International News

Bloomberg AP Moller-Maersk A/S, the world’s largest container line, said it had a good start to the year but warned that “considerable uncertainties” stemming from global trade tensions will probably hurt its business. “New tariffs can potentially reduce expected growth in global container volumes by up to 1 percentage point,” the Copenhagen-based company said. Maersk, which also unveiled plans to ...

Bloomberg Sweden’s unemployment rate fell to a 14-month low in April, providing surprisingly favourable data for the central bank as it seeks to increase interest rates amid slowing economic growth. The seasonally adjusted rate came in at 5.9 percent, down from a 17-month high of 6.7 percent in March. Economists polled by Bloomberg had expected a rate of 6.5 percent. ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump said the US is making “great progress” in trade negotiations with Japan even though a deal could come only after the latter’s elections in July. “Agriculture and beef heavily in play” in the talks, Trump tweeted after spending about 2 1/2 hours golfing with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. “Much will wait until after their July ...

Bloomberg Shares of Fraser and Neave Ltd got a jolt of caffeine after the company, controlled by Thailand’s richest man, announced plans to enter the Thai coffee market. F&N, better known for its 100Plus isotonic sports drink, jumped the most in 10 months after saying its joint venture unit would buy out Starbucks Corp’s operations in Thailand. The deal — ...

Bloomberg China called the US export ban on Huawei Technologies Co a rough disruption to the chip-making market and vowed to further open its industrial sector for foreign investment. “The US has roughly interfered in the integrated circuit sector’s global market order with a groundless accusation,” Wang Zhijun, vice head of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said in ...

Bloomberg A new model of bullet train set to enter service ahead of the Tokyo Olympics hit a record speed of 360 kilometres (224 miles) per hour in a test run, operator JR Central said. The N700s — the suffix stands for ‘supreme’ — is the first new model of bullet train on Japan’s busiest line for almost a decade. ...

Bloomberg The US escalation of trade tensions won’t solve any of its problems but will create volatility in global markets and hurt the world economy, according to China’s top financial regulator. Higher US tariffs will have a “very limited” impact on China’s economy even if it raises levies to the maximum level, and would hurt the US about as much, ...

Bloomberg India’s debt-ridden Anil Ambani group will exit the asset management business by selling shares in its joint venture to Japanese partner Nippon Life Insurance Co, which will take a controlling stake in India’s fifth-biggest mutual fund. Ambani’s Reliance Capital Ltd signed a binding definitive agreement to sell 32.12 percent of Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management Ltd for $649 million ...

Bloomberg Indonesia is ending its four-day curbs on social media after deadly riots that left seven dead and hundreds injured. Video and picture-sharing functions returned to normal on various social media and messaging system platforms, according to Communications Minister Rudiantara. The government froze the functions last week, citing security concerns after riots rocked the capital Jakarta the night before. This ...

Bloomberg The Trump Administration unveiled its latest package to help farmers survive a trade war with China, adopting a model that aims to avoid influencing production decisions. The corn futures fell. The program includes $14.5 billion in direct payments to producers. Aid for most crops will be calculated based on what is grown in each county rather than just individual ...