International News

Bloomberg Philippine inflation will ease from a five-year high once lawmakers approve a measure that will allow more rice imports, giving authorities scope to delay an interest rate increase, according to a senior economic planner. Inflation that climbed to 4.3 percent in March will cool by at least 1 percentage point once a law limiting overseas purchases of the nation’s ...

Bloomberg An Indian court halted Vedanta Ltd.’s takeover process for Electrosteel Steels Ltd. after a challenge by Renaissance Steel Ltd., a rival bidder. The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal has agreed to hear Renaissance Steel’s appeal against Vedanta’s revival plan for indebted Electrosteel on May 17, posing a legal hurdle for the first large steel defaulter to complete the bankruptcy ...

Bloomberg Apple Inc. turned in a strong quarter with revenue, profit and forecasts all coming in ahead of analysts’ estimates. But that isn’t necessarily good for the hundreds of iPhone suppliers around the world, contrary to the market’s knee-jerk reaction. Apple’s better-than-expected results stemmed in part from the sale of ancillary goodies from games to cloud storage. None of those ...

Bloomberg Australian authorities are formulating plans that would force public companies to reveal the proportion of women at various levels of their organisations, as well as steps they’re taking to increase female representation. ASX Ltd., which operates the country’s main stock exchange, wants businesses to formulate and disclose diversity policies, and also set representation targets for their boards, senior executives ...

Bloomberg Apple Inc.’s results confirmed that, while the days of double-digit smartphone industry growth are over, Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has a plan to withstand the slowdown. The shares gained after the company reported iPhone sales in line with analysts’ expectations, gave a bullish revenue forecast and highlighted a surging services business. The numbers show that Cook’s strategy of ...

Bloomberg Euro-area economic growth slowed in the first quarter, posing a challenge for the European Central Bank as it contemplates paring back monetary stimulus measures. The 0.4 percent expansion was the weakest in six quarters and followed a reading of 0.7 percent at the end of 2017. While temporary factors such as bad weather played a part, another report showed ...

Bloomberg Just when it looked like things couldn’t get any worse for the pound, political risks are back on the market’s radar. Sterling is vulnerable to Thursday’s local elections in England, the resurgence of Brexit uncertainties and the resignation of one of Prime Minister Theresa May’s key pro-European allies in government, according to strategists. The currency made a feeble recovery ...

Bloomberg General Motors Co.’s hot-selling new crossovers are padding profit for the largest US automaker amid a costly retooling of truck factories and restructuring of Korean operations. Adjusted earnings fell to $1.43 a share in the first quarter, beating analysts’ average estimate for $1.24. The Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain drove better-than-expected revenue and buoyed GM through downtime at pickup ...

Bloomberg CVS Health Corp. said it’s making progress in the regulatory review of its $68 billion deal to buy health insurer Aetna Inc. after first-quarter earnings came in higher than analysts anticipated. Both CVS and rival Express Scripts Holding Co. are trying to get their mega mergers approved by regulators, as drug middlemen combine with large insurers in the US ...

Bloomberg Xerox Corp.’s top executive and six board members agreed to step down in a victory for Carl Icahn’s battle against the company’s planned $6.1 billion takeover by Fujifilm Holdings Corp. The resignations, which include Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Jacobson and Chairman Robert Keegan, are part of an agreement with activist investors to settle a lawsuit that will put in ...