People’s Bank of China (PBOC) Governor Zhou Xiaochuan made comments this week that suggest some imminent reform announcements are on the agenda. There are two potential policies to look for in the near term: the loosening of foreign investment restrictions and the launch of domestic oil futures. A new oil futures contract in the Shanghai free trade zone might sound trivial, ...

With the nearly century-old Jones Act put back in force, battered Puerto Rico’s future just got even darker. The Department of Homeland Security’s decision to end the commonwealth’s waiver from the law means that its seaborne commerce with the mainland must again be carried on ships owned, built and crewed by Americans. The island’s people — also Americans, if the ...

Thankfully, President Donald Trump’s threats to summarily “terminate” the free-trade deal between the US and South Korea have so far proved empty. Now, as the two sides sit down to renegotiate, there’s a chance to make some real improvements. By most measures, the agreement, known as Korus, has been broadly beneficial since it came into effect in 2012. Trade between ...

Corporate tax cuts are becoming a hot-button issue. Economist Larry Summers, a frequent policy adviser to Democrats, has denounced President Donald Trump’s corporate tax plan as a giveaway to the rich. Meanwhile, Kevin Hassett, the chairman of Trump’s Council of Economic Advisers, has claimed that the plan would increase average wages by anywhere from $4,000 to $20,000 a year. The ...

After a year of bloodletting, India’s telecom industry is on the cusp of a well-deserved breather. But don’t look for the billionaires in this dogfight to declare a truce. Bharti Airtel Ltd., controlled by Sunil Mittal, is still struggling to hold on to price-sensitive customers in smaller cities and towns, whereas Vodafone Plc’s local unit, as well as Idea Cellular ...

It was always going to be tough to get a handle on the initial sales success of the latest iPhone models. But some early signs are not encouraging for Apple Inc. The latest dour data came from AT&T Inc.. As part of an early disclosure of selected third-quarter financials, the company said the number of its mobile subscribers that had ...

Bloomberg The dollar gained and Treasuries slipped on speculation the next Federal Reserve chairman will be more hawkish, while growing concern about the economic impact of Catalonia’s independence movement sent the euro lower. The S&P 500 Index was little changed. Health-care stocks were among the best performers after UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Johnson & Johnson earnings beat estimates. European and ...

Reuters Gulf stock markets were mixed despite strong oil prices on Tuesday while Saudi Arabia’s insurance sector continued to recover from last week’s losses. The main Saudi index inched up 0.2 percent. In the insurance sector, which sank last week on expectations for a shakeout in the sector caused by tougher regulation, Malath Insurance surged 9.9 percent after the trading ...

Bloomberg China’s banks are still bingeing on short-term financing, defying analyst predictions that they would wean themselves off such debt as regulators intensify a crackdown on leverage. Sales of negotiable certificates of deposit — a key funding source for medium and smaller banks — surged 49 percent from a year ago in the third quarter to a record 5.4 trillion ...

Bloomberg Thailand rejected claims that it engages in unfair currency practices to gain a trade advantage, even as the nation appears close to meeting US criteria on exchange-rate manipulation. In fact, the central bank faces criticism for doing too little to curb gains in the baht, the strongest performer in Asia this year, according to Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn. Countries ...