and other countries once they expire in May. Futures in London traded near $74 a barrel after jumping as much as 3.3 percent and reaching the highest since early November in anticipation of the statement …

DUBAI / Emirates Business The digital transformation of the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) small- and medium-sized enterprises and smart cities is driving regional software spend to top $6 billion, industry experts announced on Monday. The Mena region is a fast-growth market for digital transformation, as organisations look to gain greater business agility, better understand customer needs and trends, …

Bloomberg Most US equities fell in light volume as investors prepared for a deluge of earnings news. Oil jumped after the White House said it will scrap waivers that allow the purchase of some Iranian crude. The S&P 500 Index fluctuated between small gains and losses, hovering about 1 percent below its all-time high. Tesla Inc fell after an analyst …

Bloomberg India’s benchmark stock index posted its biggest drop in four months on concern that the spike in the price of oil, the nation’s biggest import, may dampen the outlook for Asia’s third-biggest economy. The rupee and sovereign bonds also weakened. The S&P BSE Sensex declined 1.3 percent to 38,645.18 at the close in Mumbai, while the NSE Nifty 50 …

Bloomberg A panel named by India’s central bank to study its capital structure is likely to identify excess reserves of up to 3 trillion rupees ($43 billion), or 1.5 percent of gross domestic product, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The view from BofAML lends itself to a debate over Reserve Bank of India’s reserves, with one school of …

Bloomberg Risky assets are reacting more strongly to hawkish monetary shocks from the Federal Reserve in recent years, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The reason, ironically, is that the Fed is losing its forecasting edge. The Fed’s relative predictive advantage versus private economists has declined in recent years as the higher quality and quantity of forecasters makes it harder …

Bloomberg About half of economists now expect the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) next policy move to be monetary easing, including three who see it coming this week, according to a Bloomberg survey. The other 45 of 48 economists surveyed said they expected the BOJ to leave its policy settings unchanged at a two-day meeting ending April 25. The number of …