Bloomberg The government of Oman is considering financing structures that let it get advance payments from oil traders, reducing the government’s need to borrow more money from banks, sources familiar with the matter said. Under the proposed structures, Oman’s national oil company might get paid as much as two years before oil was delivered, in exchange for price discounts ...

  Bloomberg Cost-cutting pressure sparked by onshore wind power auctions in Germany and France may spur participants to scale up the size of projects and scale of finance in key European markets, according to state lender Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale. Germany is tendering 2.8 gigawatts of onshore wind this year in auctions starting in May. France follows in November with plans ...

  Bloomberg India approved awarding rights for 31 small discovered oil and gas fields in its first auction in six years, entrusting most of these to new entrants as it seeks to boost local production. Sun Petrochemicals Pvt., a privately owned company formed by the directors of drugmaker Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd., and engineering company Megha Engineering & Infrastructure Ltd. ...

  Bloomberg China’s stepping up its campaign for greater clout in global commodities trading. The Asian nation’s state-run Sinochem Group is said to be in early talks to become a strategic investor in embattled commodities trader Noble Group Ltd. A potential deal could give the Chinese oil and chemicals behemoth access to Noble’s trading expertise and businesses around the world, ...

  Bloomberg Sleep deprivation is doing more harm in Japan than just making people grumpy and unhealthy. It is also holding back the world’s third-largest economy. The problem has been getting worse in recent years. Nearly half of full-time workers say they don’t get enough sleep, citing long overtime hours as a primary reason, according to a government white paper ...

  Bloomberg Malaysia’s economy grew at the fastest pace in a year last quarter, as stronger consumer spending and an export recovery helped counter falling government expenditure. Gross domestic product rose 4.5 percent last quarter from a year earlier, Bank Negara Malaysia said in an e-mailed statement on Thursday. The median estimate of 18 economists surveyed by Bloomberg was 4.4 ...

  Bloomberg China’s record outbound investment slumped last month as authorities stepped up scrutiny of acquisitions overseas and other deals to keep money from flowing out of the country. The world’s biggest trading nation saw outward investment decline 35.7 percent from a year earlier in yuan terms in January, the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday. Foreign direct investment to ...

  Bloomberg Australia’s unemployment rate unexpectedly fell in January, despite a plunge in full-time jobs, underscoring the mixed picture of the country’s labor market. Jobless rate fell to 5.7% from 5.8%; economists forecast 5.8% Employment rose 13,500 from Dec versus forecast 10,000 gain Full-time jobs slumped by 44,800; part-time employment rose 58,300 Participation rate fell to 64.6% from 64.7%; economi- ...

  Bloomberg “We are always looking at acquisitions,” Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook told analysts last month. “There’s not a size that we would not do.” It’s a message he’s increasingly stressed over the past year as investors question how the world’s most valuable technology company plans to use its $246 billion cash pile to meet ambitious sales ...

  Bloomberg Nestle SA’s new Chief Executive Officer Mark Schneider said it will take years to return to the growth rates targeted by his predecessors and will consider exiting underperforming businesses if he can’t fix them. The world’s largest food company forecast revenue will increase 2 percent to 4 percent on an organic basis this year, below a long-held goal ...