Tokyo / Bloomberg Mitsubishi Motors Corp.’s fraudulent fuel-economy testing and the subsequent plunge in its stock price and sales could cost its second-largest shareholder about 335 billion yen ($3 billion), as the Japanese carmaker’s disclosure reverberates through its business group. Mitsubishi Corp., which owns 10 percent of Mitsubishi Motors, is the first of the automaker’s major shareholders to measure ...
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UK trade drags on growth as gap widens to most in eight years
Bloomberg The U.K. economy received no help from its international trade performance in the first quarter, official figures published on Tuesday suggest. The deficit widened to 13.3 billion pounds ($19 billion), the most since the start of 2008, from 12.2 billion pounds in the fourth quarter of 2015, the Office for National Statistics said. The shortfall in goods alone ...
Read More »German, French & Italian industrial production disappoints in March
Bloomberg Industrial production in the euro area’s three biggest economies disappointed in March, possibly signaling slackening demand in Europe. German production, adjusted for seasonal swings, fell 1.3 percent, its second consecutive decline and exceeding a 0.2 percent drop predicted by economist in a Bloomberg survey. In France, output unexpectedly fell 0.3 percent, and Italy saw production stagnate in March after ...
Read More »IMF team arrives in Ukraine to check on new government
AFP An International Monetary Fund team arrived in Kiev on Tuesday after the formation of a new Ukrainian government resolved a prolonged political crisis that had stalled the release of vital aid. The mission’s visit was long awaited in the cash-strapped former Soviet country as it grapples with the costs of a two-year conflict in the pro-Russian separatist east ...
Read More »Abertis to buy Italian highways for $677 million in growth drive
Bloomberg AbertisInfraestructuras SA agreed to pay €594 million ($677 million) to buy control of two Italian highways as the Spanish toll-road operator presses ahead with its international expansion plan. Abertis reached an accord with IntesaSanpaoloSpA, AstaldiSpA and the Tabacchi family to buy the two companies that control 51 percent of A4 Holding, which owns the A4 Brescia-Padova and A31 ...
Read More »Banks see softer side of Brussels as EU readies rule revamp
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 ...
Read More »Stubborn natural gas supply imperils best US rally in 14 years
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 ...
Read More »Mexico consumer prices decline more than forecast in April
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 ...
Read More »Brazilian market at the mercy of politics
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 ...
Read More »Impeachment shadow fails to affect Petrobras assets
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 ...
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