BLOOMBERG Gulf stocks were mixed as trading slumped in advance of the holy month of Ramadan, when business across the region slows. Dubai’s DFM General Index advanced 0.7 percent at the close and Abu Dhabi’s ADX General Index climbed 1 percent. The Bloomberg GCC 200 Index, which tracks 200 of the largest and most liquid stocks in the six-nation …

  Bloomberg China’s quest for raw materials for its aluminum smelters and alumina refineries promises to deliver a 15-year boom for exporters of bauxite, according to Rio Tinto Group, which is spending $1.9 billion to raise output. Global demand is already growing rapidly and will outpace the 4 percent-a-year lift London-based Rio forecasts for aluminum in the medium-to-longer term, Alf …

  Bloomberg Naoko Otsuka didn’t think twice about paying the equivalent of $23 for 5 ounces of chocolate. The dark-brown slivers of sweetness weren’t just a treat, the Japanese homemaker said, but an opportunity to learn more about a superfood. The six bars Otsuka bought from a store in Tokyo’s bustling Shibuya shopping district were made by an artisan manufacturer …