Bloomberg AT&T Inc. and Time Warner Inc. may have gained an edge in the biggest merger trial in decades as the companies have exposed weaknesses in the Trump administration’s antitrust lawsuit to block their $85 billion merger, according to lawyers and economists following the battle. As the US rested its case in the fifth week of the trial, AT&T and ...
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Facebook to start complying with EU privacy rules
Bloomberg Facebook Inc. is starting to comply with new privacy rules in Europe. And then, to get ahead of scrutiny everywhere else, the company said it will provide the same protections to the rest of its 2 billion users. Users in Europe this week will get notifications about some of the information they’re sharing, like their religion and political views, ...
Read More »UK inflation at one-year low
Bloomberg UK inflation slowed to the weakest in a year in March, raising questions about how quickly the Bank of England will increase interest rates. Consumer prices rose 2.5 percent from a year earlier, down from 2.7 percent in February, the Office for National Statistics said on Wednesday. That’s less than economists estimated and below the BOE’s most recent forecast ...
Read More »Internet sales tax ruling divides US supreme court justices
Bloomberg US Supreme Court justices signalled they are divided about whether to let states start collecting billions of dollars in sales taxes from internet retailers that don’t currently charge tax to their customers. Hearing arguments in Washington in a South Dakota case, the justices considered overturning their 1992 ruling that made much of the inte-rnet a tax-free zone by exempting ...
Read More »China hits $957mn US sorghum trade with fresh duty
Bloomberg China will impose temporary anti-dumping deposits on US sorghum imports from Wednesday, adding to trade tensions between the world’s biggest economies. Soybean meal futures climbed on concerns the oilseed could be targeted next. Imports will incur a 178.6 percent duty, China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a preliminary ruling. That’s in compliance with domestic law and World Trade Organization ...
Read More »Vingroup aims $2bn in share sale
Bloomberg Vingroup JSC, Vietnam’s biggest developer, is targeting an initial equity offering of as much as $2 billion for its luxury residential arm, people with knowledge of the matter said. The Hanoi-based group’s Vinhomes JSC unit is considering seeking a valuation of $13 billion to $16 billion in the share sale, according to one of the people, who asked not ...
Read More »Shakeout in Japan job market sets big caps up to beat small guys
Bloomberg A stellar rally for smaller-sized Japanese companies over the last two years is about to face its biggest test yet should evidence emerge this earnings season that the country’s tight labor market is starting to erode profitability. A combination of attractive relative valuations for larger stocks and the greater hit to small and medium enterprises from labor shortages should ...
Read More »Huawei can’t block Samsung China manufacturing: Court
Bloomberg Samsung Electronics Co. can continue manufacturing and selling smartphones in China while it battles Huawei Technologies Co. over patent royalties, a US judge ruled. The order by a federal judge in San Francisco blocks Huawei from enforcing a decision by a Chinese court, which ruled Samsung is infringing two Huawei patents. In January, the Intermediate People’s Court of Shenzhen ...
Read More »India to receive normal monsoon in boost for Modi
Bloomberg India’s southwest monsoon, which waters more than half of the country’s farmland and is crucial for growth in Asia’s third-largest economy, is expected to be normal this year. Annual rain between June and September is likely to be 97 percent of a 50-year average, the India Meteorological Department said. The forecast has a margin of error of 5 percent, ...
Read More »Kraken exchange pulls out of Japan
Bloomberg Kraken, one of the world’s longest-operating cryptocurrency exchanges, will end its trading services for Japanese residents. The San Francisco-based company cited the rising costs of doing business in Japan for its decision, though it said it may re-enter the country in the future. It tentatively plans to cease all its services, which began in October 2014, by the end ...
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