International News

Beijing / AFP Global carmakers gathered in Beijing on Monday to show off their wares as competition intensifies and growth slows in the world’s biggest auto market, with the key SUV and new energy vehicle sectors the focus of attention. The flamboyant show, which alternates between the capital and commercial hub Shanghai, came after auto sales in China grew just ...

  Beijing / Bloomberg China plans to spend as much as $11 billion on a second airport in the southwestern city of Chengdu to help meet growing demand for air travel in the world’s second-biggest economy. The proposed facility will have three runways, one of them as long as 4,000 meters, according to a statement posted on the website of ...

  Mumbai / Bloomberg Reliance Industries Ltd., which reported the highest quarterly profit in more than eight years on Friday, fell to the lowest in more than a month on concerns over cost-overruns and delays in projects. The shares declined as much as 2.6 percent to 1,012.30 rupees, the lowest since mid-March, and traded at 1,015 rupees as of 2:31 ...

  Bangkok / AFP Tobacco giant Philip Morris on Monday pleaded not guilty to dodging hundreds of millions of dollars in import tax to Thailand, a crime carrying a massive fine of up to $2.27 billion. Thai prosecutors accuse the local unit of the company, which owns the Marlboro and L&M brands, of evading some 20 billion baht ($568 million) ...

  Singapore / Bloomberg Singapore’s consumer prices fell for a 17th consecutive month in March, the longest period of decline on record, reflecting the impact of lower oil costs and a weakening economy. Consumer prices dropped 1 percent from a year earlier as transport and housing costs fell further, the statistics agency said in a statement on Monday. That compares ...

  Bloomberg The pound rose to its strongest level in more than a month versus the dollar amid signs the “remain” camp is pulling ahead in the campaign over Britain’s membership of the European Union. Sterling touched a six-week high against the euro, after posting its longest winning streak in 10 months through Friday, as U.S. President Barack Obama backed ...

  Bloomberg German business confidence unexpectedly deteriorated in the latest sign that Europe’s largest economy is losing some of its pace. The Munich-based Ifo institute’s business climate index fell to 106.6 in April from 106.7 the previous month. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists was for an increase to 107.1. The Bundesbank said last week that it ...

  Bloomberg Norway increased its withdrawals from the nation’s wealth fund again in March, running ahead of estimates made by the central bank just two months ago. The government withdrew 7.4 billion kroner ($898 million), according to monthly data published by Norwegian Government Agency for Financial Management. That’s up from 6.7 billion kroner in each of the first two months ...

  Bloomberg The currency market is becoming more convinced that the Brazilian real’s world-beating rally this year is far from over. Foreign investors have reduced their bearish bets against the currency in the futures market by 33 percent since the end of 2015 to $15 billion, the least since November 2013, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and BM&FBovespa SA, ...

  bloomberg Believe it or not, companies still want to make deals. Half of executives expect to pursue acquisitions in the next 12 months and 40 percent aim to boost sales through partnerships, according to EY’s Global Capital Conference Barometer, a survey of more than 1,700 executives in 45 countries. While that’s down from the 59 percent of participants who ...