News

Bloomberg Euro-area economic confidence slipped in February, the latest number to show momentum in the region is taking a breather after the best year in a decade. The European Commission’s index of sentiment fell to 114.1 from 114.9, broadly in line with expectations. That’s the second consecutive monthly decline after the index touched a 17-year high in December. The business ...

Bloomberg Aston Martin Holdings Ltd. is looking for a “big brother” partner in order to survive as a low-volume, luxury carmaker, even after it posted its first profit in eight years and prepares for a potential initial public offering. The manufacturer famous for making film spy James Bond’s favourite car could use a combination of capital raised from an IPO ...

Bloomberg Facebook Inc. failed again to get out of a lawsuit alleging its photo scanning technology flouts users’ privacy rights. A federal judge in San Francisco ruled that the world’s largest social network must face claims that it violated the privacy of millions of users by gathering and storing biometric data without their consent. Alphabet Inc.’s Google is fighting similar ...

Bloomberg Millionaires from Russia to Norway and the US are seeking to take advantage of Italy’s low tax rates for the super-rich. In an effort to attract capital, Italy unveiled a measure in 2017 allowing ultra-wealthy individuals taking up residency to pay a flat tax of 100,000 euros ($123,000) a year, regardless of their income. Around 150 people, including some ...

LONDON / Reuters More than $200 billion of investment in liquefied natural gas is needed to meet a boom in demand by 2030, Royal Dutch Shell, the world’s top LNG trader, said. The LNG market is set to continue its rapid expansion into 2020 as facilities approved for construction in the first half of the decade come on line, in ...

TOKYO / Reuters The United States will overtake Russia as the world’s biggest oil producer by 2019 at the latest, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Tuesday, as the country’s shale oil boom continues to upend global markets. IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said at an event in Tokyo the United States would overtake Russia as the biggest crude ...

RIYADH / Reuters Marriott International expects to attract $2 billion of investment in Saudi Arabia in the next four years by almost doubling the number of hotel rooms it operates there, an executive said. The kingdom aims to boost domestic and international tourism in its drive to diversify the economy away from oil exports. It is has set a target ...

Bloomberg Oil traded near a three-week high after a supply disruption in Libya and as investors await US inventory data. Futures in New York slid 0.3 percent after closing at the highest since February 5 as crude exports from a key Libyan terminal were disrupted. The focus now shifts to US stockpiles, which are forecast to have risen last week. ...

Bloomberg For the thousands of attendees it was meant to be a conference to showcase China’s flagship Belt and Road project in Pakistan—the port in southwestern Gwadar that gives Beijing access to the Arabian sea. In the evenings the almost 8,000 delegates were wowed with cultural shows and a firework display at the newly opened five-story Gwadar Exhibition Center which ...

Bloomberg A unit of HNA Group Co. will lead two funds that will invest 20 billion yuan ($3.2 billion) in China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative as the conglomerate shows its support for the government campaign. HNA Capital Group Co., which owns aircraft leasing firm Bohai Capital Holding Co. and online financial platform Jubaohui, will back infrastructure and financial services ...