Bloomberg U.S. home prices rose 5.9 percent in April from a year earlier as job growth spurred competition for a limited number of listings. Prices climbed 0.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from March, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said in a report on from Washington. The average estimate of 20 economists was for a 0.6 percent gain, ...

  Bloomberg Merlin Properties Socimi SA and Metrovacesa SA agreed to combine their commercial and residential property businesses, creating Spain’s largest real estate investment trust. Merlin shares rose the most in five months. Merlin will pay €1.7 billion ($1.9 billion) in stock to the banks that own Metrovacesa and get a controlling stake in the combined firms’ commercial-property portfolio, issuing ...

  Bloomberg A popular narrative of the U.S. housing market has been that big city prices are locking out young buyers, feeding a cycle in which a growing number of people are forced to rent at ever higher rates as demand overwhelms supply. Throw in the fact that wages haven’t kept pace, and you have a world where a wide ...

  Bloomberg The European Central Bank reinstated a waiver on Greek debt, allowing the nation’s banks more access to cheaper refinancing lines but stopping short of including such bonds in quantitative easing for now. The ECB “decided to reinstate the waiver affecting the eligibility of marketable debt instruments issued or fully guaranteed by the Hellenic Republic,” the institution said in ...

  Bloomberg Growth in the euro area’s private sector slowed more than economists predicted in June, with firms expressing concerns about uncertainty ahead of the U.K.’s vote on its European Union membership. A Purchasing Managers’ Index for manufacturing and services fell to 52.8 from 53.1 in May, London-based Markit Economics said on Thursday. The decline to the lowest level since ...

  Bloomberg Germany’s economy is showing little sign that Britain’s referendum on European Union membership is damping investment, according to Markit Economics. A Purchasing Managers’ Index for manufacturing and services was at 54.1 in June after a reading of 54.5 in May, the London-based company said on Thursday. While that’s the lowest in two months, it’s well above the 50 ...

  Bloomberg France’s private-sector economy shrank for the first time in four months in June, with manufacturing slumping the most in more than a year. A composite Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 49.4 from 50.9 in May, London-based Markit Economics said on Thursday. That’s below the 50-point mark that divides expansion from contraction. A gauge for manufacturing dropped to 47.9, ...

  Bloomberg The euro will strengthen this year no matter which way the U.K. votes in Thursday’s referendum on its European Union membership, according to one of the most accurate forecasters of the currency. A record current-account surplus and rising inflation-adjusted bond yields will limit any declines in the shared currency to $1.10, said Daisuke Karakama, chief market economist at ...

  Bloomberg Volkswagen AG’s typically close-knit owners publicly split for the first time over the diesel crisis after the German state of Lower Saxony withheld support for two executives under investigation for their role in the scandal. Volkswagen’s second-largest shareholder abstained from what is typically a ceremonial vote at the annual meeting, declining to back former CEO Martin Winterkorn and ...

  Washington / AFP US Democrats failed to force Congress to vote on gun safety legislation following the Orlando nightclub massacre as Republican leaders adjourned the House early on Thursday after a dramatic overnight sit-in by Democrats. The scenes on the House floor, unprecedented in recent history, began after Democrats took over the chamber’s proceedings for most of the day, ...