DUBAI / Reuters Construction work has begun on a joint venture to build a shipyard on Saudi Arabia’s eastern coast, oil rig builder Lamprell Plc said in a statement. The joint venture, International Maritime Industries (IMI), started operations after reaching agreement for a loan from the state-backed Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF), the statement said. The SIDF agreed in principle …

Bloomberg Brazil fuel imports are set to fall from a record as the country’s state-owned oil company lowers prices in a bid to regain market share. Petroleo Brasileiro SA, which owns 13 out of the 16 refineries in the country, cut diesel prices by 47 percent and gasoline by 38 percent at the refinery gate since January. As a result …

Bloomberg Boeing Co.’s newest and smallest 737 Max jetliner took flight for the first time, into blue skies—and a cloudy, crowded market. The takeoff, on March 16 by Boeing’s factory outside Seattle, was characteristically drama-free for the third of four planned models in the Max family. The plane touched down at Boeing Field at 12:59 pm on March 16. Boeing’s …

Bloomberg Emirates is set to raise $600 million from the sale of Islamic bonds as the world’s biggest airline by international passengers joins a rush of borrowers from the Gulf region. The Dubai government-owned carrier sold 10-year amortising sukuk at a profit rate of 4.5 percent, the company said in an emailed statement. The yield was cut from an initial …

Bloomberg Bombardier Inc has hired Toronto-Dominion Bank to find a buyer for the Downsview aircraft-assembly plant in Toronto that could fetch more than C$500 million ($382 million), according to people familiar with the matter. Canada’s biggest aerospace company has received multiple bids, with residential developers in the mix, said the people who asked not to be identified because the matter …

Bloomberg L’Oreal SA is set to acquire the Canadian beauty tech company ModiFace, gaining tools for customers to test make-up and lipstick online. ModiFace’s augmented reality technology has been widely adopted by cosmetics makers since the company was founded in 2006 and helps power the mobile apps of LVMH’s Sephora and Estee Lauder. The Maybelline maker has built a stable …

Bloomberg Morgan Stanley and Principal Financial Group Inc. were among banks and insurers that rallied after a US appeals court struck down a sweeping Obama-era rule that aimed to protect millions of Americans from conflicted investment advice. The rule, imposed by the Labor Department (DOL), would have added an extra layer of scrutiny for the industry and increased compliance costs. …

RIYADH / Reuters Saudi Arabia’s central bank raised its two key interest rates by 0.25 percentage points in an apparent effort to prevent Saudi money rates from falling far below US rates, which could trigger capital outflows from the kingdom. The central bank lifted its repo rate, at which it lends to commercial banks, to 2.25 percentage points and its …

Bloomberg The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has made a 2.51 percent equity investment in Lebanon’s Bank Audi, the EBRD’s first investment in Lebanon, Audi said. The EBRD, a multilateral development bank, said the investment in Lebanon’s largest bank aims to support Lebanese financial markets, influence the broader economy and strengthen the financial sector. Lebanon has one of the …

Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG is predicting volatile markets are here to stay, helping the lender arrest two years of declines at its debt-trading business. Its forecast that full-year trading revenue will rise is bolder than that of its peers. While other US And European trading behemoths are also predicting a boost to trading, they’ve restricted themselves to the shorter term. …