International News

  Bloomberg Germany and Austria’s prospective breakup of their shared €200 billion-($227 billion) power market is vexing traders and companies that say splitting the union will push up manufacturing costs and drive away investment. Lechwerke AG, a German utility, is resisting supplying its Austrian clients with longer-dated power contracts because it doesn’t know how much to charge them if the ...

  Bloomberg President Dilma Rousseff promised increased spending on her party’s most popular social program and took other measures aimed at her electoral base, less than two weeks before Brazil’s Senate is expected to vote in favor of the impeachment process she calls a coup d’etat. At a rally of labour unions and Workers’ Party faithful in Sao Paulo on ...

  Bloomberg After falling for three months, the dollar is set to rebound, if this historical seasonal chart is any guide. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the greenback versus 10 peers, has appreciated in May in every year but one since 2007, according to a Bloomberg Seasonality Chart. That’s the best record among the 12 months. Analysts’ theories ...

  San Francisco / AFP US oil services companies Halliburton and Baker Hughes announced they were calling off their massive multibillion-dollar proposed merger that had met strong resistance from regulators. The deal, announced in November 2014, foresaw a $34.6 billion takeover by Halliburton of its rival, creating a powerful competitor to global industry leader Schlumberger. “Challenges in obtaining remaining regulatory approvals ...

  Bloomberg Puerto Rico will default on a $422 million bond payment for its Government Development Bank, escalating what is turning into the biggest crisis ever in the $3.7 trillion market that U.S. state and local entities use to access financing. Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla invoked a debt moratorium law approved last month, saying during a televised address that the ...

  Sydney / AFP Australia’s conservative government is pledging to drive economic and jobs growth when it hands down its budget on Tuesday, with an eye firmly on upcoming national elections that are shaping up to be a tight race. The budget is seen as a key test for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, a former investment banker who ousted his ...

  Beijing / AFP China’s economic recovery stabilised in April, an official factory activity gauge showed on Sunday, as the property market recovered and credit grew. The Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI), tracking activity in factories and workshops, rose for the second successive month, the National Bureau of Statistics said. The figure was 50.1 compared to 50.2 in March. But any ...

  TOKYO / AFP Japan’s finance minister said the recent sharp rise in the yen is “extremely worrying”, adding Tokyo will take action when necessary. The remarks, which suggest Tokyo’s possible market intervention, came after the Japanese unit surged to an 18-month high against the dollar in New York Friday. It extended the previous day’s rally, which was boosted by ...

  Mumbai / Bloomberg Vodafone Group Plc has chosen banks to arrange a listing of its India business, which could raise as much as $3 billion and become the nation’s largest initial public offering, reports said. The Newbury, England-based company picked Bank of America Corp., Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. and UBS Group AG to lead the offering, which could take ...

  Jakarta / AFP Indonesia is pushing to ban new palm oil operations after last year’s haze-belching forest fires were partly blamed on the industry’s expansion, but producers are warning the move could hit the economy and green groups are sceptical. President Joko Widodo in April proposed a halt on granting new land for palm oil plantations in the world’s ...