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Bloomberg A group led by Silver Lake Partners agreed to invest another 45.5 billion rupees ($602 million) in Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd’s digital arm, in the latest vote of confidence in billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s online push. The US private equity firm and its co-investors will hold a 2.1% stake in Reliance’s Jio Platforms unit, according to a Mumbai exchange ...

Bloomberg China’s trade surplus surged to a record in May as exports fell less than expected, helped by an increase in medical-related sales, and imports slumped along with commodity prices. Exports decreased 3.3% in dollar terms from a year earlier, beating economists’ estimates, while imports plunged 16.7%. That resulted in a trade surplus of $62.93 billion. The record surplus comes ...

Bloomberg Soybean imports by China rose 27% in May from a year earlier, after crushers increased purchases from Brazil to take advantage of cheap supplies amid strong crush margins. The country shipped in 9.4 million tons in May, compared with 7.4 million tons in the same month last year, and 6.7 million tons in April, according to customs data. Chinese ...

Bloomberg Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd has launched clinical trials of a plant-derived drug it’s developing to treat Covid-19, joining the race to find an effective treatment for the disease that’s killed almost 400,000 people worldwide. India’s largest drugmaker will commence Phase II trials on 210 patients across 12 centers in India and the results are expected by October, according to ...

Bloomberg The world’s governments and central banks are shifting from rescue to recovery mode as the deepest slump since the Great Depression shows signs of bottoming out. After rolling out trillions of dollars worth of measures to prevent their economies and markets from collapsing, they are now doubling down with even more spending to backstop a recovery as coronavirus lockdowns ...

Bloomberg AstraZeneca Plc has approached rival drugmaker Gilead Sciences Inc. about a potential merger, according to people familiar with the matter, in what would be the biggest health-care deal on record. The UK-based firm contacted Gilead last month about a possible tie-up, the people said, asking not to be identified because the details are private. AstraZeneca didn’t specify terms for ...

Bloomberg The US economy is unlikely to snap back quickly and may not return to normal until 2021, according to the chief of one of the nation’s biggest ports, after a government report raised hopes for a faster-than-expected rebound from a pandemic-induced recession. Even after the Labour Department’s surprisingly positive numbers on employment in May, “I’m still not convinced that ...

Bloomberg An investment company backed by billionaire banker Joseph Safra is considering a takeover bid for airport foreign exchange provider Travelex Holdings Ltd, the Mail on Sunday reported, citing financial industry sources. The Safra bid comes after Finablr-owned Travelex appointed PWC to find a buyer for the unit. On April 30, Finablr disclosed that its debt burden stood at around ...

Bloomberg Canada’s labour market is showing signs of strength after months of Covid-19 destruction, but weakness in the jobs market for women is holding back the pace of the recovery. Recent labour market data show men are disproportionately benefiting from the phased reopening of the economy while women are struggling. In May, men recouped 14% of the nearly 1.5 million ...

CAIRO / WAM In response to a request from the Egyptian authorities, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission led by Uma Ramakrishnan held virtual meetings with the Egyptian authorities to discuss IMF financial support for the authorities’ policy plans to ensure macroeconomic stability and a strong economic recovery. At the end of the virtual discussions, Ramakrishnan issued the following statement. ...