Bloomberg Crude rose this month as sanctions on Iranian oil stoked concern that supplies will contract, overshadowing speculation that a US-China trade war will weaken demand. Futures in London settled 4.3 percent higher in August, the biggest monthly gain since April and US crude also rose for the month. Yet, both benchmarks faltered as Saudi Arabia was said to raise …

Bloomberg India’s economy expanded at the fastest pace in nine quarters, as strong domestic consumption and robust manufacturing growth stamped out global trade-war worries. Gross domestic product grew a stunning 8.2 percent in the three months ended June from a year earlier, the Statistics Ministry said in a statement in New Delhi. That was faster than the 7.6 percent median …

DUBAI / Emirates Business Damac Properties has awarded an AED512 million construction contract to China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) to build tower C of AYKON City, DAMAC’s luxury mixed-use development on Sheikh Zayed Road. The new contract covers civil construction works for tower C, the residential tower in the award-winning $2 billion development, overlooking the Dubai Water Canal. “CSCEC …

Bloomberg PetroChina Co. is rewarding shareholders with a higher — and symbolic — payout after its best half-year profit in more than three years. The nation’s biggest oil and gas producer raised total dividends for the first six months by almost one-third to 0.0888 yuan per share. The lucky payout — eight is widely considered an auspicious number in China …

Bloomberg California isn’t ready yet to give up autonomy when it comes to its electric grid. State lawmakers declined to advance legislation that would have laid the groundwork to connect California’s grid to as many as 13 other states. Under the measure, a multi-state regional authority would have managed the flow of power across the U.S. West, allowing more electricity …

Bloomberg Penn Virginia Corp. has reached out to potential buyers including Hilcorp Energy Co. and WildHorse Resource Development Corp. ahead of a sale process slated to start next month, according to people familiar with the matter. The Houston, Texas-based company will open a data room and solicit initial bids in September, said the people, who asked to not be identified …

Bloomberg Italy could soon find itself excluded from the heart of euro-area monetary policy for the first time in the currency’s two-decade history. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi’s eight-year term ends in October 2019 and his country has no automatic path to a seat on the Executive Board after that. Instead, its populist leaders must negotiate with the same …

Bloomberg Shares of India’s Yes Bank Ltd. plunged after the central bank deferred approving another three-year term for Chief Executive Officer Rana Kapoor, while allowing him helm the bank for the time being. Kapoor has received the RBI’s approval to continue as managing director and CEO of the Mumbai-based lender until “further notice” from the regulator, Yes Bank said in …

Bloomberg One emerging market has so far eluded Standard Chartered Plc Chief Executive Officer Bill Winters: Ethiopia. Winters, head of London-based Standard Chartered since mid-2015, would “love to think that there are opportunities” in Ethiopia, he said in an interview in Nairobi, Kenya. The problem is that it’s entirely closed to foreign banks. “The underlying fundamentals are pretty interesting,” said …

Bloomberg Banks are worried that South Africa is taking a wrong turn with laws being considered by the nation’s parliament that could leave the economy worse off. “They do not seem to be the legislative underpinning of a comprehensive, implementable national economic recovery plan,” the Banking Association of South Africa (BASA) said in a statement distributed in Johannesburg. “Rather they …