Bloomberg Australian regulators may take further steps to rein in mortgage lending amid growing concern booming home prices pose a risk to the financial system. Restrictions on interest-only loans announced last week were a “tactical response” to growth in lending to property investors, Australian Prudential Regulation Authority Chairman Wayne Byres said in a speech in Sydney on Wednesday. The …

  Bloomberg Britain is looking for ways to scrap its 2020 clean energy targets while maintaining everyday trade in Europe’s energy market, an early sign of the kind of cherry-picking that threatens to sour Brexit negotiations. Officials in the Treasury and the business department are looking for a way to abandon the national goal of getting 15 percent renewable energy …

  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 …