BLOOMBERG Walmart Inc is betting on greater supply-chain automation and hinting that a recent investment binge might lift profit beyond the retailer’s stated long-term goals. Within three years, the unit cost of moving goods will fall 20% as warehouse robots play a larger role in speeding goods to customers, Walmart said. While the company reiterated its outlook for this year …

BLOOMBERG Virgin Orbit Holdings Inc filed for bankruptcy after the satellite launch firm tied to British billionaire Richard Branson failed to secure the funding needed to keep operating and cut about 85% of its staff. The company listed $243 million in assets and $153.5 million for its total debt in a Chapter 11 petition filed in Delaware. The move punctuates …

BLOOMBERG China accused India of kicking out journalists with its official news agency, and said it would have to take corresponding measures. India recently asked journalists from Xinhua News Agency to leave the country, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Thursday at a regular press briefing in Beijing. “The Chinese embassy and China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs have …

BLOOMBERG French President Emmanuel Macron urged Xi Jinping to use his influence to help restore peace to Ukraine, saying the Chinese leader could bring all sides together to discuss a way to end the Russian invasion. “I know I can count on you to bring Russia back to reason and everybody to the negotiation table,” Macron told Xi during a …

BLOOMBERG US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy emerged from a meeting with Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen stressing the importance of the relationship between the two sides to economic freedom, peace and stability in the region. Neither leader mentioned China in their joint public remarks, even as the meeting in Southern California provided a new challenge in the already fraught relations between …

BLOOMBERG Shares of China’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have been a hot trade in a mostly lackluster equities market this year, but disappointing earnings are causing investors to reassess their bullish bets. About three-fifths of the largest constituents in a Hang Seng gauge of state-owned enterprises missed earnings-per-share estimates in the latest results season, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence. …

BLOOMBERG Treasury yields extended a slump and US equity-index futures fluctuated as bets the world economy is set for a sharper slowdown outweighed concerns over elevated inflation and monetary tightening. The two-year US rate, which is the most sensitive to monetary policy, slid for a fifth day, its longest streak since July 2022. Contracts on the Nasdaq 100 index fell …

BELGRADE / WAM HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, has met with Ana Brnabić, Prime Minister of Serbia, during his ongoing work visit to Belgrade. During the meeting, the UAE top diplomat and Brnabić discussed UAE-Serbia cooperation, within the framework of their comprehensive strategic partnership, and prospects to boost their collaboration across …

BELGRADE / WAM Aleksandar Vučić, President of the Republic of Serbia, has received a written message from UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan addressing the bilateral relations and the strategic partnership between the two countries. President Vučić also sent a similar message to President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, as he received HH Sheikh Abdullah …

DUBAI / WAM Emirates NBD has successfully priced a $1 billion senior unsecured sustainable sukuk for Al Rajhi Bank, the world’s largest Islamic bank by assets and market capitalisation. The five-year Sukuk which was priced at a reoffer yield of 4.774 percent generated strong demand, attracting orders of over $3.75 billion. The robust order book allowed Al Rajhi to tighten …