International News

  Bloomberg German business confidence unexpectedly improved, underpinning the Bundesbank’s prediction that economic growth strengthened at the start of the year. The Munich-based Ifo institute’s business climate index rose to 111 in February from a revised 109.9 in January. That compares with a median estimate of 109.6 in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The German economy expanded at the fastest ...

  Bloomberg The UK economy grew more than previously estimated in the final three months of 2016 but it may be the last hurrah. Gross domestic product rose 0.7 percent instead of 0.6 percent, the Office for National Statistics said on Wednesday. It followed growth of 0.6 percent in the previous two quarters. Trade and consumer spending provided the biggest ...

  Bloomberg China’s financial regulators are working together to draft sweeping new rules for the country’s rapidly-expanding asset-management products that aim to make it clear there’s no government guarantees on such investments, according to people familiar with the matter. The draft rules would apply to products issued by banks, insurers, brokerages and other financial institutions, said the people, who asked ...

  Bloomberg Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. will begin charging for its services from April 1 and extended a slew of promotional offers to users as India’s newest wireless carrier attempts to retain customers. Customers who adopt Jio before March 31 will have the option of signing up for Jio Prime at 99 rupees ($1.48), plus a monthly ...

  Bloomberg Singapore’s residential property curbs are expected to stay for some time as the city-state’s economy remains stable and demand is still “very resilient,” Nati- onal Development Minister Lawrence Wong said. Singapore home prices fell 3 percent in 2016, with prices declining for the 13th straight quarter in the last three months of the year for the longest streak ...

  Bloomberg A recent change to India’s trading rules has opened the door for fund managers to increase their holdings of derivatives in the country, loosening restrictions that had stifled trading. The Securities and Exchange Board of India last month increased the combined futures and options trading limit by removing some caps on contracts and on the market value of ...

  Bloomberg Natarajan Chandrasekaran took over as chairman of Tata Sons Ltd., the holding company of Tata Group, pledging to improve capital allocation and boost returns from the $100 billion salt-to-software Indian conglomerate. The challenge for Chandrasekaran, or Chandra as he’s known, will be to rekindle growth and revive Tata’s weaker units after almost four months of boardroom turmoil that ...

  Bloomberg Singapore plans to implement Southeast Asia’s first carbon tax starting in 2019, a move that would raise energy costs in the island nation and require more than 30 big polluters such as power plants to pay the levy. The proposal would charge between S$10 ($7) and S$20 a ton on emissions of carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse ...

  Bloomberg Hong Kong property stocks extended gains ahead of the city’s annual budget speech on Wednesday, as some analysts anticipated announcements that would benefit developers. Property companies were the biggest gainers on the Hang Seng Index, with Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd. climbing almost 3 percent and Henderson Land Development Co. advancing 1.4 percent, both on volume that was ...

  Bloomberg After years of disappointment, a quiet revolution may be underway in the Japanese stock market. Japan’s companies have for years sat on record piles of cash — the equivalent of $2.4 trillion in September, the most in the world. The issue has been deploying those funds for shareholder benefit. A key part of Abenomics has been sharpening the ...