Bloomberg US retail sales rose unexpectedly in August as a pickup in purchases across most categories more than offset weakness at auto dealers, showing resilient consumer demand for merchandise. The value of overall retail purchases climbed 0.7% last month following a downwardly revised 1.8% decrease in July, Commerce Department figures showed. Excluding autos, sales advanced 1.8% in August, the largest …

Bloomberg Short-sellers have driven big losses in the favourite stocks of South Korean retail investors this month, piggybacking on a campaign by local regulators to rein in the power of Kakao Corp and other internet giants. Kakao, the operator of Korea’s most-used messenger app, is the most-shorted stock in September as lawmakers voiced concerns over its market dominance — a …

Bloomberg China’s top regulators defended their market-roiling crackdown on various industries in a meeting with Wall Street executives, while reassuring them the stricter rules aren’t aimed at stifling technology companies or private sector. China Securities Regulatory Commission Vice Chairman Fang Xinghai said recent actions were to strengthen regulations for companies with consumer-facing platforms, and improve data privacy and national security. …