Bloomberg Fears of inflation and the possibility of a global trade war have rattled financial markets recently, sending cash flooding into exchange-traded funds that stand to benefit and out of those that likely will be hurt. Investors poured a record $334 million into the Vanguard Materials ETF, ticker VAW. At the same time, they pulled $96 million from the Vanguard …

Bloomberg The 22 billion-euro ($27.1 billion) deal that’s shaking up the world of German utilities also has a very British dimension. EON SE’s acquisition of Innogy SE will combine the two UK business they own, shrinking the country’s Big Six utilities to five at a time when both the government and main opposition party are pressing for lower bills. It …

Bloomberg South Africa delayed signing agreements for renewable-energy projects worth 56 billion rand ($4.7 billion), after a court postponed a ruling on a labor union application to block the deals. The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa and Transform RSA applied for an interdict to prevent state-owned utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. from signing 27 power purchase agreements that …

DUBAI / Reuters Saudi International Petrochemical Co (Sipchem) said on Tuesday it was planning to resume proposed merger talks with Sahara Petrochemical in a deal that could create a 14.7 billion riyals ($3.9 bln) chemicals company. The two companies called off a planned merger in 2014, citing an inadequate regulatory framework in the kingdom for the collapse. Sipchem said on …

Bloomberg A US appeals court ruled against New York’s bid to block a pipeline that will shuttle natural gas to a $900 million power plant under construction there, setting a potential precedent for other battles over gas conduits. The court sided with federal energy regulators’ ruling that New York waived its right to act on the pipeline by failing make …

Bloomberg Turning Canada’s heavy oil sands into a more marketable kind of crude is making a comeback, or rather half a comeback. Alberta’s government’s C$1 billion dollar pledge ($780 million) will help support the construction of smaller and cheaper varieties of upgraders. The so-called partial upgraders would process the sticky oil just enough so that it can flow freely through …

Bloomberg China is giving its central bank the power to write the rules for the financial sector, as part of a swee-ping overhaul aimed at closing regulatory loopholes and curbing risk in the $43 trillion banking and insurance industries. The China Banking Regulatory Commission and the China Insurance Regulatory Commission will be mer-ged in the biggest industry overhaul since 2003. …

Bloomberg India’s HDFC Bank Ltd., the world’s most-expensive lender, has appointed arrangers including Bank of America Corp, Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse Group AG for a 155 billion rupee ($2.38 billion) planned share sale, people with knowledge of the matter said. The lender has also appointed JPMorgan Chase & Co., Edelweiss Financial Services Ltd., IIFL Holdings Ltd. and JM Financial …

Bloomberg Ghana’s Energy Commercial Bank Ltd plans to raise about 330 million cedis ($75 million) through an initial public offering as the lender prepares to meet the regulator’s new threshold for capital requirements. The share sale will start next month, with IC Securities Ltd acting as the transaction adviser for the rights issue, Charles Nixon Yeboah, a spokesman for the …

Bloomberg Digital currencies are a revolutionary tool that central banks should consider, but they remain far too risky to be used as legal tender any time soon, according to the Bank for International Settlements. The BIS — the club of the world’s largest central banks — said in a report that the new form of money could one day be …