The irony of the yuan rally that took bears by surprise last week was that the surge came just days before China announced that its foreign currency reserves shrank by $41 billion in December. The stockpile is now $3 trillion, a decline of more than $1 trillion since its peak in 2014. Authorities have been drawing upon the huge ...

  Bloomberg Google is rolling out a real world application for its most ambitious virtual reality effort: letting shoppers see what they might buy without leaving home. The Alphabet Inc. unit introduced two new retail partnerships, with BMW and Gap Inc., deploying its 3D-scanning project called Tango. The technology uses cameras and sensors in mobile devices to overlay digital images ...

  Bloomberg After a tough 2016, Fitbit Inc. has a plan to keep users hooked to its devices for the new year. Taking cues from the addictive nature of Facebook and other networks where people connect with friends, Fitbit is rolling out new social features on its app, including a news feed where users can share exercise summaries, read health-related ...

  Reuters Facebook Inc’s Instagram is bringing more than 30 advertisers into one of its fastest-growing features, Instagram Stories, in a bid to boost advertising revenue, the company said. The social media company will become a more important player in maintaining Facebook’s growth in advertising revenue in 2017. During the last two earnings calls, Facebook executives said they may soon ...

  Bloomberg Saudi Arabia will consider renewing its pledge to cut crude output in six months and has already reduced production by more than its targeted level, Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said. The world’s biggest oil exporter agreed to cut 486,000 barrels a day from Jan. 1 for six months as part of a global deal to reduce output to ...

    Bloomberg The future of internet in Israel may depend on allowing a reorganization of Bezeq Israeli Telecommunication Corp., despite concerns the move could undermine years of efforts to make the local market more competitive. “If we don’t move ahead with a national fiber-optic infrastructure, Israel’s internet will get stuck in another two or three years,” Regional Cooperation Minister ...

  Bloomberg The price paid for solar power in India at auction is set to fall below last year’s record lows for the South Asia nation, driven by plummeting panel prices, falling interest rates and competition among developers seeking a slice of the country’s renewables market. Prices could dip lower than the 4.34 rupees (6 cents) a kilowatt-hour offered in ...

  Bloomberg Russia and Kazakhstan said they’ve met or exceeded their initial goals for trimming oil output, bringing cuts by non-OPEC nations in the first 10 days of this year to more than a quarter of the total pledged a month ago in Vienna. Russia’s oil production has shrunk by around 130,000 barrels a day in the first week of ...

  Bloomberg Oil held gains after advancing the most in almost six weeks as US refiners processed a record amount of crude, while OPEC and other producing nations trim output to stabilize the market. Oil has been unable to sustain its rally above $55, driven by the deal between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and 11 other nations to ...

  Bloomberg The world’s biggest mining companies producing iron ore from Australia aren’t paying their fair share in taxes, according to a lawmaker who wants a 20-fold raise in a state levy that’s been unchanged since the 1960s and the era of imperial pounds, shillings and pence. The proposal has “overwhelming” support and Rio Tinto Group and BHP Billiton Ltd.’s ...