Bloomberg Wheat production in India will probably fall short of a government forecast, spurring the world’s second-biggest grower to import a large quantity amid declining domestic inventory. Prices in Mumbai dropped for a third day. Production is set to total 91 million tons in the 2016-17 crop year, according to the median estimate of eight traders and analysts surveyed ...
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Toshiba soars on optimism for sale of memory chip division
Bloomberg Toshiba Corp. jumped the most on record on optimism the company will be able sell its memory chip division and survive the crisis caused by a writedown at its nuclear business. Shares soared 22 percent, the most on record, according to data compiled by Bloomberg going back to 1974. Volume on Wednesday was three times the 30-day average. ...
Read More »Trump eyes easing Obama rules for sprawling pipeline network
Bloomberg The hints of a pipeline spill are subtle: the hiss of rushing fluid, a streak of rainbow sheen. Tucked far below ground, a ruptured line can escape notice for days or even weeks, especially in the backcountry, where inspectors rarely venture. Regulators in the waning hours of the Obama era wrote rules aimed at changing that, and the ...
Read More »May faces calls to tighten takeover rules after Kraft-Unilever
Bloomberg UK Prime Minister Theresa May came under pressure to tighten takeover rules, and do so quickly, in the wake of the failed Kraft Heinz Co. bid for Unilever Plc. “I use the expression sitting ducks, and I’d worry about who’s next,†Vince Cable, Business Secretary until 2015, said in an interview. “We have very weak takeover code in ...
Read More »German business confidence improves
Bloomberg German business confidence unexpectedly improved, underpinning the Bundesbank’s prediction that economic growth strengthened at the start of the year. The Munich-based Ifo institute’s business climate index rose to 111 in February from a revised 109.9 in January. That compares with a median estimate of 109.6 in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The German economy expanded at the fastest ...
Read More »Britain gains momentum on trade and consumer spending
Bloomberg The UK economy grew more than previously estimated in the final three months of 2016 but it may be the last hurrah. Gross domestic product rose 0.7 percent instead of 0.6 percent, the Office for National Statistics said on Wednesday. It followed growth of 0.6 percent in the previous two quarters. Trade and consumer spending provided the biggest ...
Read More »Only Germans love the euro these days
French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen unsettled investors with her pledge to pull France out of the euro and re-denominate all French debt in newly minted francs. Polls suggest Le Pen won’t get the chance; she is expected to lose a second-round runoff. Even if polls are correct this time, that doesn’t mean the euro is safe. In fact, ...
Read More »Unilever’s boldest defence? A Colgate or Nestle deal
Unilever was all smiles when Kraft Heinz Co. abandoned its attempt to buy the U.K. consumer company for $143 billion. In an unusual joint statement, the two companies referred to their “high regard” for each other. This isn’t how bitterly contested takeover situations normally end. The Anglo-Dutch consumer giant must have wanted to end things amicably — or at ...
Read More »When firms should, and shouldn’t enter political fray
Even before Donald Trump took office, the calls for boycotts began. “@Amazon we are not shopping with you until u pull all Trump merchandise,†one woman wrote on Twitter in November. Another tweeted: “I’ll NEVER buy @LLBean for my daughter EVER AGAIN. I won’t support any1 that Trump does. Change UR ethics.†These weren’t isolated incidents. For months, a ...
Read More »Citigroup to pay $5.4 million fine to settle rand collusion
Bloomberg / AP Citigroup Inc. agreed to pay a penalty of almost 70 million rand ($5.4 million) to settle a South African antitrust investigation that said it participated in an alleged cartel to manipulate the value of the rand. Citigroup will make witnesses available to help prosecute other banks that participated in price fixing and market allocation in the ...
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