Bloomberg Venezuela’s state-owned oil company is taking an unusual step to try and increase production: shut fields. From this month, Petroleos de Venezuela SA will prioritise 13 fields in the Faja, a 55,000 square-kilometer (21,235 square-mile) strip north of the Orinoco River containing heavy crude oil that former president Hugo Chavez turned into the nation’s oil flagship project, according to …

Bloomberg South Africa is working on a policy to govern the development of oil and gas resources after calls by potential investors to shield the industry from a long-running debate over laws that apply to mining exploration. The finalising of oil legislation has become more urgent since Total SA announced the first significant deep-water oil find off the coast of …

Bloomberg US stocks fluctuated near all-time highs and Treasuries were little changed as attention turned to a slew of data later in the week that will influence the Federal Reserve’s policy path. The dollar weakened. The S&P 500 was little changed in the last full day of trading before an early close on July 3 and Thursday’s holiday. Data on …

Bloomberg Indian equities extended gains to a second day ahead of a federal budget due later this week that will give an indication of the government’s commitment to providing stimulus for a slowing economy. The advance was led by energy stocks, while drugmakers declined. The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex climbed 0.3 percent to 39,816.48 at the 3:30 pm close in …

Bloomberg European Central Bank (ECB) policy makers aren’t yet ready to rush into additional monetary stimulus at this month’s meeting, preferring instead to wait for more data on the economy, according to euro-area central-bank officials familiar with the matter. While Governing Council members agree that they could act on July 25 if the outlook deteriorates, they are currently leaning towards …

Bloomberg Poland’s bank association has asked the government and industry regulators for help in case the European Union’s top court rules against the country’s lenders over foreign-currency mortgages, according to Puls Biznesu newspaper. The lobby’s initial estimate shows banks could face “huge” costs of at least 60 billion zloty ($16 billion), or about four years of industry profits, in a …

Bloomberg Denmark is investigating whether banks besides Danske Bank A/S have recommended loss-making investment products to their clients. The country’s biggest lender fired one of its star executives after an internal review concluded that management was aware it was charging its retail customers too much for products that were likely to offer very low returns. The bank has pledged to …

Bloomberg Zopa Ltd is planning to raise as much as 200 million pounds ($253 million) as the online lender works to satisfy regulatory requirements en-route to winning a UK banking license. The company is talking to private equity and sovereign wealth funds about the cash, which could come in the next several months, Chief Executive Officer Jaidev Janardana said in …

Bloomberg The abrupt departure of a potential heir apparent at Credit Suisse Group AG marks a compelling twist in the power plays transfixing Zurich’s intimate private banking world. Iqbal Khan’s leaving as head of Credit Suisse’s international wealth-management unit confirmed persistent speculation that he’d been in talks with crosstown rivals including UBS Group AG and Julius Baer Ltd. The executive …

Bloomberg Southwest Airlines Co, the largest operator of the grounded Boeing Co 737 Max, said the discovery of a new safety issue with the jetliner is extending its absence “well beyond” what was hoped, forcing the carrier to reassess its schedule for the rest of the year. The latest problem, “unfortunately, is going to delay the timeline for returning the …