International News

China’s economic woes roil Asia export markets

Bloomberg China’s weakening economy is roiling export markets in the rest of Asia — and there’s more pain to come. From Hong Kong to Japan, exports data for December showed a marked downturn as supply-chain disruptions triggered by US-China tensions and a cyclical slowdown in the world economy, led by China, hit the trade-reliant region. More bad news is in ...

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Ghosn blames ‘plot, treason’ for arrest

Bloomberg Fallen auto titan Carlos Ghosn said his arrest for alleged financial crimes was the result of a “plot” against him by Nissan Motor Co. executives trying to prevent the Japanese carmaker’s deeper integration with Renault SA. There was a plan to combine Nissan with Renault and third partner Mitsubishi Motors Corp., Ghosn told Japan’s Nikkei newspaper in his first ...

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Japan biotech firm shares plunge 26%

Bloomberg A somewhat obscure biotech company in Japan tanked, bringing down an entire index with it. Shares of SanBio Co. plunged 26 percent on Wednesday, the most since it went public in 2015, after the company said it failed to reach target for a traumatic brain injury medicine in its latest trial as post-stroke treatment. The 5.5 trillion yen ($50 ...

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$1.4bn Telco buyout puts Axiata in a bind

Bloomberg Malaysian wireless giant Axiata Group Bhd. is caught in a bind as it weighs whether to exit its decade-long investment in Singapore operator M1 Ltd. Axiata, M1’s biggest shareholder, has less than three weeks left to decide whether to tender its stock into a takeover offer valuing the target at $1.4 billion. The Malaysian company held a board meeting ...

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India solar duty fails domestic producers as demand dwindles

Bloomberg India’s bid to protect its solar-equipment makers by imposing a safeguard duty on cheap, Chinese imports has failed, according to domestic manufacturers, who are campaigning for tougher measures. The country last year imposed a 25 percent tariff on solar cells and modules imported from China and Malaysia for two years. That has resulted in developers either stalling projects to ...

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Europe economic confidence plunge extends into 2019

Bloomberg Euro-area economic confidence extended its worst losing streak in a decade at the start of 2019 as member states faced a variety of domestic frailties and trade uncertainties. The European Commission’s economic sentiment index dropped more than economists forecast in January, reaching the lowest in more than two years. Pessimism spread in industry, services and retail trade, while the ...

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Fund managers in UK face new guidelines seeking transparency

Bloomberg An endangered UK regulator is demanding that asset managers change the way they interact with investors under new rules that require funds to provide more information on their business culture. A key difference in the updated stewardship code from the Financial Reporting Council is that asset managers will have to report what they’ve actually done, rather than just their ...

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UK lending slows as Brexit concerns hangs over outlook

Bloomberg UK lenders approved the fewest home loans in eight months in December and demand for unsecured debt remained subdued, Bank of England figures show. The slowdown reflects fears that Britain risks leaving the European Union without a deal, a scenario that could rock the property market. Consumer credit grew at its slowest annual pace in four years. UK mortgage ...

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Tech group backs privacy bill that preempts tougher laws

Bloomberg A new privacy bill proposed by Senator Marco Rubio, which would override more restrictive state laws, is winning support from a Washington-based technology trade group that counts Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Facebook Inc. and eBay Inc. as members. The Florida Republican’s legislation would impose a national privacy standard and supersede tougher data-protection regulations that will take effect in California in ...

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Apple partners shift from China over trade tensions

Bloomberg Apple Inc.’s main assemblers are shifting more output to India and Southeast Asia as trade tensions threaten to escalate costs in their longstanding production base of China. Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, known also as Foxconn, said over the weekend it’s investing more than $200 million in India and Vietnam. Smaller rival Pegatron Corp. said it’s moved to Indonesia ...

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