International News

  Bloomberg German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government is relaxed about the assurances Britain gave to Nissan Motor Co., viewing attempts to keep the carmaker in the U.K. as inevitable given the expected negative economic fallout of Brexit. British efforts to keep companies based in Britain are understandable as Prime Minister Theresa May has to do what’s needed to prevent the ...

  Bloomberg Brazil’s drought has gotten so bad that the country’s instant-coffee makers, the world’s top suppliers, are no longer entering into new export contracts amid a shortage of the robusta beans needed to make the quick brew. Producers have stopped entering into sales commitments since September because of depleted stockpiles of the beans, according to a Abics, a group ...

  Bloomberg Tesla Motors Inc. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk took his skeptics to task, giving more detail on potential benefits of the automaker’s pending SolarCity Corp. acquisition and saying the deal’s doubters have a history of making bad predictions. While people once questioned the company’s ability to make electric cars, the surge of interest in the forthcoming Model 3 ...

  Bloomberg Royal Dutch Shell Plc, the world’s second-biggest oil company by market value, thinks demand for oil could peak in as little as five years. “Oil, we’ve long been of the opinion that demand will peak before supply,” Chief Financial Officer Simon Henry said on a conference call on Tuesday. “And that peak may be somewhere between 5 and ...

  Bloomberg Automakers reported lower US sales for October, reinforcing the idea the market may have plateaued at a healthy level that still supports the US economy. The companies faced a difficult comparison to the year-earlier month, which was the best of 2015 and had two more sales days. Sales fell 4.4 percent to 1.39 million vehicles in October, Autodata ...

  Bloomberg China is seeking to build up export markets for its power amid signs the nation has invested too much in new generation plants. State Grid Corp. of China, which runs the majority of the nation’s electricity distribution network, is considering how to build links to India, South Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia, a move that would require billions ...

  Bloomberg Sony Corp.’s second-quarter profit missed estimates, as a one-time charge and stronger yen weighed on profit from financial services and PlayStation games. Operating profit in the period ended September was 45.7 billion yen ($436 million), the Tokyo-based company said in a statement Tuesday. That compares with the 49.7 billion yen average of analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg before ...

  Bloomberg A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S, owner of the world’s largest container line, said mergers like the combination of its three main Japanese rivals provide relief to an ailing industry that has been characterized by over-capacity. Nippon Yusen KK, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. said on Monday they plan to merge, giving them control of 7 percent ...

  Bloomberg China’s official factory gauge rose to the highest since July 2014, led by new orders, suggesting the economy’s stabilization continued into the fourth quarter as robust consumption underpins demand. Manufacturing purchasing managers index rose to 51.2 in October, the National Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday, from 50.4 in the prior two months PMI beat all economist forecasts in ...

  Bloomberg Royal Dutch Shell Plc reported third-quarter profit that beat analyst estimates after its acquisition of BG Group Plc boosted oil production, helping to counter a slump in prices. The shares rose. Profit adjusted for one-time items and inventory changes advanced 17 percent from a year earlier to $2.79 billion, Shell said Tuesday. That exceeded the $1.79 billion average ...