Bloomberg Burger King is the latest brand to spark criticism on social media with an ad depicting diners struggling to eat western food with chopsticks. The fast-food chain showed a video clip of diners trying to eat its new “Vietnamese Sweet Chilli Tendercrisp Burger” with large red chopsticks. Social media users say the ad, which was posted on Instagram, is …

Bloomberg Oil spiked to its highest level in five months as a drop in the US dollar and conflicts from Iran to Libya helped make the barrel look like an increasingly strong bet for investors. Crude futures rallied as much as 2.1 percent in New York on Monday. The dollar fell, improving the lure of commodities priced in the greenback. …

Bloomberg Saudi Aramco started the sale of its debut dollar bonds, drumming up an orderbook of about $40 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. The oil giant is offering six-tranche debt, according to people familiar with the matter. The world’s most profitable company is tapping the market ahead of a planned $69 billion acquisition. Demand for the most …

Bloomberg US stocks halted the longest rally since 2017 as investors awaited signs of progress in the trade war with China ahead of the latest corporate earnings season. Treasuries dropped, while West Texas crude hit a five-month high. The S&P 500 edged towards its first decline in eight sessions, as the post-Christmas rally stalled with the index about 1.5 percent …

Bloomberg Pound traders appear undaunted by the lack of Brexit clarity even with just days left for Britain to officially leave the European Union. The UK currency was up on Monday and a gauge of expected short-term sterling volatility is near a two-week low, showing there’s little panic even as the April 12 exit date draws closer. Investors are increasingly …

Bloomberg With his call for lower interest rates, President Donald Trump has weighed into a debate inside the Federal Reserve about what central bankers should do about sub-par inflation. It’s not totally crazy to think he’ll eventually carry the day. In advocating easier credit, Trump and senior economic adviser Larry Kudlow have harped on the paucity of inflation to justify …

Bloomberg Slowing global growth could threaten central bank independence and bring calls to expand remits beyond inflation targeting, according to Fitch Ratings. “Investors would be wise to consider the potential implications of mounting political pressures for greater contributions from monetary policy to support economic growth, possibly by unconventional means,” said James McCormack, Global Head of Sovereign Ratings at Fitch. Central …

Bloomberg Japan’s central bank further fueled the growing consensus that the economy has made a turn for the worse with its widest downgrade of the nation’s regional economies in six years. In its equivalent to the Fed’s Beige Book, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) marked down its economic assessment of three out of nine regions in its quarterly report released …

Bloomberg A UniCredit SpA employee in China allegedly siphoned off about 100 million yuan ($15 million) of clients’ money over three years by taking advantage of shared passwords and other internal security loopholes, according to people familiar with the matter. Local police and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission were informed late last year, and the regulator will levy …

Bloomberg Some of the world’s largest lenders, law firms and real estate companies are turning to the technology behind Bitcoin to streamline the process of buying and selling property. Barclays Plc, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and Clifford Chance LLP were among 40 firms to test new platform developed by Instant Property Network, a company backed by blockchain software …