News

  Bloomberg The UK’s services sector grew faster than expected in March and surging costs prompted companies to raise their prices at the quickest pace in 8 1/2 years. The momentum in IHS Markit’s monthly Purchasing Managers’ Index was accompanied by stronger growth in new business. Even so, the survey reflected gathering storm clouds for the UK economy as hiring ...

  Bloomberg Dan Ivascyn’s Pimco Income Fund keeps raking in money. The fund, co-managed by Ivascyn and Alfred Murata, celebrates its 10th anniversary this week by becoming the largest actively managed fixed-income mutual fund with $79.1 billion, according to Pimco’s website. Pimco Income passed Metropolitan West Total Return Bond Fund as investors added approximately $3 billion in March, a monthly ...

  Bloomberg Cyprus wants investors to see it as a comeback kid. With an accelerating economy, the island nation that was forced to seek a bailout and impose a levy on bank deposits in 2013 is betting on an end to its junk rating. That should make it an attractive place for investors, the country’s leaders are saying. “What has ...

  CHIBA / Reuters Producers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) have shot themselves in the foot with oversupply, and face calls for flexibility and greater competition from other fuels that may force them to take more risks and start trading just like other commodity dealers. That’s a big change for a market long dominated by large producers such as Royal ...

  Bloomberg Saudi Arabia has chosen a hybrid structure for its debut international sukuk, the prospectus for the offer showed, a format widely used in the Saudi local debt market, but not the most popular for sovereign issues. The Islamic bond, expected to go up to $10 billion, will be the country’s second international debt sale after a $17.5 billion ...

  Bloomberg Oil rose to the highest in almost a month as investor focus returned to US crude inventories after supply disruptions and optimism over OPEC’s output curbs drove a rally in the past week. Futures added as much as 1.3 percent in New York, the sixth increase in seven days. US stockpiles shrank by 1.83 million barrels last week, ...

  Bloomberg The new way foreign worker visas are doled out in the US is poised to benefit some of the biggest technology companies, like Alphabet Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Facebook Inc., while punishing outsourcing firms that developed a disproportionate dependence on the program. The administration is increasing scrutiny on H-1B visa applications for low-level computer programmers, focusing enforcement on ...

  Bloomberg Uncertainty about President Donald Trump’s domestic policies and weak European currencies buoyed outbound dealmaking by US companies during the first quarter of the year. US acquirers spent more than $70 billion on European targets in the three months to March 31, more than double the amount they dropped in the same period a year earlier and the most ...

  Bloomberg Seattle’s first-in-the-nation law allowing drivers-for-hire to unionize was blocked by a federal judge, giving a boost to ride-hailing companies such as Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. US District Judge Robert Lasnik in Seattle on Tuesday granted a request by the US Chamber of Commerce to put the city’s ordinance on hold before it goes into effect. The ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business The UAE Purchasing Managers’ Indexâ„¢ (PMIâ„¢) — a composite indicator designed to give an accurate overview of operating conditions in the non-oil private sector economy — picked up to a 19-month high of 56.2 in March, from 56.0 in February. Growth of the UAE non-oil private sector gained further momentum in March, continuing the trend ...