International News

  Bloomberg BHP Billiton Ltd, the world’s biggest mining company, forecast that iron ore production could be flat this fiscal year, while it sees petroleum output declining as much as 17 percent and the prices of its top earning materials remaining volatile. Capital spending on oil assets will plunge 44 percent to about US$1.4 billion in the year, after petroleum …

  Bloomberg A crippling drought in Vietnam will probably cause the government to miss its 6.7 percent growth target this year, adding to pressure on new Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc as he seeks to reassure investors of his economic reforms. The economy will need to expand 7.6 percent in the second half of the year to achieve its full-year …

  Bloomberg Japan’s largest mobile phone carriers are poised to report the highest quarterly profit in at least a decade, a rare bright spot as aggregate earnings at the nation’s largest companies slump under a stronger yen and weak consumer confidence. Operating income at the three largest carriers will probably rise 6 percent in aggregate to 858 billion yen (US$8 …

  AFP Oil prices rose on bargain-buying in Asia on Wednesday after hitting two-month lows but gains were hobbled by concerns about an oversupply and weak demand after the IMF lowered its global economic growth forecasts. Investors are playing a holding game ahead of the release later in the day of official US stockpile figures, which will provide a better …

  Bloomberg Theresa May’s first meeting with Angela Merkel in Berlin will involve more pleasantries than hard bargaining. A week after taking office as UK PM, May, 59, will be keen to size up the woman who will be one of her main interlocutors as she navigates Britain’s exit from the EU. The German chancellor, in office for almost 11 …

  Bloomberg The U.K. labor market showed continued strength before the country’s decision to leave the European Union. The unemployment rate fell to 4.9 percent in the three months through May, the lowest since the third quarter of 2005, the Office for National Statistics in London said on Wednesday. Economists in a Bloomberg survey had expected the rate to stay …

  Bloomberg Embattled German auto giant Volkswagen said on Wednesday it booked a charge of 2.2 billion euros ($2.4 billion) in the first six months in relation to engine-rigging scandal, but its operating performance before that charge was better than expected. “The operating result for the Volkswagen group before special items is significantly higher than market expectations for the first …

  Bloomberg Germany, one of Europe’s cheapest stock markets, is starting to see a resurgence in investor interest. Months of withdrawals from exchange-traded funds tracking German stocks are beginning to reverse amid a stabilizing euro and improving prospects for the country’s exporters. The biggest ETF following the shares just had three consecutive weeks of inflows for the first time since …

  Bloomberg Morgan Stanley’s Matthew Hornbach called this year’s Treasury market rally. Now he’s revising his forecasts and is more bullish than just about anyone else. Ten-year U.S. yields will fall more than 50 basis points, or 0.5 percentage point, to 1 percent in the first quarter of 2017, according to Hornbach, the firm’s head of global interest-rate strategy in …

  Bloomberg Oil held near $45 a barrel as U.S. industry data showed a drop in crude stockpiles, paring a surplus in the world’s largest fuel consumer. Futures were little changed in New York after dropping 1.3 percent Tuesday to a two-month low. Inventories declined by 2.3 million barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute was said to report. While …