International News

American job market’s solid 2018 start raises wage-pickup hopes

Bloomberg The US labour market began 2018 on a strong note as Americans saw wage gains accelerate amid better-than-expected hiring, raising hopes that a long-overdue pickup in worker pay is finally in train. Nonfarm payrolls rose 200,000 in January, exceeding the median estimate of economists for a 180,000 increase, Labor Department data showed, as the jobless rate held at a ...

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PM Modi’s election budget may push India’s interest rates higher

Bloomberg India’s Narendra Modi delivered an election year budget focussed on tamping down rural discontent ahead of crucial elections, spending that could prompt the central bank to raise interest rates in the coming months. With less than a week to go before the Reserve Bank of India meets to decide on policy, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley unveiled a budget that ...

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Fosun’s biotech arm mulls Hong Kong IPO

Bloomberg Shanghai Henlius Biotech Inc., backed by Fosun Group, is planning an initial public offering that could make it one of the first to take advantage of proposed Hong Kong listing rules aimed at attracting early-stage drug developers, people familiar with the matter said. The subsidiary of Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co. is considering selling shares in Hong Kong as ...

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India to launch healthcare scheme for 100mn poor

Bloomberg India expects to spend up to $1.9 billion annually on premium payments to provide as many as 100 million poor families with free access to health care. The programme, which provides poor with hospital care, will be funded with 60 percent contribution from the federal government and rest coming from the states, the National Institution for Transforming India, the ...

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Soft-Brexit lawmakers fight for customs union in commons battle

Bloomberg A group of pro-European lawmakers are using the tools of Parliament to try to force PM Theresa May to maintain trade ties with Europe after Brexit, a move that will delight business but stoke further division within May’s Conservative Party. Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Ken Clarke and former Business Minister Anna Soubry have proposed an amendment that would ...

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Vodafone in talks to buy Liberty Global assets

Bloomberg Vodafone Group Plc and Liberty Global Plc are looking to redraw their European spheres of interest, with the UK mobile carrier saying it wants to buy competing assets in the region as cable pioneer John Malone retrenches. Vodafone didn’t disclose the specific markets but said the talks concern continental Europe, ruling out the UK where both companies are headquartered. ...

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US seeks penalty, recalls to settle ‘Fiat case’

Bloomberg The US Justice Department has offered to settle its emissions-cheating lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV if the automaker recalls 104,000 vehicles and pays a substantial but unspecified civil penalty. The proposed framework of an offer was extended to the Italian-American car company and included steps it would have to take to mitigate its past pollution and make internal ...

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Dell confirms ‘exploring IPO’

Bloomberg Dell Technologies Inc. confirmed it’s still weighing options, including an initial public offering or a combination with VMware Inc. Dell said it’s evaluating potential business opportunities but hasn’t yet made a decision on which one to pursue. While an IPO or a combination with VMware are both on the table, Dell isn’t including a sale of either company to ...

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Ukraine farms wary of planting more corn even as price recovers

Bloomberg Some of Ukraine’s biggest corn growers are reluctant to expand production even though prices have recovered to an 18-month high. Part of the problem is that export prices for the crop are still just half of a 2011 peak and shippers are facing fierce competition from Brazil. Ukrainian farmers have had a tough time with corn after unfavourable weather ...

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Samsung pips Intel as it posts record profit, splits stocks

Bloomberg Samsung Electronics Co. is on a roll. The maker of smartphones, screens and consumer electronics reported record quarterly profit and disclosed numbers showing that it’s chip business pulls in more revenue than Intel Corp. The Suwon, South Korea-based company took the opportunity to unveil a 50-to-1 stock split, which sent its shares surging. The earnings report for the last ...

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