Bloomberg The reports of retail sales and consumer sentiment offered a glimmer of optimism that Americans aren’t ready to pull back on spending en masse in the face of decades-high inflation. Granted, the 0.5% rise in March sales was dwarfed by an even bigger increase in inflation that shows real spending is softening after a stronger start to the year. …

Bloomberg China Eastern Airlines Corp has resumed flights using the same type of plane that recently crashed in southern China, a sign it is working toward putting the entire fleet back in the air. A 737-800 jet flew from Kunming to Chengdu, according to flightradar24.com. Other planes of the same model made by Boeing Co have been used in what …

Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc will levy a 5% fuel and inflation fee on online merchants that use its shipping services, according to documents reviewed by Bloomberg, putting pressure on sellers to raise prices. The surcharge, which is scheduled to kick in April 28, will apply to US sellers who use the Fulfillment by Amazon service that stows, packs and ships products. …

  Bloomberg Starbucks Corp Chief Executive Officer Howard Schultz, moving to further put his stamp on the coffee giant in his third stint at the helm, criticised “false promises” and poor short-term decisions by prior management in a message to employees. In a seven-minute video set to be sent to Starbucks employees and viewed by Bloomberg News, Schultz discussed the …

  Bloomberg Delta Air Lines will stop assessing a $200 monthly surcharge for employees who have not received a coronavirus vaccination, the latest sign that the travel industry is relaxing its approach to the virus even as the US plans to extend a face-mask requirement. The assessment to cover the added costs of Covid-19 illnesses will end April 30, a …

  Bloomberg China’s central bank rolled almost two dozen measures and promises intended to boost lending and support industries that have been battered by recent Covid-19 outbreaks and lockdowns. The 23 steps include everything from lending guidance for banks and promises to make it easier for companies to expand the cross-border use of the yuan, to general pledges for more …

  Bloomberg The yen extended its longest-losing streak in at least half a century as traders ignored government warnings about the speed of the currency’s decline, focusing instead on the widening gap between Japanese and US interest rates. Japan’s currency slid for a 13th day against the dollar, the longest run of losses in Bloomberg data starting in 1971, after …

  Bloomberg The Bank of Japan (BOJ) will explore the design issues of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in measured steps like Sweden rather than pressing ahead with large-scale pilot tests like China, according to the BOJ’s point-man on digital yen research. “Sweden’s staged and planned expansion of experiments is a better fit for us than China’s big-scale tests …

  Bloomberg Nigerian banks have been hit by an exodus of tech talent, chief executives of the nation’s lenders say. “So many of our very experienced talents especially in the area of software engineering are either leaving the industry or leaving the country,” Abubakar Suleiman, chief executive officer of Sterling Bank Plc, told reporters at the end of a meeting …

Bloomberg The European Central Bank (ECB) renewed its pledge to end bond-buying in the coming months, as record inflation raises the odds it will also lift interest rates for the first time in more than a decade before the year is out. The Governing Council reiterated that it will halt net asset purchases in the third quarter — an accelerated …