Bloomberg Donald Trump acknowledged having second thoughts on escalating the trade war with China — only for his top spokeswoman to later say he meant he regretted not raising tariffs even more. White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham now says the media misinterpreted Trump’s initial remarks. Trump doesn’t regret starting a trade war but he does have second thoughts on …

ABU DHABI / WAM Accommodation & Food Services contributed AED32.5 billion in real prices to the 2018’s GDP, a growth of 4.2 percent on year, according to Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority (FCSA). In real (constant) prices, the sector’s contribution to non-oil GDP reached 6.8 percent during 2018, maintaining the high momentum it has created over the past years, driven …

Bloomberg Global banks will this week start making their case on why they should be hired for what’s set to be the world’s biggest initial public offering (IPO), according to people with knowledge of the matter. Dealmakers representing advisory firms from around the world will from Tuesday travel to Saudi Aramco’s headquarters in Dhahran in the kingdom’s Eastern Province to …

Bloomberg Royal Dutch Shell Plc has been sued by Australia’s tax authority as the agency pursues multinational companies over tax avoidance, the Guardian reported. The Australian Taxation Office has been battling with Shell’s local subsidiary for six years regarding tax treatment of its stake in Browse gas project off the country’s northwest coast, the newspaper reported. The bill, estimated at …

Bloomberg A group led by Brazil’s Itausa Investimentos SA offered about $850 million for Petrobras’s bottled gas distributor. Petrobras said in a filing that Itausa, the holding company for Setubal and Villela families, in a consortium with Copagaz Distribuidora de Gas Ltda and Nacional Gas Butano, offered highest bid for Liquigas Distribuidora SA. The supplier of liquefied petroleum gas for …

Bloomberg Any reassurance markets got from the Federal Reserve in Jackson Hole was wiped out within minutes. A volley of acrimonious presidential tweets and a nastier turn in the trade war sent Treasury yields, stocks and the dollar skidding into the weekend. Hopes that the central bank could guide markets to a cool-headed assessment of the US economy now look …

Bloomberg As markets bet on a no-deal Brexit, the real shock for pound traders could be Prime Minister Boris Johnson clinching a sudden deal. Sterling has tumbled in recent weeks as Johnson’s “do or die” stance has led traders to increase bets against the currency on the prospects of a no-deal Brexit on October 31. Yet a surge of nearly …

Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG executives were outraged. They had just missed out on a major deal with the Russian government and wanted answers. “We must use whatever tactic and political pressure to avoid this embarrassment,” a senior banker in London wrote in an email to the firm’s top executive in Russia. “DB not participating is a slap in our face.” …

Bloomberg A collapse of Brexit talks resulting in the UK leaving the European Union without a transition agreement would likely prompt the Bank of England to loosen monetary policy, Governor Mark Carney said. While the Monetary Policy Committee’s reaction would depend on how demand, supply and exchange rate are hit, “the appropriate policy path would be more likely to ease …

Bloomberg Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) posted fiscal third-quarter earnings that missed analysts’ estimates, hurt by a slowdown in the company’s capital-markets division. Canada’s largest lender by assets had C$653 million ($491 million) in profit from RBC Capital Markets, a 6.4% decline, the result of lower trading revenue and a drop in investment-banking fees, according to a statement Wednesday. Earnings from …