Bloomberg Australian Treasurer Scott Morrison said he doesn’t see much appetite for further cuts to his nation’s already record-low interest rates, while stressing that’s a decision for new central bank Governor Philip Lowe. “From our perspective, the old pushing-against-the-string analogy is very relevant,” Morrison said in an interview at the International Monetary Fund’s headquarters in Washington. “It’s up to …

  NEW DELHI / AP A section of the cargo terminal at New Delhi’s international airport was cordoned off Sunday after a suspected radioactive leak, but officials later said the radiation posed no danger to people and called off the emergency. The leak at Indira Gandhi International Airport was suspected to have occurred from a package containing cancer medicine that …

  Bloomberg Shanghai, China’s financial hub, is putting in place new measures to curb a surge in property prices as part of the country’s latest push to ensure stable and healthy real estate development. The new steps announced by the city’s housing commission include increasing land supply and forbidding price increases in new home pre-sales without approval. In addition, punishment …

DUBAI / Reuters Banking shares dragged Saudi Arabian stocks lower on Sunday while most other Gulf markets were sluggish as investors waited for third-quarter corporate earnings announcements. Good news on Egypt’s International Monetary Fund loan boosted that market. The Saudi stock index sank 2.2 percent as the banking index tumbled 4.5 percent. Banque Saudi Fransi plunged by its 10 percent …

Bloomberg U.S. stock market investors have put Dec. 14 firmly in their crosshairs. Amid a range of reports showing the U.S. economy can withstand an interest-rate increase, investors are punishing industries likely to suffer with tighter monetary policy and shifting cash into groups that benefit from higher borrowing costs and economic growth. The S&P 500 Index tumbled 0.7 percent to …

  Bloomberg The United Nations accord reached to clean up pollution from international aviation may cost airlines as much as $23.9 billion annually by 2035. The companies see it as a victory. The landmark deal brokered in Montreal creates a global system requiring airlines to compensate for emissions growth after 2020 by funding environmental initiatives. That spares carriers from exactly …

  Bloomberg Improvements in Old Navy’s product selection brought a sales surge to Gap Inc.’s biggest chain last month — and the stock’s biggest rally in almost eight years. The brand’s same-store sales gained 4 percent in September, Gap said. Analysts had projected growth of less than 1 percent, according to Retail Metrics. The results helped offset an overall sales …

  AFP Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific bid farewell to its Boeing 747 fleet with a final low-altitude flyby over the city’s iconic skyline. The final route harked back to dramatic images of the planes flying low over rooftops of apartment blocks as they used to approach the old airport on the harbour. The flight, codenamed CX8747, flew over …

  AFP At first glance there’s nothing out of the ordinary about the regional airport in George, a town of just 150,000 residents on South Africa’s south coast. In fact though, the small site is Africa’s first “green” airport to be powered by the sun. The control tower, escalators, check-in desks, baggage carousels, restaurants and ATMs — every service here …

  Bloomberg Itau Unibanco Holding SA, Latin America’s largest bank by market value, agreed to buy Citigroup Inc.’s retail-banking business in Brazil for 710 million reais ($220 million), taking over operations that the US company has maintained in the country for more than 100 years. The purchase includes Citi’s 71 branches in the South American country as well as its …