Bloomberg Almost 32,000 customers could lose power as dry, gusty winds whip up critical wildfire conditions across almost 6,000 square miles in Southern California, with another 250,000 affected in the northern part of the state. The winds gusting as high as 50 miles (80 kilometers) per hour could affect mountain and coastal areas, including Ventura, Los Angeles and San Diego ...

Bloomberg London’s office landlords keep being surprised that things aren’t a lot worse. Demand for office space in the UK capital is holding up even as political uncertainty persists in a nation gripped by its decision to leave the European Union. Businesses have continued to lease space despite the prospect of a general election that’s pitted the Brexit-backing Conservative party ...

Bloomberg US stocks slipped along with European shares as doubts about a China trade deal weighed on sentiment, highlighting the fragile nature of recent gains as negotiations drag on. The S&P 500 Index retreated from previous record close amid reports that Beijing is pessimistic about the chances of reaching an accord with the US. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index dipped, ...

Bloomberg Knocked off course by a host of negatives, the Philippine stock rally may be set to regain momentum into year-end on improvement in the domestic economy and corporate profits. The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) has breached the 8,000 mark 13 times this year only to fall back through, hurt by factors including the US-China trade war and the ...

Bloomberg China lowered the cost it charges on short-term open-market operations for the first time since October 2015, a move aimed at shoring up confidence following a string of poor economic data. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) cut the interest rate on its seven-day reverse repurchase agreements to 2.5% from 2.55%. The authorities also added 180 billion yuan ($26 ...

Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc pointed to routine regulatory requirements to ensure client money is used for stated purposes after a report that the firm is shutting a corporate account that helped fund protest-related activities in Hong Kong — a politically sensitive issue. The bank took action after finding the account was being used inconsistently with its original paperwork, the Hong ...

Bloomberg The Thai baht’s reign as Asia’s best-performing currency is coming under threat from an unlikely source: South Korea’s won. The baht has slumped into the bottom half of the regional rankings this quarter after heading the table for three consecutive three-month periods. The won meanwhile has shrugged off its chronic underperformance and rocketed to the top. The main reason ...

Bloomberg A combination of easing trade tensions and easier monetary policy will lift global growth from the first quarter of 2020, according to economists at Morgan Stanley. Emerging markets will drive the recovery, given the late-cycle stage that US growth is in, they argue. “A 1Q20 recovery is on the cards,” the US bank’s economists led by Chetan Ahya wrote ...

Bloomberg UK lawmaker Peter Hain accused international banks including HSBC Holdings Plc and Standard Chartered Plc of aiding and abetting graft in South Africa during former President Jacob Zuma’s rule and earning considerable fees in the process. The lenders enabled members of the Gupta family, who were Zuma’s allies and in business with his son, to launder stolen funds and ...

Bloomberg Soon after taking over as India’s central bank governor almost a year ago, Shaktikanta Das decorated his 18th floor office overlooking the Arabian Sea with two statues of Lord Jagannath, a form of the Hindu god Vishnu. Revered in Das’s native Odisha state, Jagannath is depicted with round, lidless eyes that are always watching over the welfare of devotees. ...