Bloomberg There’s been lots of competition for the title of Asia’s best-performing stock market this year. Among the major equity indexes in the region, eight have climbed to records in the first four months alone. On Wednesday, Singapore’s Straits Times Index nudged higher, boosting this year’s gain to 6.2 percent in local currency terms, and took the top spot from …

Bloomberg Australia left its key interest rate unchanged at a record low — as expected — amid the slowing of a hiring boom. Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe kept the cash rate at 1.5 percent, where it has stood since late 2016, as the central bank waits for inflation to strengthen. The nation’s jobs growth has declined to a three-month …

Bloomberg Canada’s big banks don’t seem keen to follow Toronto-Dominion Bank’s lead on mortgage hikes — at least not all the way. Posted mortgage rates have diverged in the past week following rate hikes by Toronto-Dominion, Royal Bank of Canada, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and National Bank of Canada. Bank of Nova Scotia and Bank of Montreal have stood …

Bloomberg Standard Chartered Plc’s Bill Winters is closing in on his return target after three years spent struggling to transform the emerging markets lender, but the bank hasn’t shaken off concerns about costs and growth. The lender posted the highest quarterly revenue of the chief executive’s tenure and warned expenses may escalate this year. Nevertheless, a 7 percent increase in …

Bloomberg Bank of America Corp. expects to book an $800 million pretax charge in the second quarter as it redeems $3.5 billion of trust preferred securities (TruPS), eliminating much of its remaining stockpile. Trust preferred securities are equity-like debt instruments that pay interest like bonds. Banks favoured issuing them during the financial crisis because they were treated like equity, and …

Bloomberg New Zealand regulators are seeking assurances that local lenders aren’t involved in the same unethical behavior coming to light in Australia’s banking inquiry. The Financial Markets Authority and Reserve Bank spoke with the heads of New Zealand’s major banks, telling them to provide evidence that they’re not engaged in practices unearthed by a Royal Commission in Australia, an RBNZ …

Bloomberg India’s market regulator is examining the cause for the worst drop in seven months in InterGlobe Aviation Ltd.’s shares before the operator of the nation’s largest airline announced the resignation of its president, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The Securities and Exchange Board of India is investigating a 6.1 percent tumble in the stock on April …

Bloomberg Tapestry Inc., the company formerly known as Coach, is running into big hurdles in its quest to win back shoppers. Same-store sales at Tapestry’s Kate Spade brand missed analysts’ estimates in the latest quarter, while production delays and other problems at the Stuart Weitzman brand were a drag as well. Same-store sales for the Coach brand, its biggest business, …

Bloomberg Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA is entering the critical summer travel season with a bet that jet fuel prices will recede from 3 1/2-year highs — a position that risks weakening Chief Executive Officer Bjorn Kjos’s hand as he negotiates a potential buyout by the owner of British Airways. The Oslo-based low-cost airline, known for offering $99 flights between Europe …

Bloomberg A new mobile app and marketing push weren’t enough to energise sales at Yum China Holdings Inc.’s Pizza Hut in the latest quarter. Systemwide, same-store sales missed analysts’ estimates, rising 3 percent compared with a projection for 3.3 percent growth. The disappointing results sent the company’s shares down as much as 10 percent in late trading in New York. …