The Federal Reserve acted as expected on Wednesday: It left interest rates unchanged and used language that was somewhat more hawkish, increasing the probability of a rate increase in June. Specifically: Fed officials highlighted that labor market conditions have improved further, even though “growth in economic activity appears to have slowed.” This is an important distinction — not only ...

  Ikea, the Swedish retailing behemoth, is installing “Solar Shops” in its U.K. superstores to sell solar panels. It’s a defiant move given that the British government has slashed subsidies for homeowners who sell surplus electricity to the national grid. This suggests that the market is picking up where government aid left off; perhaps Britain will achieve its target of ...

  ASTANA /EMIRATES BUSINESS Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Karim Massimov, on Thursday, opened the 7th session of the Ministerial Conference of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for food security and development of agriculture. Kazakhstan’s candidacy for the post of chairman of the General Assembly of the Islamic Organization for Food Security was endorsed at the session. Karim noted Islamic ...

  Tokyo / AFP Sony posted a $1.4 billion annual profit on Thursday, boosted by strong sales of its PlayStation console, but analysts warned that slowing smartphone demand could hit a lucrative business that makes key parts for mobile devices. The company’s full-year profit —only its second since the 2008 global financial crisis preceded years of eye-watering losses —may be ...

  Seoul / AFP Booming sales of home appliances and televisions helped South Korea’s LG Electronics report a surge in first-quarter profits on Thursday, despite a continued slump in smartphone sales. Net income for January to March amounted to 198 billion won ($173.9 million), up 415 percent from a year ago, the Seoul-based company said in a statement. The tech ...

  Beijing / Bloomberg China’s biggest bank ICBC on Thursday announced mounting problem loans, after International Monetary Fund staff argued that the world’s second-biggest economy needs a more “comprehensive” plan to tackle bad debts The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), believed to be the world’s largest bank by assets, said its non-performing loan ratio rose to 1.66 percent ...

  Tokyo / AFP All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Airlines (JAL) announced robust annual profits on Thursday, thanks to healthy demand on China and other international routes as well as falling fuel costs. Japan’s top carriers benefitted from a record number of foreigners visiting Japan with mainland Chinese being among the most conspicuous as they flock to Japan for shopping ...

  Tokyo / Bloomberg Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal said on Thursday its annual profit dived by a third as it pointed to a “severely depressed” market owing to a slowdown in China and other overseas markets. The Tokyo-based firm, one of the world’s biggest steelmakers, posted a net profit of 145.4 billion yen in its fiscal year to March, ...

  New Delhi / Bloomberg Coffee production in India is set to tumble to a 19-year low as dry weather wilts plantations in Asia’s third-largest grower. Output will decline at least 30 percent in the harvesting season starting from Oct. 1, compared with a record 350,000 tons a year earlier, according to Nishant Gurjer, a member and past chairman of ...

  Bloomberg German joblessness extended its decline, underscoring the strength of the labour market as Europe’s largest economy seeks to absorb a wave of refugees. The number of people out of work fell by a seasonally adjusted 16,000 to 2.706 million in April, data from the Federal Labour Agency in Nuremberg showed on Thursday. That’s the seventh consecutive drop, and ...