Bloomberg UK inflation unexpectedly held at 2.4 percent last month as cheaper clothing and computer games offset the rising cost of filling up a vehicle. The pound weakened as investors pared bets that the Bank of England will raise interest rates next month. Consumer prices were unchanged from May, the Office for National Statistics said on Wednesday. Annual inflation was ...

Bloomberg After the drama of President Donald Trump’s widely criticized news conference with President Vladimir Putin, one agreement the two leaders reached on the business front may go forward, according to the head of the Kremlin-backed Russian Direct Investment Fund. Kirill Dmitriev, an ally of Putin who heads the sovereign wealth fund sanctioned by the US, says American businesses are ...

Bloomberg Hundreds of German Tesla Inc. Model S drivers have been ordered to pay back a 4,000 euro electric-vehicle subsidy after a government agency deemed their luxury cars too expensive to qualify for the programme. Some 800 drivers who bought their cars before March 6 and have received the so-called “environmental bonus” will have to return it, Germany’s Federal Office ...

Bloomberg The home crowd that cheered on Russia’s run to the quarterfinals of the soccer World Cup may have been too preoccupied to do much shopping. Countries staging the world’s most-watched sporting event have a poor record when it comes to economic benefits off the pitch. In the three past World Cups, South Africa — the only host nation whose ...

When it comes to assessing the outlook for the US economy these days, the discussion usually starts with the bond market’s yield curve. At less than 30 basis points, the difference between two- and 10-year Treasury yields is the narrowest since 2007. This is classic late-cycle behaviour. The curve is signalling that the market thinks the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate increases, ...

Loss of credit insurance has played a part in several UK retail horror stories over the past decade. Investors in Debenhams Plc will be hoping the chain doesn’t follow the familiar narrative. One leading insurer, Euler Hermes, has reduced cover for suppliers, while rivals Atradius and Coface have refused to cover new shipments, the Sunday Times reported. Credit insurance protects ...

Mergers and acquisitions are booming, with 2018 projected to be the first year that global deal volume breaks $5 trillion. But merger arbitrage funds, which attempt profit on perceived market inefficiencies before or after an M&A deal is announced, are not doing well. The last three months for which data are available represent the first time MAFs have lost money ...

UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s new Brexit strategy is collapsing even before the European Union responds. Her plan offered an awkward compromise between a clean break from Europe, which would cause enormous economic disruption, and remaining in the EU, which voters rejected two years ago. Apparently, it’s an offer nobody wants to accept. May’s Conservative Party is bitterly divided between ...

It’s hard to convey the full breadth of the shock felt from witnessing the president of the United States attack NATO allies, refer to the EU as a “foe,” criticise and insult the UK prime minister while on British soil, and call into question a post-Brexit US-UK trade deal. This is particularly true when contrasted with President Donald Trump’s press ...

Facebook Inc. bestrides the Earth. It attracts nearly 1.5 billion users a day, commands a fifth of global online advertising revenue, and has a market capitalisation that exceeds the GDP of many countries. An average user spends nearly an hour a day on its various platforms — about as much time as they spend eating and drinking. Any business of ...