News

  Bloomberg Gold exports to China soared in the run-up to the start of the Lunar New Year, with volumes increasing in December from major suppliers Switzerland and Hong Kong. More gold was sent from Swiss refiners to the world’s top consumer than in any month since at least January 2014, according to data on the website of the Swiss ...

  Bloomberg Consumer prices in Japan dropped for a 10th straight month, though the pace of decline eased as oil costs rose, supporting expectations for a return to inflation later this year. Consumer prices excluding fresh food, the Bank of Japan’s core inflation gauge, fell 0.2 percent in December from a year earlier (forecast -0.3 percent). Overall consumer prices rose ...

  Bloomberg Keppel Corp., the world’s biggest oil rig builder that eliminated more than 10,000 jobs last year, said even a doubling of crude prices is failing to offer relief to an industry slammed by overcapacity as it braced for a prolonged slowdown. While OPEC’s recent decision to cut output renewed optimism, with spending by some oil majors expected to ...

  Bloomberg Air Products & Chemicals Inc. has hit a bump as it attempts the largest US takeover of a Chinese firm in more than a decade, stymied by an extended boardroom battle at Yingde Gases Group Co. A divided board of the Hong Kong-listed firm failed to agree on a panel needed to review the offer, but has asked ...

  Bloomberg SK Hynix Inc., a supplier of memory chips to Apple Inc., posted fourth-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates as semiconductor prices surged on robust demand for bigger storage in mobile devices and computers. Operating profit rose 55 percent to 1.54 trillion won ($1.3 billion) in the three months ended December, the Icheon, South Korea-based company said in a ...

  Bloomberg Germany will step into global markets the US abandons and take on a bigger role on the international stage if the administration of President Donald Trump continues its shift toward protectionism, Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said. Speaking on his first day in his new post in Berlin, Gabriel said Germany’s “arms will remain outstretched” to the US to ...

  Bloomberg Alphabet Inc.’s Google delivered a sharp message to staff traveling overseas who may be impacted by a new executive order on immigration from President Donald Trump: Get back to the US now. Google Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai slammed Trump’s move in a note to employees on Friday, telling them that more than 100 company staff are affected ...

  Bloomberg The US economy entered 2017 with a solid head of steam, driven by consumer spending and a pickup in business investment. President Donald Trump’s stoking of trade tensions puts that momentum at risk. Fourth-quarter figures released on Friday showed how swings in trade can have big effects: Net exports subtracted 1.7 percentage points from gross domestic product, the ...

  Bloomberg Alcon, the eye-care business that Novartis AG acquired for more than $50 billion, is now weighing on Europe’s second-largest drugmaker. After more than a year of efforts to turn around the business, the Swiss company said it was considering all options for the embattled division, including a spinoff or initial public offering. Profit from the business plummeted 31 ...

  Bloomberg Six months ago, Lyft Inc. made a big push into corporate travel, building a team of several dozen employees to pitch banks, consulting firms and other companies on its ride-hailing services. This month, more than a dozen of those employees were dismissed or reassigned, part of a change in direction for the company’s nascent sales efforts. David Baga, ...