Bloomberg Japanese exports grew at the fastest rate in more than two years in March, supporting a moderate economic recovery in the face of weak domestic demand. Exports rose 12 percent from a year earlier (median estimate +6.2 percent), according to data released by the Ministry of Finance. Imports jumped 15.8 percent (median estimate 10 percent), the biggest gain ...

  Bloomberg SAIC Motor Corp., China’s biggest carmaker by sales, has halted a plan to export its own branded vehicles to the US until it gets more clarity on Sino-US trade policy under President Donald Trump. SAIC Motor, which has joint ventures with General Motors Co. and Volkswagen AG in China, has been exporting locally-made Buick Envision sport utility vehicles ...

  Bloomberg Tencent Holdings Ltd. is shutting down a popular feature on WeChat that allows iPhone users to tip emoji and content creators to comply with Apple Inc.’s policy on in-app purchases. After months of negotiations, Tencent said on its official WeChat account it “regrettably” had to abolish the feature on the instant message service to comply with new terms ...

  Bloomberg Indian companies are jostling to sell at least $1 billion of Masala bonds in the coming months as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s resounding victory in state elections boosts investor confidence. More issuers are planning to tap the market as Modi’s majority win is seen emboldening him to take more measures to spur expansion in Asia’s third-largest economy. Foreigners ...

  Bloomberg US Steel Corp. will ask a trade agency on Thursday to investigate its claims that rival Chinese manufacturers colluded to fix prices to undercut competitors in the American market on the same day President Donald Trump will order a separate Commerce Department probe of steel imports. Trump will sign a memorandum authorizing a probe under section 232 of ...

  Bloomberg Qualcomm Inc., the biggest maker of chips used in mobile phones, said a push into new markets such as automotive and connected devices bolstered sales in the second quarter, helping relieve concerns that growth will be hurt by legal challenges in its licensing business. Adjusted sales and profit topped analysts’ estimates in the period that ended in March. ...

  Bloomberg Nestle SA and Unilever reported sales that beat estimates as the European food giants pushed through higher prices to combat slowing consumption in most parts of the world. KitKat maker Nestle said organic revenue rose 2.3 percent in the first quarter, compared with the 2 percent median estimate. Unilever’s sales growth of 2.9 percent exceeded analyst predictions of ...

  DETROIT / AP General Motors has stopped doing business in Venezuela after authorities took control of a factory in what GM called an illegal judicial seizure of its assets. The plant was confiscated on Wednesday as anti-government protesters clashed with authorities in a country that is roiling in economic troubles such as food shortages and triple-digit inflation. The Detroit ...

  Everyone ‘knows’ that Americans have soured on free trade and globalization, as President Trump keeps saying. But don’t tell the folks at Gallup. They’ve asked the same survey question since 1993: Do people see trade as an ‘opportunity’ or as a ‘threat’? The latest poll, conducted in February, found that 72 percent see trade as an “opportunity” and only ...

  Donald Trump talks a good game on infrastructure but so far there’s been precious little action. Not so in supposedly sclerotic Europe, where Italian toll-road operator Atlantia SpA is mulling a multi-billion euro deal with Spanish rival Abertis Infraestructuras SA, Bloomberg reports. Sure, toll roads won’t win any prizes for sexiness. But it’s a good time to be in ...