Bloomberg French energy giant Total SA is spending $600 million to expand its presence in one of the world’s fastest-growing natural gas markets. Total agreed to purchase a 37.4% stake in India’s Adani Gas Ltd., a distributor of the fuel that’s developing import terminals and a national chain of vehicle-filling outlets. The deal gives the French company a footprint in …

Bloomberg US equity futures dropped alongside stocks in Europe after China appeared to pour cold water on a partial trade deal touted by Donald Trump, saying it wanted to iron out details before signing it. European bonds gained. Contracts on the three main equity indexes signalled US stocks may run out of steam after the S&P 500 rose to within …

Bloomberg The pound pulled back from a three-month high and UK government bonds rallied as traders reassessed the prospect of the UK securing a Brexit deal this week. Sterling dropped as much as 0.9% against the dollar after surging 3.8% during the previous two days amid optimism the two sides would reach an agreement to avoid a no-deal. The European …

Bloomberg Singapore’s central bank signaled it’s ready to adjust monetary policy further after easing on Monday for the first time since 2016 as risks to the economic growth outlook persist. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), which uses the exchange rate as its main policy tool, reduced “slightly the rate of appreciation” of the currency band and said it’s prepared …

Bloomberg A prolonged period of low interest rates risks making economic downturns more severe, according to Bank of England (BOE) deputy governor Jon Cunliffe. Speaking in London, Cunliffe said the drop in long-term market rates in developed economies partly reflected an over-pessimism about long-term prospects, and was also part of a structural trend. One “challenge of low for longer for …

Bloomberg All around HDFC Bank Ltd, India’s biggest lender by market value, the news seems to be bad and getting worse: economic growth is slowing, loan losses are rising and shadow banks are mired in crisis. And yet investors keep piling into HDFC Bank’s stock, convinced it will emerge a winner from India’s financial woes. The company’s market value has …

Bloomberg Kenya plans to borrow 422 billion shillings ($4.1 billion) from external lenders after lawmakers approved the government’s proposal to increase its debt limit. The government of the East African nation is negotiating or about to sign 44 loan agreements with 15 lenders including the African Development Bank, China, Japan and the World Bank, parliament documents show. The lawmakers approved …

Bloomberg Considering the lack of enthusiasm for the so-called mini trade deal in China, the country’s disappointing trade data, an unexciting yuan fixing and the cautious-sounding analyst commentaries, it was a wonder that emerging markets were able to make any headway at all. But catch-up was predictably the order of the day following the US rally, so most currencies strengthened, …

Bloomberg To see how little investors love China’s small banks, look no further than the nation’s largest online auction site. On Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s Taobao platform, a Chinese court tried to auction off 1.5 million shares of a rural bank in the eastern Zhejiang province for a starting price of $161,000 — about half their appraised value. After three …

Bloomberg A face-off between the US and European Union over jetliner tariffs risks making travel more expensive for passengers, the world’s biggest long-haul airline has warned. Tit-for-tat import duties on Boeing Co and Airbus SE planes would ultimately increase the cost of the aircraft and hence also fares, Emirates President Tim Clark said on Monday in Dubai, where the carrier …