Bloomberg Richemont and Swatch Group AG shares surged on optimism the Swiss watch industry may be bottoming out. Richemont advanced as much as 9.4 percent to a one-year high after a gain in sales of timepieces at the Cartier maker’s own stores signaled that wholesale orders may stop declining. The Geneva-based luxury-goods maker also said sales to retailers are …

  Bloomberg The unusually cold weather and heavy snowfall that sowed panic in southeastern European power trading this week continued to pressure prices as Greece stopped exporting electricity and neighboring Bulgaria plans to follow suit. While day-ahead power prices from Hungary to Bulgaria fell for a second day from Tuesday’s records, they remained above usual levels as the cold weather …

  Bloomberg United Airlines plans to fly its last Boeing Co. 747 jumbo jet late this year, retiring its largest airplanes a year ahead of schedule as the iconic aircraft glides into the sunset. The decision marks the end of an era for US airlines, which have relied on the humpbacked 747 to bring jet travel to a mass consumer …

  Bloomberg UK supermarket leader Tesco Plc posted its strongest quarterly sales growth in more than five years and said it had a good Christmas as the grocer continues its revival under Chief Executive Officer Dave Lewis. Sales at UK stores open at least a year rose 1.8 percent in the 13 weeks ended Nov. 26, the Welwyn Garden City, …

  Bloomberg J Sainsbury Plc shares surged the most in more than a year after better-than-expected holiday sales provided a positive cap to an otherwise disappoin- ting year, continuing the supermarket sector’s strong Christmas run. The stock rose as much as 7.1 percent — the steepest intraday gain since Jan. 5 last year — after same-store sales at Sainsbury supermarkets …

  Bloomberg Marks & Spencer Group Plc (M&S) reported its best clothing sales in more than five years, delivering a confidence boost to the embattled British retailer after a tumultuous year marred by management overhauls, store closures and plunging shares. Same-store sales in its clothing and home division rose 2.3 percent in the third quarter ended Dec. 31, the London-based …

  Bloomberg Turkey’s central bank is taking more steps to prop up a tumbling currency by forcing banks to borrow at a higher rate, said a person with direct knowledge of the matter. The lira surged against the dollar. The central bank didn’t offer any funding to local lenders at 8 percent through the one-week repo auction on Thursday, with …

  Bloomberg National Bank of Oman (NBO), the sultanate’s third-largest lender by assets, posted on Thursday a 19.9 percent fall in fourth-quarter net profit, according to Reuters calculations. The lender made a profit of 13.68 million rials ($35.5 million) in the three months to Dec. 31, Reuters calculated based on previous financial statements in lieu of a quarterly breakdown. This …

  Bloomberg Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA is set to become Italy’s biggest nationalized bank since the 1930s after its failure to raise funds on the market set a state rescue in motion. Talks are underway between the Italian Treasury and the lender on developing a new business plan. The European Central Bank directed Monte Paschi to raise …

  Emirates Business VMware, Inc., a global leader in cloud infrastructure and business mobility, announced that Al-Mawarid Bank is deploying VMware NSX network virtualization to improve security and application continuity, accelerate product innovation through IT automation, and meet stringent regulatory compliance requirements. Al-Mawarid Bank is a fast-growing, Lebanese bank that invests in the latest technologies to stay ahead of the …