International News

  Bloomberg A drop in Swedish apartment prices picked up speed last month, adding to evidence that the property market in the largest Nordic nation is floundering. The average cost was 4% lower in July than the previous month, marking the fastest decline since before the pandemic, according to data by Svensk Maklarstatistik. House prices decline 1 percent from June. ...

  Bloomberg The UK economy probably shrank for the first time since the nation was in a coronavirus lockdown at the start of 2021, adding to pressure for action from the contenders vying to take over as prime minister. Gross domestic product for the second quarter probably shrank 0.2%, according to a survey of economists by Bloomberg News ahead of ...

  Bloomberg Apple Inc, which used to acquire a company every three or four weeks, has dramatically slowed its dealmaking in the past two years, a sign the tech giant is being more choosy in the face of a shaky economy and heightened government scrutiny. The company spent just $33 million on payments connected to acquisitions in its last fiscal ...

  Bloomberg Pfizer Inc has agreed to buy Global Blood Therapeutics Inc, the maker of a drug for sickle-cell disease, in a deal worth $5.4 billion. The New York drug giant will pay $68.50 for all outstanding shares of Global Blood, the companies said in a statement before US markets opened. That’s double the price of the stock on August ...

  Bloomberg Veolia Environnement SA agreed to sell Suez SA’s waste activities in Britain to Macquarie Group Ltd. for 2.4 billion euros ($2.44 billion) after the country’s antitrust authority raised competition concerns. Veolia’s announcement, confirming an earlier Bloomberg News report, marks the last step in its acquisition of a large chunk of French rival Suez, which was completed in other ...

  Bloomberg Hungarian inflation accelerated to the fastest in 24 years, offering no reprieve for a central bank that’s raised interest rates by most in the EU. Consumer prices rose 13.7% in July from a year earlier, exceeding all estimates in a Bloomberg survey. Core inflation, which strips out volatile commodity prices, was even higher at 16.7%, pointing to broad-based ...

Bloomberg Almost 2,000 dock workers at Britain’s biggest container ship port plan to strike for eight days this month after failing to reach a pay deal, threatening to sever one of the UK’s most important trade routes. Workers at Felixstowe will strike from August 21 to August 29, the Unite union said in a statement. Talks failed after the port, ...

  Bloomberg US consumer borrowing surged in June, reflecting a jump in credit-card balances and a record increase in non-revolving lending that includes auto and school loans. Total credit increased $40.2 billion from the prior month, second only to March’s $47.1 billion spike, Federal Reserve figures showed. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a $27 ...

  Bloomberg Pfizer Inc is in advanced talks to buy Global Blood Therapeutics Inc., the maker of a therapy for sickle-cell disease, for about $5 billion, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported. The New York-based drug giant is looking to finalise a deal in the coming days, the Journal reported. Bloomberg News had reported earlier this week that biotech was ...

  Bloomberg As volcanic activity in Iceland starts, the country’s tourism industry kicked into high gear, grasping an opportunity to revive the business after the pandemic had banished most visitors from the Atlantic island for more than two years. With reports emerging of sightings of lava, the shares of Icelandic airlines Icelandair hf and Fly Play hf, which flies under ...