International News

  Bloomberg Gasoline in New York jumped the most in almost eight years, and its premium to crude prices soared 60 percent after an explosion and fire in Alabama shut the largest fuel pipeline in the US, killing one person and injuring more. Traders rushed to book cargoes from Europe. December-delivery gasoline rose as much as 15 percent to the ...

  Bloomberg With the enthusiasm around its industrial transformation stalled, General Electric Co. is hoping for a boost from an oil megadeal that has already won the backing of the activist investor Nelson Peltz. Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Immelt is merging the company’s oil and gas unit with Baker Hughes Inc. to create a behemoth capable of both weathering the ...

  Bloomberg On Tuesday, IHS Markit’s Purchasing Managers Index showed input prices rose to their highest level in five years, nearing a record high since the survey first began tracking business costs back in 1992. Hard UK inflation data has yet to show a big uptick in prices but a surge in input costs for UK manufacturers foreshadows the looming ...

  Bloomberg Japan’s three biggest shippers agreed to combine their container operations to create the world’s sixth-largest box carrier, as the industry steps up consolidation this year amid a global turmoil in the sea-cargo business. Nippon Yusen KK, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd., which are predicting operating losses this year, will create a company that will ...

  Sydney / AFP Sony Corp. cut its annual profit forecast by 10 percent after taking an impairment on the sale of its battery unit in the latest move by the consumer electronics giant to focus on its most lucrative businesses. Operating income will be 270 billion yen ($2.6 billion) in the 12 months ending March, down from a projection ...

  Bloomberg Honda Motor Co. raised its forecast for full-year profit as demand for Vezel and XR-V sport utility vehicle models surged in China, the carmaker’s second-largest market. Net income will probably rise to 415 billion yen ($3.96 billion) in the fiscal year ending in March, more than the 390 billion yen forecast in May, according to a statement from ...

  Bloomberg South Korea, home to the world’s three biggest shipbuilders, plans to spend about 11 trillion won ($9.6 billion) by 2020 to help the industry amid a dearth of new orders and prolonged losses. The government intends to order more than 250 vessels and provide about 6.5 trillion won in financing support to strengthen shipping companies’ efficiency through the ...

  Brussels / AFP Euro-area growth stayed its course in the third quarter, a sign the European Central Bank’s efforts to revive the economy have borne fruit even in the face of inadequate structural reforms. Gross domestic product rose 0.3 percent in the three months to September, according to an initial estimate published by the European Union’s statistics office on ...

  Bloomberg General Electric Co. agreed to combine its oil and gas business with Baker Hughes Inc., creating an industry giant with a broader suite of offerings amid the ongoing slump in crude prices. GE will own a 62.5 percent stake in the combined provider of oilfield services, which will be publicly traded and have $32 billion in sales, the ...

  Bloomberg UK software company FreeAgent Holdings Ltd. has said it plans an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM market for small, growth-oriented companies. Edinburgh, Scotland- based FreeAgent provides cloud-based accounting software for what it calls “micro-businesses,” a term it defines as companies with fewer than 10 employees. Its decision to float bucks strong headwinds in the ...