Washington / AFP Credit agency Fitch left Britain’s rating unchanged at “AA+” but warned that if the country votes in favor of exiting the European Union, the rating could be lowered. Fitch said the country merits its second-highest credit grade due to its wealthy, diversified and flexible economy, its solid policy management and the global strength of the British ...

  Paris / AFP France’s main union said that striking transport workers had been instructed not to block football fans from reaching the Paris stadium for the Euro 2016 kick off. “All the supporters will be able to reach the Stade de France stadium this evening,” CGT union leader Philippe Martinez, adding that despite an ongoing train strike “there are ...

  Bloomberg Less than two weeks before the U.K. votes on whether to remain in the European Union, traders are piling into more options on the pound that protect against a decline versus a gain. The bias toward the downside, the most in at least 13 years, coincided with sterling depreciating for a second week as opinion polls signaled the ...

  Bloomberg The campaign for Britain to leave the European Union took a 10 percentage-point lead in a poll published late Friday, less than two weeks before the country votes in a referendum. The survey of 2,000 people by ORB for the Independent newspaper found 55% in favor of a so-called Brexit, up 4 points since a previous poll in ...

  Bloomberg Mario Draghi’s foray into corporate bonds with junk ratings was an “aggressive” effort in monetary stimulus, but it still may not be enough to jump-start the region’s economy, according to Putri Pascualy at Pacific Alternative Asset Management Co. “It was a very aggressive move,” Pascualy, managing director and credit strategist for Paamco, said of the European Central Bank ...

  Bloomberg Mercedes-Benz will start selling a fuel-cell electric version of its GLC sport utility vehicle next year, an effort to broaden the appeal of the technology with the first publicly available battery that can be charged both with hydrogen and at a wall socket. Able to drive about 500 kilometers (310 miles) before recharging, the car is part of ...

  Bloomberg Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz gave one of his bluntest warnings to date about the country’s housing boom, saying Vancouver and Toronto buyers should realize strong price gains probably can’t be sustained by economic fundamentals. “This suggests that prospective homebuyers and their lenders should not extrapolate recent real estate performance into the future when contemplating a transaction,” ...

  Bloomberg Home Afrika Ltd., a Kenyan real estate developer whose stock has dropped 95 percent since 2013, plans to raise 5.5 billion shillings ($54 million) from investors to enable it to complete stalled projects. The only publicly traded property developer in East Africa’s largest economy will ask shareholders at its June 30 annual meeting to approve the sale of ...

  AP A group of Chinese and American investors, who specialize in real estate, hotel and tourism, have bought 80 percent of French soccer club Nice for an undisclosed fee. Club president and former majority owner Jean-Pierre Rivere will retain a 20 percent stake. Rivere said on Friday that the deal will help “secure the future of the club.” Nice ...

  AP Long-term U.S. mortgage rates fell this week after three straight weeks of increases. The drop followed a surprisingly weak employment report that deepened doubts about the economy. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage slipped to 3.60 percent from 3.66 percent last week. That is well below its level a year ago of 4.04 percent. ...