Bloomberg China’s official factory gauge steadied at the highest level in almost two years while services picked up, suggesting that the economy’s stabilization continued last month and reducing prospects for additional policy easing. The data add to evidence of improvement as government fiscal support and a soaring property market help underpin growth. Fresh signs of stability may lead policy …

  Hanoi / AFP Thousands of Vietnamese protesters surrounded a Taiwanese steel plant on Sunday, some scaling walls and holding signs demanding its closure, as anger flares against the firm for dumping toxic waste into the ocean killing tonnes of fish. Huge crowds on motorbike and foot gathered at the Formosa plant in central Ha Tinh province, with some holding …

  Bloomberg Lloyds Banking Group Plc, Britain’s largest mortgage lender, may take a 1.6 billion-pound ($2.1 billion) charge in third-quarter earnings to cover a pension deficit and customer compensation, according to analysts. The London-based bank may set aside 800 million pounds to cover its pension fund liabilities and a similar amount for customers who were wrongly sold payment protection insurance, …

  AFP Moneta Money Bank AS fell the most in three months after General Electric Co. sold almost a quarter stake in the Czech lender at a discount to the market price. Traded volume surged to more than 20 times the three-month daily average as the stock tumbled 4.6 percent to 76.60 koruna at end of trading in Prague, valuing …

  Bloomberg Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc said it would resurrect the NatWest Markets brand for its investment bank as part of its plan to meet rules designed to prevent a repeat of its 45.5 billion-pound ($59 billion) taxpayer-funded bailout during a financial crisis. RBS will return to the name used by the former NatWest Plc securities unit during …

  Bloomberg India decided to extend Arundhati Bhattacharya’s tenure by one year as the chairman of the country’s largest bank, a finance ministry official said, a move that will allow her to oversee completion of the merger with six smaller banks. Bhattacharya, 60, who was to retire this month, will continue as the chief of the State Bank of India …

  Bloomberg China’s central bank conducted its biggest weekly cash withdrawals since July, amid speculation it is seeking to ease bubbles in assets including bonds and property. The People’s Bank of China drained a net 420.1 billion yuan ($63 billion) from the financial system as maturing reverse-repurchase agreements exceeded new issuance. The nation’s benchmark money-market rate surged to a 14-month …

Bloomberg Illinois is joining California in suspending Wells Fargo & Co. from handling “billions” of dollars in investment work and the underwriting of state debt after the company admitted to opening potentially millions of bogus customer accounts. Treasurer Michael Frerichs said in a statement the he will announce details of the ban during a news conference in Chicago on Monday. …

  Dakar / AFP When farmer Isaac Tondo fell on lean times in Liberia’s long rainy season, his brother in the capital sent 8,000 Liberian dollars (US$87) to his Lonestar mobile money account, ensuring his children’s school fees would still be paid. Across Africa more and more people — from urban start-ups to hard-up villagers — are now spending, saving …

  Rennes / AFP The ad on the French finance ministry website is deadpan and succinct: “For sale: late 19th century prison in the centre of Grasse, 1,277.42 square metres (13,750 square feet). No garage or parking space. Needs renovating.” Prospective buyers of the site in southeast France are required to lodge a deposit of 50,000 euros ($56,000). There are …