International News

Bloomberg US wheat grabbed its first sale to the Egyptian government in more than two years as the world’s biggest buyer requested grain with a higher protein content, knocking France out of the mix. Egypt’s General Authority for Supply Commodities bought two cargoes of US wheat totaling 115,000 metric tons, of 39 percent of the amount purchased, according to two ...

Bloomberg American factories flexed some muscle in April, boosting output by the most since February 2014 in broad fashion. Along with gains at mines and utilities, total industrial output was also the strongest in more than three years, Federal Reserve data showed. Factory production rose 1 percent (forecast called for a 0.4 percent gain) after a 0.4 percent drop in ...

Bloomberg Unexpected declines in US new-home construction and building permits in April indicate the market is off to a weak start this quarter, government data showed. The results indicate that residential construction is at risk of dragging down growth in the second quarter, lessening any economic rebound after weakness in the previous period. Other indicators of housing demand remain healthy, ...

Bloomberg While Japan’s failure to spur inflation continues to generate angst about the nation’s future, gross domestic product data this week is likely to show that the economy has still managed to eke out five straight quarters of expansion. That would be the best run since 2006, during Japan’s last period of political stability under the leadership of then-Prime Minister ...

Bloomberg “Go west!” is the mantra Taiwanese companies lived by for the best part of three decades, turning China into their biggest trading partner. But with cross-strait relations at their worst in close to a decade, President Tsai Ing-wen is urging firms to turn south. Tsai wants to mitigate reliance on the mainland by bolstering trade with 18 countries in ...

Bloomberg Shares of Tata Steel Ltd. jumped after the Indian steelmaker said it has struck a deal to solve its long-running UK pension standoff, bringing the company a step closer to a possible joint venture with Thyssenkrupp AG for its European operations. The stock climbed as much as 5.1 percent to 479.95 rupees ($7.5) in Mumbai on Wednesday, the biggest ...

Bloomberg Henderson Land Development Co. outbid eight other developers and will pay a record HK$23.3 billion ($3 billion) for the first commercial land to be sold by Hong Kong’s government in the Central district since 1996. The Hong Kong company’s shares fell the most in the Hang Seng Properties Index on Wednesday, sliding as much as 2.9 percent. Henderson Land ...

Bloomberg The UK must “radically” overhaul its approach to trade policy if it is to land post-Brexit deals with other countries, the Institute for Government said. After decades of access to the European Union’s single market, the UK is facing a renegotiation of its trading relationship with the bloc and the need to strike deals with the rest of the ...

Bloomberg Modern office buildings are all the rage in central London, with a swath of companies including UBS Group AG moving into new premises in the last 12 months. The problem for landlords is finding someone to replace them. A growing number of unoccupied older properties caused the overall office vacancy rate to climb to 5.8 percent at the end ...

Bloomberg China is setting its sights on US energy as a growing reliance on imports forces it to look beyond traditional suppliers, according to the head of the country’s biggest oil and gas company. China National Petroleum Corp. will import more crude oil and natural gas from US and will consider participating in America’s growing liquefied natural gas export industry, ...