International News

  Bloomberg Builders started work on more US homes than forecast in January after an upward revision to starts in the prior month, a sign construction was on a steady path entering 2017. Residential starts totaled an annualized 1.25 million, easing from a 1.28 million pace in the prior month, a Commerce Department report showed. The median forecast of economists ...

  Bloomberg Ignore those million-plus empty new homes scattered across Spain, a developer owned by Lone Star Funds says there’s never been a better time to build more. Neinor Homes, bought in 2014 by the Dallas-based investor, aims to become one of Spain’s biggest homebuilders by increasing construction in big cities where the housing stock is running low, according to ...

  Bloomberg China’s stepping up its campaign for greater clout in global commodities trading. The Asian nation’s state-run Sinochem Group is said to be in early talks to become a strategic investor in embattled commodities trader Noble Group Ltd. A potential deal could give the Chinese oil and chemicals behemoth access to Noble’s trading expertise and businesses around the world, ...

  Bloomberg Sleep deprivation is doing more harm in Japan than just making people grumpy and unhealthy. It is also holding back the world’s third-largest economy. The problem has been getting worse in recent years. Nearly half of full-time workers say they don’t get enough sleep, citing long overtime hours as a primary reason, according to a government white paper ...

  Bloomberg Malaysia’s economy grew at the fastest pace in a year last quarter, as stronger consumer spending and an export recovery helped counter falling government expenditure. Gross domestic product rose 4.5 percent last quarter from a year earlier, Bank Negara Malaysia said in an e-mailed statement on Thursday. The median estimate of 18 economists surveyed by Bloomberg was 4.4 ...

  Bloomberg China’s record outbound investment slumped last month as authorities stepped up scrutiny of acquisitions overseas and other deals to keep money from flowing out of the country. The world’s biggest trading nation saw outward investment decline 35.7 percent from a year earlier in yuan terms in January, the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday. Foreign direct investment to ...

  Bloomberg Australia’s unemployment rate unexpectedly fell in January, despite a plunge in full-time jobs, underscoring the mixed picture of the country’s labor market. Jobless rate fell to 5.7% from 5.8%; economists forecast 5.8% Employment rose 13,500 from Dec versus forecast 10,000 gain Full-time jobs slumped by 44,800; part-time employment rose 58,300 Participation rate fell to 64.6% from 64.7%; economi- ...

  Bloomberg “We are always looking at acquisitions,” Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook told analysts last month. “There’s not a size that we would not do.” It’s a message he’s increasingly stressed over the past year as investors question how the world’s most valuable technology company plans to use its $246 billion cash pile to meet ambitious sales ...

  Bloomberg Nestle SA’s new Chief Executive Officer Mark Schneider said it will take years to return to the growth rates targeted by his predecessors and will consider exiting underperforming businesses if he can’t fix them. The world’s largest food company forecast revenue will increase 2 percent to 4 percent on an organic basis this year, below a long-held goal ...

  Bloomberg Investors counting on a bidding war to drive up the price of German drugmaker Stada Arzneimittel AG well past its $3.66 billion in market value may be out of luck. The German maker of generic medicines this week said it had two offers, including one from Cinven Ltd. valuing it at about 56 euros-a-share. And people familiar with ...