When economic historian Charles Kindleberger charted the rise of financial centres around the world in 1973, he doubted London could take the top spot in Europe’s growing union of states: “Sterling is too weak, and British savings too little.” Instead, after assessing various cities’ economies of scale and corporate pulling power, he plumped for Brussels. He was clearly betting on ...

Losses in the main US stock indexes will go down in history simply as small ones in an otherwise choppy week. But assessed in more detail, they provide a remarkable example of the intense tug-of-war that now grips markets and will most likely persist, if not intensify, in the weeks ahead. Two news developments dominated the run-up to the US ...

Bloomberg AirAsia Group Bhd is closing its affiliate operations in India, the local aviation minister said over the weekend, a comment his office later suggested was taken out of context. “AirAsia’s shop is anyway shutting down,” Hardeep Singh Puri said in televised comments that were widely circulated on social media. “Their parent company has problems.” A spokesman for AirAsia India, ...

Bloomberg SpiceJet Ltd, India’s second-biggest airline, will start regular flights to London from Delhi and Mumbai, a move it has long been pursuing. The no-frills airline will fly Airbus SE A330-900 neo aircraft on the routes, Chairman Ajay Singh said in an online briefing with reporters on Monday. The flights will start from December 4 and there will be two ...

Bloomberg Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd will carry out rapid pre-flight coronavirus testing for cabin crew and pilots from its base at London’s Heathrow airport, the company said on Monday. The carrier said it launched a trial on flights to Shanghai and Hong Kong on September 30 and is planning a wider roll-out that will involve testing every operating crew at ...

Bloomberg Singapore’s GIC Pte and private-equity firm TPG will invest a combined $1 billion in Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s retail unit, taking total inflows into the business to about $4.4 billion. GIC will spend 55.1 billion rupees ($753 million) for a 1.22% stake in Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd, while US-based TPG will take 0.41% for 18.4 billion rupees, the Indian ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign has seen its candidate, campaign manager and party chairwoman all laid low by Covid-19. He is short on cash, Democrat Joe Biden is pulling away in the polls and his best hope to climb back — the raucous rallies that fuelled his 2016 win — is on hold indefinitely as the last month of ...

Bloomberg Sudan’s main sea ports were blockaded by protesters opposed to part of a peace deal with rebels, targeting some of the ravaged economy’s major conduits for trade. Demonstrations forced facilities to close at Port Sudan and Suakin, both on the Red Sea, according to the head of a local labour committee that backs the action, Abdou Alshirbini. Protesters planned ...

Bloomberg Russia’s Federal Statistics Service said 45,663 people have died with Covid-19 in April through August, more than double the death toll released by the government’s virus-response staff. The latest figures from the statistics agency, known as Rosstat, include deaths both directly attributed to the novel coronavirus and cases where it was listed as an “important condition” leading to the ...

Bloomberg Tropical Storm Delta is forecast to become a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico later this week, clipping western Cuba and becoming the record 10th storm to hit the US when it makes landfall between Louisiana and Florida by Friday. Its winds could reach 169 kilometres per hour as it crosses the Gulf, making it a Category 2 storm ...