Bloomberg Bank of America Corp (BofA) started telling executives to pause hiring except for the most vital positions, as it tries to keep a lid on costs and prepare for a possible economic downturn. The move is an escalation of the company’s decision late last year to slow hiring after fewer employees decided to leave of their own accord, …

  Bloomberg Norway’s central bank paused monetary tightening while signalling a likely quarter-point increase in borrowing costs in March is still needed to bring inflation under control. Norges Bank kept the key deposit rate on hold at 2.75% on Thursday, as forecast by the majority of economists in a Bloomberg survey. Governor Ida Wolden Bache said the benchmark “will most …

  Bloomberg Treasuries rallied and equities declined as growing signs of a global economic slowdown raised investor concern that the start-of-the-year rally in risk assets may have gone too far. Contracts on the S&P 500 Index dropped 0.4% after the benchmark slumped the most in a month on Wednesday amid weaker-than-expected economic data. Nasdaq 100 futures also lost 0.4%. Europe’s …