International News

  Bloomberg After years of aggressive regulation reining them in, Europe’s banks are starting to get some slack from the policy makers in Brussels. The European Union has opened up the entire financial rule book for review, including contentious issues such as the cap on bankers’ bonuses. Faced with weak banks and an anemic economy, regulators have made clear that ...

  Bloomberg Natural gas futures have soared since March on speculation that supplies are finally falling after a decade of gains. Production numbers tell a different story. Prices have gained 28 percent from a 17-year low in March, the biggest advance for the period since 2002, as investors including Greenlight Capital’s David Einhorn bet the market would put a dent ...

  Bloomberg Mexico’s consumer prices dropped more than forecast in April as electricity and food prices tumbled, keeping the annual inflation rate below the central bank’s target. Prices decreased 0.32 percent from a month earlier, the national statistics institute said on its website. The median forecast of 20 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was for a decline of 0.25 percent. From ...

  Bloomberg For about a half hour, it looked like Brazil’s world-beating rallies were coming undone. A few minutes before noon on a relatively calm trading day in Sao Paulo, the real suddenly plummeted by the most in four years and $16.5 billion was wiped off the value of the benchmark stock index. Within 30 minutes, both markets had mostly ...

  Bloomberg Political turmoil in Brazil shouldn’t stop Petrobras from completing asset sales it has already opened up to bidders, according to one company vying for the state-controlled driller’s Bauna offshore field. An impeachment process against President Dilma Rousseff that could force her to temporarily step down as early as this week shouldn’t derail any ongoing negotiations, Petro Rio SA ...

  SYDNEY / Reuters The Australian government has proposed removing tax barriers to asset-backed financing arrangements as part of its federal budget, a move likely aimed at facilitating interest-free transactions used in Islamic finance. Islamic finance is gradually catching on in Australia, with National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB) helping fund a A$160 million ($114 million) Brisbane property purchase in February, ...

  New Delhi / Bloomberg Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., Hyundai Motor Co. and Renault SA paced India’s biggest gain in passenger vehicle sales in five months, as new compact SUVs, hatchbacks and minicars drew buyers to their showrooms. Deliveries of passenger vehicles, including sport utility vehicles and vans, climbed 11 percent to 242,060 units last month, the Society of Indian ...

  Jakarta / Bloomberg China must turn off the taps of credit-driven growth to avoid a financial system crisis in the face of rising bad loans and other risks, the Communist Party’s official mouthpiece newspaper said on Monday, citing an unnamed “authoritative” source. The prominent article, in question-and-answer format, started on the front of the broadsheet paper and took up ...

  New Delhi / Bloomberg After back-to-back droughts battered India’s farmers, a forecast for above-normal rainfall this year is brightening the outlook for Asia’s third-largest economy. Economists at DBS Bank Ltd., State Bank of India and Standard Chartered Plc say India’s gross domestic product this year may grow more than they previously predicted if the monsoon is as good as ...

  BRUSSELS / AFP Eurozone finance ministers on Monday tackled crucial talks on unlocking vital cash and debt relief for Greece just hours after Greek lawmakers adopted unpopular reforms demanded as part of the country’s bailout. The 19 ministers, meeting in Brussels, are aiming to finally sign off on the long-delayed first review of Greece’s massive EU-IMF bailout — the ...