One of the paradoxes of this year’s trade tensions is that in many parts of the world, it doesn’t yet feel like a crisis. For all the turmoil in emerging-market currencies, equity investors in major markets seem … relaxed? The milestone passed with little fanfare, but the S&P 500 index closed at a record high of 2,914.04 on August 29. ...

After a summer of shadow-boxing over Italian fiscal policy, autumn will deliver the main event. By the end of September, finance minister Giovanni Tria is expected to finalize a medium-term budgetary plan. The entree, however, will be the 2019 Budget Law, due in October. Over this period, rating agencies will complete their reviews of the country’s credit-worthiness. Another downgrade would ...

The packaged-food industry faces an unenviable list of problems right now. The most existential is shoppers’ embrace of healthy eating habits, but these companies also are being pummeled by insurgent niche brands, rising commodity costs, and retailers’ focus on private labels. Several are also navigating a CEO change or other leadership drama, while others have become the target of activist ...

Americans have drastically cut back their use of Facebook, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. Yet the company’s reported results have held steady. Something is not right. The survey, conducted in late May and early June, shows that 42 percent of American adult users of Facebook took a break of several weeks or more from checking Facebook over ...

Bloomberg India’s rupee rallied the most in 1 1/2 years and stocks recovered after an official said the government may announce measures to support the currency after a planned review of the economy by Prime Minister Narendra Modi this weekend. The government is not ruling out an increase in interest rates, the official told reporters in New Delhi, asking not ...

Bloomberg The pound’s fortunes are being dictated by Brexit and recent optimism over a deal could lead to a more hawkish-sounding Bank of England driving the currency higher. Market bets on further BOE policy tightening have receded in recent weeks following August’s quarter-point interest-rate increase, with the next hike not fully priced in until the end of 2019. While this ...

Bloomberg Alantra Partners SA, a Spanish investment bank, has hired three bankers in Shanghai as Chinese companies increasingly turn to Europe for overseas mergers and acquisitions. Alantra has hired Richard Zhu to head the firm’s China M&A business as managing partner, according to a spokesman for the bank. Zhu, who has more than 15 years’ experience in finance, was previously ...

Bloomberg Russians with bank accounts in dollars may find they can only make withdrawals in other currencies if new sanctions proposed by US lawmakers take effect. “I am sure that all the clients of all banks should receive their money back; that’s the principal approach,” VTB Group Chief Executive Officer Andrey Kostin said. “How, in which currency, is a different ...

Bloomberg The German government is open to a merger between the country’s two biggest listed banks, a magazine report said. German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz “could envisage” a tie-up between Deutsche Bank AG and Commerzbank AG, Spiegel reported, without saying how it obtained the information. It said that Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing and Commerzbank CEO Martin Zielke are also ...

Bloomberg Bank of Tanzania refuted social-media allegations about printing notes valued at 1.5 trillion shillings ($655.9 million) for the government’s use. “The central bank informs the public that the statement is incorrect and intends to affect the trust of citizens and international stakeholders on Tanzanian financial stability,” the central bank said in an emailed statement. The government’s overdraft at the ...