Bloomberg Auto workers may be getting some extra time off around Independence Day, but they won’t be celebrating. They’ll know it means sales are weak and that profits — and profit-sharing checks — could be shrinking. Manufacturers used to shut plants for a week or two in July for maintenance and to keep inventories in check. As sales boomed …

  Bloomberg You can’t blame a homeowner in Fresno, California, for viewing the thriving metropolis to its northwest with both envy and dismay. While San Francisco home values have surged since the recession, Fresno’s housing market is stuck in a rut. Less than 3 percent of homes in the city and its environs have returned to their pre-recession peak, according …

  Bloomberg The euro area maintained its growth momentum at the start of 2017, strengthening the case of those pressuring the European Central Bank to sketch out an end to extraordinary stimulus measures. Gross domestic product rose 0.5 percent in the first three months of the year, according to an initial estimate published by the European Union’s statistics office on …

  Bloomberg Oman Air Transport plans to move ahead with a multi-billion dollar order for wide-body jets early next year even though it won’t now break even in 2017 as the low oil price curbs growth in the Gulf. The carrier is now aiming to end losses by the end of next year, contingent on demand not deteriorating further, Chief …

  Geneva / Emirates Business The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released demand growth results for global air freight markets showing a 14% expansion measured in freight tonne kilometers (FTKs) compared to the same period last year. This was the fastest pace of growth recorded since October 2010. Freight capacity, measured in available freight tonne kilometers (AFTKs), grew by 4.2% …

  RIYADH / Reuters State-owned Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) has started the sale of its medical services business in Jeddah, valued at around $500 million, as part of a drive to reduce non-core assets, sources familiar with the matter said. The medical business, which is called Saudia Medical Services and owns a major hospital, could be attractive for investors as …

  Bloomberg J Sainsbury Plc is struggling to keep up with supermarket rivals and discounters in a UK grocery market under pressure from a Brexit-induced fall in the pound. Data from researcher Kantar Worldpanel showed on Wednesday that as well as lagging the growth of cut-price grocers Aldi and Lidl, Sainsbury’s food sales are also trailing rivals Tesco Plc and …

  Bloomberg HNA Group Co., the Chinese aviation-to-hotels conglomerate, increased its stake in Deutsche Bank AG to almost 10 percent to become the top shareholder in Europe’s largest investment bank. HNA’s holding in Germany’s biggest bank rose to 9.92 percent, according to a regulatory filing Tuesday by investment entities acting on HNA’s behalf. The conglomerate initially reported a 3 percent …

  Bloomberg JPMorgan Chase & Co. plans to move hundreds of London-based bankers to expanded offices in Dublin, Frankfurt and Luxembourg as it prepares for the UK to lose easy access to the European Union’s single market after Brexit, the firm’s head of investment banking said. “We are going to use the three banks we already have in Europe as …

  Dubai / Emirates Business Ahli United Bank (AUB) reported a net profit attributable to its equity shareholders of US$159.4 million for the quarter ended March 31. The net profit reflected an increase of 3.1% in the first quarter of this year as compared to the comparative net profit figure of US$ 154.6 million achieved in Q1 2016. The first …