Bloomberg Oil posted the biggest weekly rise in more than two months as shrinking stockpiles and supply disruptions from Canada to Libya compounded the growing isolation of OPEC’s third-largest oil producer. Futures advanced 8.1 percent this week in New York, above London-traded Brent crude’s gain of 5.1 percent. The world’s two most important oil benchmarks are diverging as Saudi Arabia’s ...
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Mazda condemns Trump’s car-tariff plans
Bloomberg Mazda Motor Corp. became the latest auto company to condemn the Trump administration’s plans for potential car import tariffs, saying such duties would hit both the industry as well as US consumers. The Japanese manufacturer said it filed comments on the Commerce Department’s investigation into car-related imports, urging it to “reject the premise that auto imports are a threat ...
Read More »China’s HNA explores Radisson Hotel sale
Bloomberg HNA Group Co., the Chinese conglomerate selling assets to pay down debt, is exploring a sale of Radisson Hotel Group, according to people familiar with the matter. HNA has been gauging interest from rival hotel chains and other potential buyers of the Minneapolis-based company, said the people, who asked to not be identified because the matter isn’t public. There ...
Read More »ZTE appoints new chief in another step towards lifting of US ban
Bloomberg ZTE Corp. has appointed a new chairman from a state research outfit that backed its founding decades ago, taking another step toward cleaning house and freeing itself from a ban on American technology purchases. Shareholders voted in Li Zixue, the 54-year-old deputy director of the Xi’an Microelectronics Technology Institute, as chairman, according to a Shenzhen stock exchange filing. The ...
Read More »China factory gauge slips amid trade war
Bloomberg China’s official factory gauge fell more than expected in June, just as the world’s two biggest economies head toward a trade war. The manufacturing purchasing managers index stood at 51.5 in June, versus 51.9 in May, and the forecast of 51.6 in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The non-manufacturing PMI, covering services and construction, rose to 55, the statistics ...
Read More »Novartis to spin off Alcon as CEO focusses on finding drugs
Bloomberg Less than halfway through his first year as chief executive officer of Novartis AG, Vas Narasimhan plans a third major transaction to narrow its focus on developing cutting-edge medicines. The Swiss drugmaker said that it will spin off its Alcon eye-care unit while using proceeds from the $13 billion sale of its stake in a consumer-health joint venture with ...
Read More »Trump car tariffs would prompt retaliation, says EU
Bloomberg European Union leaders vowed an unwavering response to President Donald Trump’s protectionism, signalling a readiness to retaliate should the US escalate a trade war with tariffs on cars. The EU government heads repeated criticism of US duties on foreign metals and expressed support for the bloc’s retaliatory action over those levies, which Trump has justified on national-security grounds. The ...
Read More »Canadian business sentiment nears record
Bloomberg Canadian business sentiment is running at near-record levels with companies facing the strongest capacity constraints since before the recession, according to a survey by the central bank. The Ottawa-based Bank of Canada’s second-quarter survey of executives — which mostly took place last month before trade tensions escalated with the US — shows an economy in which companies are finding ...
Read More »Volkswagen accused of age discrimination
Bloomberg A Tennessee employee of Volkswagen AG sued the automaker and alleged that it has been systematically discriminating against older workers in wake of a massive emissions scandal that tarnished company’s reputation. Jonathan Manlove, former assistant manager in logistics at the automaker’s Tennessee plant, said he was demoted as part of company’s effort to shed its “old diesel image†and ...
Read More »US consumer spending cools, inflation tops Fed goal
Bloomberg US consumer spending rose less than forecast in May as outlays on services fell and Americans saved more of their incomes. Inflation topped the Federal Reserve’s goal by more than expected. Purchases rose 0.2 percent from April after a 0.5 percent advance that was less than previously estimated, Commerce Department figures showed. The Bloomberg survey median called for a ...
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