Dubai / Reuters Saudi Arabia’s stock market fell sharply for a second straight day on Wednesday, leading the entire region down, in response to weak oil prices and government austerity measures. The Saudi equities index, which had retreated 3.8 percent on Tuesday, sank a further 3.4 percent to 5,534 points, its lowest finish since Jan. 21. It has tumbled ...

  London / AFP European stocks rebounded on Wednesday, brushing aside a broad retreat across Asia, as oil prices pushed higher and Deutsche Bank shares rose, recouping some of their previous days’ losses. London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index increased by 0.6 percent. In the eurozone, Frankfurt’s DAX 30 was up 0.7 percent at the close the Paris CAC 40 gained ...

  Bloomberg Delta Air Lines Inc. is studying a purchase of roomier regional jets with a list value of as much as $2.3 billion — provided the company can get the pilots’ union to accept an overhaul of the small-plane fleet. The Atlanta-based carrier told the Air Line Pilots Association it wants the option of adding as many as 50 ...

  Bloomberg Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is in advanced discussions to invest as much as $1 billion into India’s Flipkart Online Services Pvt. Ltd, as the two companies battle Amazon.com Inc. in e-commerce, according to a person familiar with the matter. Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, would take a minority stake in Flipkart, the person said, asking not to be identified ...

  AFP Australian carrier Qantas has warned of the danger of mobile phones being crushed in reclinable plane seats and catching fire after one ignited during a US flight, according to a safety report on Wednesday. The findings came just weeks after Qantas and domestic competitor Virgin Australia, as well as other international airlines, told customers not to use or ...

Bloomberg American Airlines is poised to clear one of the final major hurdles in the integration of US Airways on Oct. 1 when it meshes the flight operating systems of both carriers in a move that travelers shouldn’t notice. The change will unify 15,000 American, US Airways and America West pilots into one workforce and remove barriers that tied them ...

  Bloomberg Corporate pilots routinely take off without performing required safety checks, a study of thousands of flights by a trade group has found. Prompted by the 2014 crash of a corporate jet that killed billionaire Lewis Katz, which occurred after pilots neglected to ensure their flight controls worked, the National Business Aviation Association discovered that similar lapses are common. ...

  AFP Postal Savings Bank of China (PSBC) made a low-key debut on the Hong Kong bourse on Wednesday, despite notching up the world’s biggest IPO in two years aimed at expanding the business. China’s fifth-biggest lender raked in a colossal $7.4 billion in the flotation, with a report in the Chinese language financial news portal Caixin saying a fund ...

  AFP The board of the World Bank has unanimously agreed to name Jim Yong Kim to a second term as president, the global lender announced. Kim had been the only candidate in a process criticized by World Bank staff and campaigners as lacking in transparency and dominated by the United States. In a statement announcing the decision, the Bank’s ...

  AFP Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) on Wednesday said it had agreed a fine of $1.1 billion (982 million euros) with US authorities over the alleged mis-selling of mortgage securities ahead of the 2008 financial crisis. It comes a week after US authorities said they would seek $14 billion from Deutsche Bank over similar allegations. “The Royal Bank of ...