News

  Bloomberg Australia’s headline inflation accelerated last quarter, sending the currency up half a US cent and prompting money markets to pare bets on an interest-rate cut. Quarterly headline CPI increased 0.7%, exceeding the 0.5% median estimate in a survey of economists Trimmed mean CPI rose 0.4%, matching forecasts Annual headline CPI advanced 1.3%, beating a predicted 1.1% gain Annual ...

  AFP Iran on Wednesday urged more Asian companies to invest in the country, saying the lifting of nuclear-linked sanctions had opened vast opportunities for foreign capital. Central bank governor Valiollah Seif told a business seminar in Singapore that reforms put in place since President Hassan Rouhani took office in 2013 helped restore economic stability while the lifting of the ...

  Bloomberg Indian importers of pulses are renegotiating contracts with suppliers after global prices of lentils and yellow peas dropped by as much as 30 percent on bumper global harvests. Contracts of as much as 500,000 tons of lentils and yellow peas worth about $350 million were renegotiated in the past two months, said Sudhakar Tomar, managing director of Dubai-based ...

  Bloomberg Volkswagen AG and drivers suing the company in the US over its diesel-cheating scandal won final approval of their $14.7 billion settlement to resolve what’s likely to be the largest portion of VW’s civil liability worldwide. The accord requires VW to buy back cars with 2.0-liter diesel engines armed with so-called defeat devices used to beat emissions tests. ...

  Bloomberg Coca-Cola Co., the world’s largest soft-drink company, posted third-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ estimates, helped by new beverages like sports drinks and sales of smaller, more-profitable package sizes. Profit was 49 cents a share, excluding some items, the Atlanta-based company said in a statement on Wednesday. Analysts estimated 48 cents, on average. And while sales fell 6.9 percent ...

  AFP European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said he looked to Belgium on Wednesday to overcome internal disputes and seal a landmark EU-Canada trade deal. Belgium’s federal and regional leaders meanwhile held a short new round of talks in Brussels in a bid to break the deadlock on the eve of a still hoped-for signing summit with Canadian Prime Minister ...

  Paris / AFP French carmaker PSA on Wednesday blamed falling demand in Europe and China, as well as exchange rate movements, in posting a drop in third-quarter sales. PSA, the second largest car manufacturer in Europe and behind the Peugeot, Citroen and DS brands, said sales came in at 11.4 billion euros ($12.4 billion) for the quarter, down 8 ...

  ABU DHABI / Reuters Billionaire Mohamed Alabbar, one of Dubai’s most prominent businessmen, plans a phone messaging service for the Middle East that aims to compete with services such as WhatsApp. Alabbar, who made his fortune as the chairman of Dubai’s largest listed property developer, Emaar Properties, has been moving into other areas, in particular technology. Asked on the ...

  DUBAI / WAM As part of its efforts to attract foreign investments to Dubai, the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) is participating as an official partner in the Dubai Week in China: Shanghai, running from October 27-29. The three-day event, being held for the second year, will put the spotlight on Dubai-China ties and celebrate a dynamic ...

  DUBAI / WAM The UAE’s financial institutions participating at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Finance Initiative’s 14th Global Roundtable, signed the Dubai Declaration on Sustainable Financing. With the signing of the declaration they have also confirmed their support for the UAE Vision 2021, and for transforming the national economy to a green economy in accordance with the UAE ...