International News

  Bloomberg The pound dropped toward a two-month low versus the dollar as traders awaited the Bank of England’s final policy meeting before the U.K. votes on its membership to the European Union. Sterling weakened against 12 of its 16 major peers, dropping to a three-year low versus the yen. The June 23 referendum has dominated the currency market with ...

  Bloomberg Economic momentum in Switzerland is expected to pick up next year as the recovery in the neighboring euro area gains steam, the government said, confirming its last quarterly forecast. Gross domestic product will expand 1.4 percent this year and 1.8 percent in 2017, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs in Bern said on Thursday, leaving projections unchanged from ...

  Bloomberg Recent deluges in France that flooded metro stations in Paris will delay the harvest in the European Union’s biggest wheat producer, according to the country’s biggest grain cooperative. Harvesting will probably start up to 10 days later than usual, said Jean-Francois Loiseau, chairman of Axereal, which collects about 5.5 million metric tons a year from its members. Wheat-growing ...

  Bloomberg The world’s biggest natural gas exporter isn’t too concerned about a global glut that will probably last another five years. Gazprom PJSC is counting on falling European output to boost flows to a record and cement its 30 percent market share, Deputy Chief Executive Officer Alexander Medvedev, 60, said in an interview. After crude’s 35 percent slide last ...

  Paris, France / AFP Sales of cars in the European Union surged by 16 percent in May compared to a year earlier, continuing a 33-month rise and nearing pre-recession levels, manufacturers said Thursday. A total of 1.29 million new cars were sold in the 28-nation bloc, a tally close to that of May 2008, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (EAMA) ...

  Vilnius, Lithuania / AFP The European Commission is expected to launch legal action against France over its application of the national minimum wage to foreign truck drivers, a top EU official said. Brussels will send a formal letter launching the procedure “in a few hours”, said Elzbieta Bienkowska, the EU’s internal market chief. “From the single market perspective it raises ...

  Bloomberg Solar panels and wind turbines may find a home alongside Cenovus Energy Inc.’s future low-carbon oil-sands business as the Canadian producer adjusts to changing patterns of supply and demand for energy. Cenovus has had discussions about renewable energy investments, said Chief Executive Officer Brian Ferguson, in an interview in Montreal where he spoke on a panel about the ...

  Bloomberg America’s renewed love affair with driving could reshape the U.S. ethanol industry. Green Plains Inc. said it agreed to buy two plants from Spain’s Abengoa SA, and the European company separately said it would sell two other mills — with the four sales totaling $350 million. Also at play is The Andersons Inc.’s biofuel arm, which HC2 Holdings ...

  Bloomberg Argentina is one step closer to regaining its status as an emerging market as MSCI Inc. considers the possibility of an upgrade that could lure new investors. The market in South America’s second-largest economy will be included in MSCI’s 2017 annual market review to determine if the nation is ready to leave its frontier status after seven years. ...

  Bloomberg U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne warned that leaving the European Union could spark a fiscal crisis, as “Remain” supporters battle to turn around a referendum campaign that’s slipping away from them. Reduced trade and investment would leave a 30 billion pound ($42 billion) “black hole” that would have to be plugged by increased taxes and cuts ...