International News

Covid-19: Indian carmakers witness zero sales in April

Bloomberg India’s top carmakers couldn’t ship a single vehicle to dealers in April as they shut production after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the world’s biggest stay-at-home restrictions to stop the coronavirus from spreading. Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, which produces about half the cars on India’s roads, and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, the nation’s biggest SUV maker, recorded no sales ...

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UK plc issued more profit warnings in first quarter than in 2008

Bloomberg Over a fifth of the UK’s listed companies issued a profit warning in the first quarter of 2020, compared with 17% in the full year of 2008, according to a report by consultants EY. The economic crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic has pushed up the number of profit warnings in the UK, with 301 issued in the quarter ...

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Norway’s $1trn wealth fund expands US stakes amid rout

Bloomberg Norway’s $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund has been bulking up on stocks that got hammered during March’s historic market decline, adding to stakes in companies such as Carnival Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc. The fund has acquired holdings of 5% or more in seven US-traded companies since mid-March, according to filings by Oslo-based Norges Bank. The list includes ...

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Canada’s newspapers want Google, FB to pay for content

Bloomberg Canada’s newspapers are asking the federal government to follow France and Australia in forcing companies such as Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Facebook, Inc. to pay to display their news content. “Both France and Australia have set deadlines to have mandatory solutions in place by July. That means paying for copyrighted content and sharing the advertising dollars and data that ...

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PG&E to replace most of its board members

Bloomberg PG&E Corp. said it would replace most of its board as part of a broad overhaul of its governance structure as the California power giant pushes to exit bankruptcy. PG&E said only three of the 14 current directors will remain after the company exits Chapter 11 by mid-year, according to a statement. The utility’s chair, Nora Mead Brownell, will ...

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Carmakers dodge disaster with biggest-ever share of 0% loans

Bloomberg Zero-percent financing deals hit a record last month as carmakers kept the US auto market from collapsing. More than one in every four new vehicles sold in April did so with 0% loans, according to market researcher Edmunds. By opening up the lending spigots, the US avoided a reprise of the almost 80% drop automakers experienced in China in ...

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US consumer spending starts to inch up: BofA

Bloomberg Bank of America Corp. (BofA) is starting to see consumer spending edge higher after plunging with the start of the coronavirus lockdown. The nascent increase, which follows a 30% drop, is showing up as consumers buy more groceries, restaurant meals, clothing and gasoline, Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan said in an interview on CNBC. US aggregate spending averaged about ...

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As Italy reopens for business, workers ask, what about us?

Bloomberg Calogero Lo Vetro couldn’t wait to get back to work, describing the scene he saw on his return as “something from a sci-fi movie,” with health monitors decked out like space men checking staff at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV’s Mirafiori plant during its preliminary reopening. Lo Vetro, a quality-control officer at the Turin area factory whose models include Fiat’s ...

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Trump weighs China stock ban for $50bn of Federal savings

Bloomberg President Donald Trump is exploring blocking a government retirement fund from investing in Chinese equities considered a national security risk, a person familiar with the internal deliberations said. The Thrift Savings Plan — the federal government’s retirement savings fund — is scheduled to transfer roughly $50 billion of its international fund to mirror an MSCI All Country World Index, ...

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UK to publish back-to-work plans as firms press for help

Bloomberg The UK government will give companies guidance in within days on how to return to work safely once the coronavirus lockdown is eased, as it comes under pressure from business not to withdraw its financial support too soon. Firms will get advice on different types of workplace activity, including operating outdoors or inside someone else’s home, according to two ...

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