Bloomberg Malaysia’s central bank raised its benchmark interest rate for the first time since 2014, with economists guessing that it won’t need to tighten again this year. Bank Negara Malaysia increased the overnight policy rate to 3.25 percent from 3 percent, it said in a statement in Kuala Lumpur, as predicted by 16 of the 20 economists in a Bloomberg ...

Bloomberg Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has forged another alliance to counter Amazon.com Inc., partnering with Japan’s Rakuten Inc. to sell e-books in the US and improve its online grocery business in Asia’s second-largest economy. The collaboration will bring Rakuten’s Kobo device and e-book catalog to Walmart’s US stores later this year, the companies said in a statement. The partnership also includes ...

Bloomberg US airlines tumbled for a second day as more carriers announced plans to add seating capacity— compounding fears of a fare war that would crimp revenue as fuel costs climb. Alaska Air Group Inc. said it expects to increase capacity 7.5 percent this year, while JetBlue Airways Corp. projected as much as 8.5 percent. Economists predict gross domestic product ...