As the U.K.’s new prime minister, Theresa May, met with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany on Wednesday to open informal Brexit talks that European Union leaders insisted would not take place, the key question concerns the strength of the negotiating positions. Both May and Merkel are no-nonsense leaders, and their interaction won’t be driven by emotion: It’ll be about ...

The U.K. decision to quit the European Union appears to be slowing the global recovery. But the government’s policy response put the domestic economy on a stronger footing than before, limiting Brexit’s negative impact on the rest of the world. Britain, previously Europe’s poster child for austerity, has an opportunity to augment the Bank of England’s monetary-policy efforts with some ...

  “Black money” — the colloquial name for a vast network of off-the-book cash transactions and unbanked savings — is one of India’s biggest scourges. Amounting to as much as $460 billion a year, bigger than the GDP of Argentina, all that money lies beyond the reach of the tax authorities, creditors and anti-corruption investigators. Efforts to bring it into ...

  Bloomberg Earnings continued to set the tone on global equity markets, as equities from Europe to the U.S. fluctuated with investors looking for evidence that economic growth is bolstering profits. Government bonds retreated after the European Central Bank signaled stimulus expansion was on hold. The S&P 500 Index swung between gains and losses after closing at its sixth record ...

Bloomberg Most Gulf stock markets fell on Thursday amid soft oil prices and mixed corporate earnings, while Egypt was hit once again by concern about instability in the country’s currency. Dubai’s index edged down 0.1 percent. Dubai Parks & Resorts surged 3.8 percent but real estate stocks were weak, with Deyaar Development dropping 1.1 percent after reporting a 17.8 percent ...

  Bloomberg Swatch Group AG, the maker of Omega and Tissot timepieces, reported its lowest first-half profit in seven years as demand cratered in Hong Kong, France and Switzerland. First-half operating profit declined 54 percent to 353 million francs ($359 million), the Biel, Switzerland-based company said in a statement on Thursday. The company said last week that earnings at that ...

  Bloomberg EasyJet Plc reported lower quarterly revenue and said volatility would affect the key summer travel season as the British low-cost carrier faces headwinds including a string of terrorist attacks across its main markets and Britain’s decision to exit the European Union. Sales in the fiscal third quarter ended June 30 fell 2.6 percent to 1.2 billion pounds ($1.58 ...

  Bloomberg American Airlines Group Inc. expects new credit-card deals with Citigroup Inc. and Barclays Plc to boost its pretax income by about $1.55 billion over the next two-and-a-half years. The accords will generate $200 million before taxes in the second half of this year, $550 million in 2017 and $800 million in 2018, the carrier said in a US ...

  Bloomberg UK retail sales had their biggest drop in six months in June, adding to signs that the vote to leave the European Union is starting to bite. The volume of goods sold in stores and online dropped 0.9 percent, more than the 0.6 percent decline seen in a Bloomberg survey of economists, figures from the Office for National ...

  New York / AP Macy’s is testing a mobile tool using artificial intelligence that lets shoppers get answers about the store they’re in — like where a particular brand is located or what’s in stock — that they would normally ask a sales associate face-to-face. The tool, which the nation’s largest department store chain calls a “mobile companion,” can be ...