International News

  Bloomberg The US economy should be able to weather President Donald Trump’s temporary travel ban, economists say, though any broadening of immigration and visa restrictions could hurt the labor force and productivity. Two-thirds of economists surveyed by Bloomberg said the ban, which has for the moment been temporarily suspended by the courts, will have “little to no effect” on ...

  AP European Union finance ministers agreed on Tuesday to new rules aimed at preventing multinational companies from exploiting differences in tax rates between countries in the 28-country EU and those outside the bloc. At a meeting in Brussels, ministers backed the new rules, which will target various practices whereby large corporations can take advan-tage of loopholes between the tax ...

  Bloomberg US utility owners from Duke Energy Corp. to NextEra Energy Inc. are warning investors that their earnings may take a hit from tax reforms being floated in Washington. At risk is a provision corporations have enjoyed for years. It gives utilities the right to deduct what can be considerable tax expenses because of the billions of dollars of ...

  Bloomberg Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond received a pre-budget boost as Britain posted the biggest surplus for any January since at least 2001. The 9.4 billion-pound ($11.7 billion) surplus compared with 9.1 billion pounds a year earlier, the Office for National Statistics said Tuesday. Revenue rose 5.3 percent and spending increased 5.4 percent. The figures are restated going ...

  Bloomberg Singapore’s Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat outlined a set of targeted measures in his budget speech to help the struggling offshore and energy services industry and spur construction. The government will bring forward S$700 million ($493 million) worth of infrastructure spending and defer levies on foreign workers in the marine and process sectors for another year, Heng told ...

  Bloomberg Makeblock Co., a Chinese maker of DIY robotics parts, is seeking to raise funding at a $200 million valuation as the Sequoia Capital-backed startup expands into classrooms and hobbyist’s workshops globally, people familiar with the matter said. The Shenzhen-based company us seeking to raise about 200 million yuan ($29 million) in a series B round, the people said, ...

  Bloomberg Douyu, the live-streaming service backed by Tencent Holdings Ltd. that’s been compared to Amazon’s Twitch, is in talks to raise a billion yuan ($145 million) in funds at a valuation of about $1.2 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter. The three-year-old company, whose name means “fighting fish,” needs capital to expand beyond games-streaming and fend ...

  Bloomberg Japan posted a bigger-than-forecast trade deficit in January as auto exports declined and energy import costs increased. Economists cautioned against reading the single month’s figures negatively, noting that global demand should support Japan exports this year. Exports rose 1.3 percent from a year earlier (versus +5 percent estimate). Imports climbed for the first time in two years, by ...

  Bloomberg Oasis Management Co.’s Seth Fischer increased his pressure on Panasonic Corp. to sweeten its offer for listed subsidiary PanaHome Corp., calling the transaction a test case of whether Japan’s corporate governance overhaul is working. Oasis will ask the courts to rule on whether the price is fair if shareholders approve the deal on current terms, Fischer said in ...

  Bloomberg The half of Russia’s economy that hasn’t got wind of a recovery is already hunkering down for the crisis to come. Once indispensable for the country’s prospects, consumption flat-lined well below zero throughout last year even as the broader economy defied gloom. From the ruble to industrial output and wages, Russia is on the up and up. But ...