International News

  Bloomberg French executives brushed aside concerns about the U.K. vote to leave the European Union, reporting improving confidence in the first major survey of business sentiment since the British referendum. Business sentiment rose two points to 102 in July, while sentiment among manufacturing executives climbed one point to 103, national statistics office Insee said Thursday. The increase suggests that ...

  Bloomberg Galenica AG, the owner of Switzerland’s biggest pharmacy network, agreed to buy Relypsa Inc. for about $1.53 billion to gain a new medicine and a commercial network in the U.S. The Swiss company will pay $32 per share in cash for Redwood City, California-based Relypsa, it said in a statement on Thursday. That’s 59 percent above yesterday’s closing ...

  Bloomberg Exxon Mobil Corp. has a clear path to expanding its reach in Papua New Guinea after its rivals said they wouldn’t counter a $2.5 billion bid for gas explorer InterOil Corp. Oil Search Ltd. and Total SA had offered to buy InterOil in May in a deal that valued the company at $2.2 billion. Exxon topped it with ...

  Bloomberg New Zealand’s central bank said further monetary easing is probably needed to lift inflation, reinforcing expectations of an interest-rate cut next month. The currency fell to a six-week low. “At this stage it seems likely that further policy easing will be required to ensure that future average inflation settles near the middle of the target range,” the Reserve ...

  AFP The yen on Thursday slid to its lowest level in about six weeks on expectations of fresh stimulus from the Japanese government and central bank, ahead of a European Central Bank meeting later in the day. Japan’s currency has lost most of the sharp gains it made in reaction to Britain’s June 23 vote to exit the European ...

  Bloomberg SMRT Corp shares rose after Singapore’s state investment firm Temasek Holdings Pte offered S$1.2 billion (US$884 million) to buy out the island-city’s biggest train operator, 16 years after the company became the first Asian subway operator outside Japan to list shares. The shares advanced 6.5 percent to close at S$1.645, resuming trading Thursday after a suspension on July ...

  Bloomberg Yamaha Motor Co plans to tap more green energy to drive production in India, the latest sign that renewable power could boost profit for industrial manufacturers. The Japanese motorcycle maker wants solar power to supply a quarter of energy needs at its northern Indian factories near Delhi, according to company executives. Yamaha motors wants to double capacity to ...

  Bloomberg BHP Billiton Ltd, the world’s biggest mining company, forecast that iron ore production could be flat this fiscal year, while it sees petroleum output declining as much as 17 percent and the prices of its top earning materials remaining volatile. Capital spending on oil assets will plunge 44 percent to about US$1.4 billion in the year, after petroleum ...

  Bloomberg A crippling drought in Vietnam will probably cause the government to miss its 6.7 percent growth target this year, adding to pressure on new Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc as he seeks to reassure investors of his economic reforms. The economy will need to expand 7.6 percent in the second half of the year to achieve its full-year ...

  Bloomberg Japan’s largest mobile phone carriers are poised to report the highest quarterly profit in at least a decade, a rare bright spot as aggregate earnings at the nation’s largest companies slump under a stronger yen and weak consumer confidence. Operating income at the three largest carriers will probably rise 6 percent in aggregate to 858 billion yen (US$8 ...