Bloomberg Fast Retailing Co cut its full-year profit forecast for the third time in six months as a strong yen eroded earnings from overseas and overshadowed improving sales at its Uniqlo casual-wear chain. Net income will probably be 45 billion yen (US$427 million) for the year ending August 2016, a 25 percent drop from the forecast it gave in ...

  Bloomberg Australia’s dollar held near its highest since early May after a report showed full-time employment in the nation surged last month. New Zealand’s dollar tumbled as the central bank’s plan to update its economic assessment spurred speculation for a rate cut. The Aussie headed for a seven-week rally that would be its longest winning streak since 2012, after ...

  Bloomberg Hyundai Merchant Marine Co will join the world’s biggest shipping alliance, meeting all conditions imposed by creditors as the company seeks to reduce debt after years of weak global demand caused losses. It will join a grouping known as 2M starting April next year, the Seoul-based company said in an e-mailed statement on Thursday. The group, led by ...

WASHINGTON Few technological breakthroughs have had the social and economic impact of the automobile. It changed America’s geography, spawning suburbs, shopping malls and sprawl as far as the eye could see. It redefined how we work and play, from the daily commute to the weekend trek to the beach. It expanded the heavy industry — steel-making, car production — that ...

  South Sudan rival leaders have their own doubts that the August 2015 deal midwifed by Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a regional body, and troika, led by US and the UK, would work. They cited some weaknesses in the accord that the frustrated mediators who were in a hurry to clinch the deal, overlooked. Among those doubts though not ...

  Justin Fox Twenty-nine years ago, historian Paul Kennedy coined the term “imperial overstretch” to describe what happens to great powers when their global commitments become too expensive to sustain. He also suggested that the US, which at the time was in the midst of a defense-spending boom under Ronald Reagan, might be overstretching things a bit. A lot of ...

  On Tuesday, the arbitral tribunal issued a much-anticipated ruling in the Philippines’ South China Sea case against China. The tribunal ruled overwhelmingly in favor of Manila, determining that the extent of several major elements of Beijing’s claim and its efforts to enforce it were unlawful. While the ruling itself was quite clear and decisive, its implications are much less ...

  Bloomberg The Bank of England left its key interest rate at a record low and signaled it’s readying stimulus for August as the economy reels from Britain’s decision to quit the European Union. The nine-member Monetary Policy Committee, led by Governor Mark Carney, voted 8-1 to keep the benchmark at 0.5 percent, with only Gertjan Vlieghe saying the outlook ...

  Bloomberg New Zealand’s central bank said it will issue an unscheduled assessment of the economy next week, prompting traders to increase bets on an interest-rate cut in August. The assessment, which will be published on July 21 and won’t include a review of the official cash rate, is being made because of a longer-than-usual period between policy decisions, the ...

  Bloomberg The US economy expanded at a modest pace since mid-May amid “slight” price pressures and some softening in consumer spending, according to a report from the Federal Reserve’s 12 districts that lacked any sense of urgency on the need to raise interest rates soon. “The outlook was generally positive across broad segments of the economy including retail sales, ...