Beijing / Reuters China’s industrial profits returned to growth in the first two months of 2016, despite weakening business conditions and slowing economic growth in the world’s second-largest economy. Profits earned by Chinese industrial firms in January and February combined rose 4.8 percent from a year earlier, totalling 780.7 billion yuan ($ 119.8 billion) in the two-month period, the National …

Tokyo / DPA Japan’s consumer spending is lagging as households prefer savings over investments, despite an upward trend in personal income due to improved employment conditions, according to a Bank of Japan survey. The total amount of financial assets possessed by individuals in cash or savings hit a record high of 902 trillion yen (US$7.98 trillion) at the end of …

Bloomberg Standard Chartered Plc dropped the most in a month as oil fell and Australia & New Zealand (ANZ) Banking Group Ltd. warned plunging resource prices had pushed up bad debts, renewing concern that the British lender may face more pain from its own commodity loans. ANZ, which has Australia’s biggest exposure to commodities, said provisions for bad debts would …