Bloomberg UK retail sales rose in August at their fastest pace in four months, providing further evidence of a tentative pickup in consumer spending. The quantity of goods sold in stores and online increased 1 percent from July, as did sales excluding auto fuel, the Office for National Statistics said. The increase far exceeded the median forecast of economists and …

Bloomberg It’s mere weeks to the festival of Diwali, the season of lavish, reckless consumption, and in a cavernous warehouse minutes from the Hyderabad airport, hundreds of workers are furiously sorting mountains of everyday items. There are sunglasses and shaving creams, sewing machines, vegetable slicers and microwave ovens, all lined up by Amazon.com Inc. to sate the shopping frenzy that’s …

Bloomberg Russia signaled that it would be willing to prolong the production cuts it agreed with OPEC beyond the first quarter of next year if needed, while also making clear its commitment to the deal wasn’t open ended. It was too early to talk about the specific details of extending the oil-output pact at a meeting with fellow producers in …