Bloomberg The Australian government is seeking clarification from Beijing on reports that China has suspended purchases of Australian coal amid heightened diplomatic tensions between the two countries. Chinese power stations and steel mills have been verbally told to immediately stop using Australian coal, people familiar with the order said, asking not to be identified as the matter is private. Ports …

Bloomberg ConocoPhillips agreed to buy Concho Resources Inc for about $9.7 billion in stock, the largest shale industry deal since the collapse in energy demand earlier this year and one that will create a heavyweight driller in America’s most prolific oil field. Investors will get 1.46 Conoco shares for each Concho share, the companies said in a statement. The transaction …

Bloomberg Poland’s largest utility plans to spend 75 billion zloty ($19.4 billion) by 2030 as it aims to become climate-neutral by mid-century. PGE SA seeks to invest half of that amount in renewable energy sources, including offshore and onshore wind as well as solar power plants, it said in a statement. Its 2050 strategy is conditional on a planned spinoff …

Bloomberg Signs of a recovery for India’s troubled shadow banks have taken a step backward as concerns reemerged about the true impact of the pandemic on the lenders. Average spreads on the lenders’ AAA rated five-year bonds rose for the first time in four months in September. Of three other gauges tracking shadow bank sector health compiled by Bloomberg, two …

Bloomberg The Bank of Japan (BOJ) will keep policy steady at its meeting next week and extend the duration of its Covid response measures by January at the latest, according to surveyed economists. All but one of 43 analysts polled by Bloomberg expect the central bank to stand pat at the two-day gathering ending on October 29. The economists see …

Bloomberg The European Central Bank (ECB) must question whether mirroring the composition of the bond market in its asset purchases is appropriate in light of climate risks, according to President Christine Lagarde. Her argument centers on whether investors are correctly pricing bonds issued by polluting companies. With the European Union pushing an aggressive agenda to make the continent climate-neutral by …

Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc is exploring whether to cut ties with dozens of French companies as part of its sweeping global restructuring. The lender’s French unit may drop 40 businesses, according to an internal document prepared by external consultants and seen by Bloomberg News. The plan would shrink its French corporate client base by a fifth. The proposed reductions aim …

Bloomberg Italy’s plan to sell bailed-out lender Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA has become more complicated following the convictions of the bank’s former chairman and chief executive for false accounting and market manipulation. The sentence landed just as the government was seeking to take advantage of a wave of consolidation in the financial sector to sell its majority …

Bloomberg JPMorgan Chase & Co., in its third quarter under the shadow of the pandemic, showed that the surge in trading is holding up — and so are borrowers. The biggest US bank posted a surprise increase in earnings, fueled by a 30% jump in markets revenue as elevated volume kept its stock and bond traders busy. The lender also …

Bloomberg Stocks in Europe advanced with US futures amid fresh optimism about progress on stimulus talks in Washington. Treasuries dipped. In Europe, banks and insurers led gains while health care and energy firms lagged. Julius Baer posted one of the biggest jumps after third-quarter inflows accelerated at the Swiss wealth manager. S&P 500 Index futures climbed after the gauge closed …