Bloomberg Oil mustered a late comeback after dropping to six-month lows this week as a softer dollar bolstered trader demand across assets. West Texas Intermediate settled above $86 a barrel, finishing a tumultuous week nearly flat with the prior seven days. At the start of the week both benchmarks, WTI and Brent, slipped to lows not seen since the start …

  Bloomberg Germany is increasingly getting vital chemicals from abroad as the country’s industrial giants like BASF SE struggle with sky-rocketing energy prices from Russian gas cuts. Chemical import volumes have almost doubled this year as the crisis deepened. Germany imported around 2.8 billion tonnes of inorganic chemicals in the first half of 2022, according to Germany’s federal statistics office. …

  Bloomberg As Chinese consumers curb their spending in a pandemic-stricken economy, one discount e-commerce firm is emerging as a clear stock-market winner. Shares of Pinduoduo Inc, which sells everything from groceries to beauty products, have soared 43% over the past month, ranking as the top performer in the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index, which has slipped 0.9%. The stock …

Bloomberg US officials have agreed on an updated framework for investigating major accidents in the commercial space industry as human tourism and flights hauling hardware into orbit expand rapidly. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the independent agency that leads investigations into plane crashes, will conduct similar reviews for mishaps involving private sector rockets and space capsules, according to an …

  Bloomberg British fast-fashion company Asos Plc warned that sales in August were weaker than expected as inflation crimped shoppers’ purchasing power. Full-year profit will come in at the lower end of guidance, with sales growth of only about 2%, according to a statement. The online retailer also cited a slow start to its autumn/winter ranges. “Asos remains cautious about …

  Bloomberg Hong Kong will end temperature checks for some passengers at its international airport, and relax quarantine requirements for local air crews, after some of the city’s most prominent voices called for an end to virus-related travel restrictions. Starting from September 10, transiting and outbound passengers at Hong Kong International Airport — except for those bound for China — …

  BRUSSELS / WAM In August 2022, the number of commercial flights in the EU increased by 25% compared with August 2021,according to monthly flight data published by Eurostat. While this is still below the pre-pandemic levels, the gap is slowly closing (-14% compared with August 2019). In absolute terms, the number of commercial flights stood at 596 930 in …

  Bloomberg Japan is making arrangements to end its daily limit on arrivals from overseas by October, and will consider removing other remaining barriers to foreign tourism at the same time, the Nikkei reported without saying where it obtained the information. The removal of the 50,000 people-per-day cap alone won’t return Japan’s border to its pre-Covid openness, as non-resident foreigners …

Bloomberg The European Central Bank (ECB) is intensifying discussions with bank executives over their readiness for a potential surge in company defaults and a drying-up of energy-market liquidity, amid the worsening stand-off over Russian gas supplies. The Frankfurt-based bank watchdog wrote to lenders last month, telling them to analyse the impact of a gas stoppage on their businesses, according to …

  Bloomberg Argentine fintech Uala will allow clients in Mexico to receive money from abroad starting as it taps the fast-growing remittances market, which is expected to reach $60 billion in this year. The new service will be operated by Mexican bank ABC Capital, whose acquisition by Uala was announced in November, with the aim of expanding its financial services …