Bloomberg Spanish services and manufacturing expanded at the fastest pace in two months, outpacing the country’s euro-area peers in a challenge for the European Central Bank. The Spain Markit Composite PMI index jumped to 55.1 in March, beating the median economist estimate in a Bloomberg survey calling for an increase to 54.2. The Spanish data contrasts with sluggish growth in ...

Bloomberg U.K. opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn called on PM David Cameron to crack down on tax evasion and avoidance in British overseas territories following the release of documents detailing offshore accounts held by some of the world’s wealthiest people. Reports on Sunday based on 11.5 million leaked documents from a Panama law firm, Mossack Fonseca, suggested politicians and business figures ...

Bloomberg For option traders, the lira is headed for a period of calm. Contracts that measure expected swings in the currency over the next month retreated the most in emerging-market in 2016 to the lowest level since December 2014, a sign of growing confidence in Turkey’s economy. The drop is a boost for carry traders, who buy higher yielding assets ...

Thetford / AFP Toby Bulgin’s face wrinkles worriedly as he surveys his farm and contemplates the looming vote on Britain’s EU membership that could leave his livelihood hanging in the balance. The sunbathed fields, bleating lambs and birdsong on his farm in Norfolk, eastern England, seem a long way from the European Union’s corridors of power in Brussels. But Bulgin ...

Bloomberg Hedge funds holding debt in Puerto Rico’s Government Development Bank sued to stop the island’s key fiscal entity from making payments to local government agencies as it faces a growing cash shortage and the prospect of insolvency. The funds, which include affiliates of Brigade Capital Management, Claren Road Asset Management and Solus Alternative Asset Management, accused the bank in ...

Bloomberg Health insurers that offer private Medicare Advantage plans will get a smaller-than-expected increase in payments next year. The U.S. is raising payments to the insurers by 0.85 percent on average, according to a statement from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, down from the 1.35 percent boost proposed in February. Payments to individual insurers can vary, because CMS ...

Bloomberg Vale SA, the world’s largest iron ore producer, is selling its share in Brazilian steel mill venture CSA to German partner Thyssenkrupp AG for a “symbolic price,” the company said, part of a strategy to dispose of non-core assets to help bolster its balance sheet. The miner based in Rio de Janeiro will exit the venture by unloading its ...

Bloomberg Petrobras Chairman Nelson Carvalho has opposed a management proposal to reduce the price of gasoline in a bid to boost sales, said a person familiar with the discussions. Jorge Celestino, the head of refining, proposed a price cut at a time Petrobras is losing market share, said the person, who asked to remain anonymous because the discussions aren’t public. ...

Bloomberg After almost two years of sinking oil prices and at least 40,000 job cuts, Canada’s petroleum industry still isn’t finished tackling its bloated operations. The next round of layoffs has already begun with Cenovus Energy Inc. and Murphy Oil Corp. announcing workforce reductions last week. Ongoing cuts by Suncor Energy Inc., Encana Corp. and others will likely result in ...

AFP Despite slashing oil imports, Canada’s trade deficit with the world widened to Can$1.9 billion (US$1.5 billion) in February, according to the government statistics agency. The figure is up from Can$628 million (US$476 million) the previous month, and about one billion dollars more than the street expected. Exports fell 5.4 percent from a record high in January to Can$43.7 billion ...