Bloomberg National Australia Bank Ltd’s (NAB) first-half profit beat analyst estimates as Australia’s largest business lender saw the fastest growth in loans to companies since 2008. Cash earnings rose to A$3.48 billion ($2.5 billion) in the six months ended March 31, topping the A$3.41 billion estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. National Australia will pay an interim dividend ...

  Bloomberg Sweden’s central bank raised its interest rate and signalled more increases to come, completing a U-turn in monetary policy to join global peers in the fight against inflation. The krona jumped as the Riksbank raised its policy rate to 0.25% from zero, and said it will enact another two or three hikes in 2022. Officials also pledged to ...

  Bloomberg The US trade deficit widened to a record in March, reflecting a surge in imports as companies relied on foreign producers to meet solid domestic demand. The gap in goods and services trade grew 22.3% to $109.8 billion, Commerce Department data showed. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a $107.1 billion deficit. The ...