March, 2017

• 30 March

  Euro-area economic confidence unexpectedly slips in March

  

    Bloomberg Euro-area economic confidence unexpectedly slipped this month, an indication that the region’s recovery may not be as immune from political uncertainty as anticipated. An index of executive and consumer sentiment in the region dipped to 107.9 from 108 in February, the European Commission in Brussels said on Thursday. While that’s lower than the 108.3 median estimate in a ...

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• 30 March

  Novartis looks to world’s wealthy to meet need in chronic ailments

  

    Bloomberg One of the world’s biggest drugmakers has a new plan to get more medicines to more people: tapping funds from wealthy investors to build up health-care systems in low-income countries. Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis AG is in talks with banks to create a fund for investors interested in opportunities that have a social impact, Harald Nusser, the company’s ...

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• 30 March

  Trump coal sale plan challenged by tribe, environmentalists

  

    Bloomberg Native Americans and conservation groups moved to challenge the Trump administration’s decision to restart coal leasing on federal lands, arguing in a legal filing that the activity violates federal environmental laws. The groups filed their lawsuit in a Montana-based federal court, hours after Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke signed an order to resume selling rights to mine federally owned ...

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• 30 March

  Spanish inflation cools for first time in a year

  

    Bloomberg The inflation rate in Spain weakened this month for the first time in almost a year, possibly prefiguring a broader slowdown across the euro area. Consumer-price growth came in at an annual 2.1 percent in March, weaker than economists had predicted and down from 3 percent in February. The rate is still much stronger than a year ago, ...

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• 30 March

  Home buyers shrug off Brexit as UK market remains buoyant

  

    Bloomberg Steve Victor pulled out of buying his first home the day after Britain voted to leave the European Union. Just a month later, the IT contractor dived back into the market to become the owner of a penthouse apartment in London. “I bailed on the initial shock, but after it sank in I came to the conclusion I ...

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• 30 March

  US economy shows upward trend in Q4

  

    Bloomberg The US economy grew in the fourth quarter at a faster pace than previously reported on higher consumer spending, Commerce Department data showed Thursday in Washington. Gross domestic product rose at a 2.1 annualized pace (forecast was for 2 percent), revised from 1.9 percent. Consumer spending, the biggest part of the economy, rose at a 3.5 percent rate, ...

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• 30 March

  Apple, Wal-Mart stick with climate pledges

  

    Bloomberg Many of America’s biggest corporations including Apple Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. are sticking by their pledges to fight climate change even as President Donald Trump guts his predecessor’s environmental policies. Companies say their pledges, coordinated by the Obama administration, reflect their push to cut energy costs, head off activist pressure and address a risk to their bottom ...

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• 30 March

  JPMorgan in talks for Dublin office

  

    Bloomberg JPMorgan Chase & Co. is in talks to buy a Dublin office building as the bank considers expanding in the Irish capital as one of its options for when Britain leaves the European Union, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The lender is negotiating the potential purchase of a building in Dublin’s Capital Dock that’s being ...

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• 30 March

  VW has EPA nod to sell repaired diesels

    Bloomberg Volkswagen AG will soon do what’s been impossible since its emissions crisis began: sell diesel-powered cars in the US. The company received approval from the Environmental Protection Agency for its dealers to sell 2015 model year diesels after updating the vehicles’ emissions software, VW Group of America spokeswoman Jeannine Ginivan said. The software update is part of a ...

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• 30 March

  Trump is now the CEO of a very public company

  

    As the White House reboots for ‘Trump 2.0’ after a largely unsuccessful first two months, one lesson should be obvious: The radical, polarizing politics of the campaign trail don’t work well in governing the country. America isn’t Russia or the Philippines. Our system has speed bumps, carefully constructed by our Founders. Presidents don’t rule simply by executive order. They ...

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