Bloomberg Oil dropped below $50 for the first time since December after concerns that OPEC’s output cuts aren’t tempering a surplus in the US triggered the biggest slump in more than a year. Futures dropped as much as 2.2 percent in New York to $49.20 after losing 5.7 percent the previous three sessions. Stockpiles rose 8.2 million to the ...

Reuters China has granted preliminary approval for 38 trademarks linked to Donald Trump, documents on China’s state trademark office show, giving the US President and his family protection were they to develop the “Trump” brand in the market. The trademarks — which in theory cover a wide sweep of businesses from hotels to mobile libraries and escorts — underline the ...

  Bloomberg China’s broadest measure of new credit moderated in February as shadow banking activities slumped, signaling policy makers are making good on pledges to cut leverage and deflate asset bubbles. Aggregate financing was 1.15 trillion yuan ($166 billion), compared with a median estimate of 1.45 trillion yuan in a Bloomberg survey. New yuan loans stood at 1.17 trillion yuan ...

  Bloomberg They’re all going to the land Down Under. Australia is luring increasing numbers of global millionaires, helping make it one of the fastest growing wealthy nations in the world, according to reports from New World Wealth. The influx may be because of Australia’s superior healthcare system and lower inheritance taxes, its ideal location to do business with Asia, ...

  Bloomberg Samsung Electronics Co. is in preliminary talks to expand its manufacturing operations in the US with a new facility for home appliances. The Suwon, South Korea-based technology giant expects to spend at least $300 million on the project and is discussing the plans with at least five states, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed sources. The shift ...

  Bloomberg President Donald Trump has pledged to reverse what he describes as “astronomical” drug prices in the US Thousands of miles away, Japan, long a profit sanctuary for multinational pharmaceutical companies, is taking a similar tack. About $93 billion is spent annually on medications in Japan, and the government plays a key role on prices because it covers about ...

  Bloomberg President Donald Trump’s timetable to negotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement threatens to slip into an election year for Mexico, which could feel the economic impact of the uncertainty especially if the agreement starts disintegrating. US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said that the trade talks will probably begin in the latter part of 2017 and shouldn’t last ...

  Bloomberg Akzo Nobel NV, Europe’s largest coatings company, rejected an unsolicited 20.9 billion-euro ($22.1 billion) takeover bid from rival PPG Industries Inc. and said it may separate its specialty chemicals business to boost the stock price. PPG’s bid, worth 83 euros a share at the end of February, substantially undervalued the company, Amsterdam-based Akzo said in a state- ment ...

  Bloomberg BMW AG reported its weakest profitability since 2010, capping a negative year for Chief Executive Officer Harald Krueger after losing the luxury-car crown to arch-rival Mercedes-Benz. Amid higher spending on electric-car and autonomous-driving technologies, BMW’s automotive profit margin narrowed to 8.9 percent in 2016 from 9.2 percent a year earlier, according to a statement on Thursday. The shares ...

  Bloomberg Aviva Plc, Britain’s second-largest insurer, raised its dividend and said it will return more cash to shareholders this year after higher earnings at the life insurance unit helped boost full-year operating profit. The shares rose the most in seven months. Operating profit climbed 12 percent to 3.01 billion pounds ($3.66 billion) from a year earlier and Aviva raised ...