Bloomberg US stocks sank as weak retail sales fanned concern that consumer spending is cooling, while the dollar held steady on bets the Federal Reserve won’t be forced to quicken the pace of rate hikes. Ten-year Treasury yields tightened. The drop in retail spending provided a second data point, after Tuesday’s tepid inflation figures, to suggest unsteady growth in the …

Reuters Most Middle Eastern stock markets were soft on Wednesday with Qatar pulling back after two days of strong gains, but a few individual stocks in Saudi Arabia rose sharply in response to positive news. Islamic insurer Al Khaleej Takaful tumbled 9.1 percent after saying on Tuesday that it would distribute no dividend for 2017, after the central bank asked …

Bloomberg The biggest Indonesian platform to buy and sell digital currency may soon have more members than the nation’s century-old stock exchange. Indonesia Digital Asset Exchange, formerly known as Bitcoin.co.id, will have 1.5 million members buying and selling digital currencies such as bitcoin, ethereum and ripple by the end of the year, according to Chief Executive Officer Oscar Darmawan. The …

Seoul / Reuters South Korea’s move to shut coal-fired generators to control air pollution at the same time as nuclear reactors are going into scheduled maintenance is resulting in surging fuel oil imports, as utilities burn the dirty feedstock to meet power demand. South Korea’s trade ministry said in February it would suspend five coal-fired power plants, with a combined …

Bloomberg After a decade planning the world’s largest floating gas export plant, Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s supplies could get tapped by a competitor first. Shell and Japan’s Inpex Corp. are both targeting gas from a connected reservoir in Australia’s remote Browse Basin, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) off its northwest coast, according to consultant Wood Mackenzie Ltd. Meeting its planned …

Reuters Saudi Arabia plans to keep its crude oil production in April below 10 million barrels per day (bpd), and maintain exports under 7 million bpd, the energy ministry said on Wednesday, as the top OPEC producer wants to end a global supply glut and boost prices. Saudi Arabia has been pumping below its OPEC target since January and reducing …

TRIPOLI / Reuters Libya’s Zawiya oil terminal returned to normal operations after workers who were blocking ships from docking agreed to end a one-day strike, two sources said. Zawiya exports crude from Libya’s giant El Sharara oilfield, which produces 300,000 barrels per day (bpd), more than a quarter of the North African country’s output. Production at El Sharara had not …

Bloomberg Mario Draghi said the European Central Bank will avoid surprising investors with sudden changes to its stimulus plans, stressing that inflation is still too low and US trade policies and a stronger euro are concerns. “Adjustments to our policy will remain predictable, and they will proceed at a measured pace,” the institution’s president said in his opening speech at …

Bloomberg Traders can add one more reason to sell the Indian rupee. Stung by a $2 billion bank fraud, the Reserve Bank of India banned a key import finance tool, a move that may push up short-term dollar demand. The central bank barred lenders from issuing guarantees in the form of letters of undertaking to overseas banks as it clamped …

Bloomberg The world’s financial leaders will call on international standard-setting bodies on March 20 for stronger monitoring of crypto-assets and to assess the need for a multilateral response as such assets could at some point threaten financial stability. The call appears in a draft communique prepared for the meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors of the world’s 20 …