Bloomberg Royal Dutch Shell Plc stepped up its share buyback program as cash flow surged on higher crude prices, even as profit fell slightly short of expectations. Cash flow from operations including working capital movements was $12.09 billion in the third quarter, the highest since 2014. The company said it will repurchase $2.5 billion of shares up to January 28, …

Bloomberg Encana Corp. agreed to buy US shale producer Newfield Exploration Co. in its largest-ever acquisition, inflaming investors’ ire by reversing course on a strategy of slimming down its oil and gas portfolio. The $5.5 billion purchase will give Encana positions in the Stack and Scoop shale fields in Oklahoma, the Bakken region of North Dakota and the Uinta play …

Bloomberg Russian oil production moved closer to an all-time high before the nation meets with OPEC partners to discuss future supply. The country’s crude and condensate output averaged 11.412 million barrels a day last month, according to data from the Energy Ministry’s CDU-TEK unit released. Th-at’s about 160,000 barrels a day more than two years ago, before Russia agreed to …

Bloomberg The world’s major economies that entered 2018 accelerating in sync risk entering 2019 decelerating in sync. The shift is being led by China, where the economy’s weakest performance since 2009 is set to worsen unless a peace can be struck in the trade war with the US. Factory readings from Asia already show a fallout, with Taiwan, Thailand and …

Bloomberg From the lowest in a decade to the biggest two-day gain — in the same timespan. It’s been a wild ride this week for China’s yuan, whipsawed as concern about a slowdown in the world’s second-biggest economy gave way to optimism that trade tension with the US may ease. The onshore currency closed last week at 6.8870 per dollar, …

Bloomberg British and European officials are playing down reports that a Brexit deal has been reached for banks that would provide access to the single market after the UK leaves the bloc. The pound pared gains. The European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said in a tweet that the bloc was “ready” to have “close regulatory dialogue” with the …

Bloomberg If they really want to steer clear of geopolitical flare-ups, investors should set up bigger positions in the dollar and volatility indexes — and abandon favorite hideaways in the yen and gold, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. Assets long thought to be havens don’t necessarily hold up as the safest stores of value amid newer threats shaking markets …

Bloomberg Barclays Plc saw its key measure of financial health sink to the lowest level among 48 banks in a European stress test, which gauged how well lenders could withstand heavy credit losses and other Brexit-related fallout. Barclays’s fully loaded common equity Tier 1 ratio, a measure of its highest-quality capital, shrank to 6.37 percent in a so-called adverse scenario. …

Bloomberg ING Group NV put a run of bad news behind it, with a third quarter profit that beat estimates and progress towards its cost targets. The shares jumped the most in 18 months. While net income plunged because of a 775 million-euro ($879 million) settlement for failing to monitor and prevent money laundering, the hit was less severe than …

Bloomberg Credit Suisse Group AG’s turnaround is running out of steam just as the bank enters the final stretch of its overhaul. Revenue and net income missed estimates in the third quarter, and the Global Markets business — one of the most difficult challenges of Chief Executive Officer Tidjane Thiam’s three-year tenure — posted an unexpected loss. The bank is …