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Bloomberg The UK agreed with Canada to maintain the trading conditions it has through its European Union membership and to begin talks on a broader deal that would pave the way for even closer links with Britain’s 12th-biggest trading partner. The two countries will begin negotiations next year to expand their commercial agreements to cover digital trade, the environment and …

Bloomberg Oil rose to the highest in nearly three months with positive Covid-19 vaccine developments paving the way for a more sustained recovery in oil demand. Futures rose 5% in New York this week for a third straight weekly gain as Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE requested emergency authorisation of their Covid vaccine. Moderna Inc also released positive interim results …

Bloomberg Hungary’s central bank is about to take its $2.5 billion asset-purchase program to the next level as it prepares to buy the bonds of a company owned by one of its entities. The debt sale under the central bank’s plan, flagged in a corporate filing, may further blur what’s become a hazy boundary on what central banks around the …

Bloomberg Thailand relaxed rules on capital outflows and will increase scrutiny of fund flows into bonds to help cool a currency rally that threatens its economic recovery from the pandemic. The Bank of Thailand (BOT) moved forward measures that were supposed to begin early next year, most of which will now take effect from end-November. The rules will make it …

Bloomberg Nomura Holdings Inc plans to introduce flexible work on a permanent basis for its overseas staff, the latest global financial firm to consider such a move as the pandemic reshapes office life. While the planning is at an early stage, Nomura sees both an “appetite and ability to support an operating model in which 50% of our corporate workforce …

Bloomberg Indonesia’s central bank cut its policy rate for the first time in four months, urging banks to lend more to help drive an economic recovery. Bank Indonesia cut its seven-day reverse repurchase rate by 25 basis points to 3.75%, the lowest since the benchmark was introduced in 2016, as predicted by 11 of 26 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. “I …

Bloomberg China’s central bank remains on course to taper its emergency support even as a string of defaults by government-linked companies sends tremors through the credit markets. Officials have been preparing investors about the possibility of withdrawing some of that stimulus as the economic recovery picks up pace. While a surge in market interest rates following the defaults appears to …

Bloomberg Absa Group Ltd said it’s unlikely to pay an ordinary dividend this year as the South African bank conserves cash to deal with the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. Earnings before one-time items and accounting adjustments will probably decline more than 40% from a year earlier, Johannesburg-based Absa said. It’s withholding payouts despite having strong buffers and forecasting …

Bloomberg Apple slammed Facebook and other internet giants for their ad-targeting practices in response to a letter questioning a decision by the iPhone maker to delay a new privacy feature. The Cupertino, California-based technology company criticised Facebook’s approach to advertising and user tracking, according to a written reply sent to several human rights and privacy organisations, including the Electronic Frontier …

Bloomberg Ford Motor Co’s Lincoln luxury line hopes some interior redecorating will revive its slowest selling sport-utility vehicle (SUV): the mid-sized Nautilus. Lincoln has built its comeback on brash behemoths like the Navigator SUV. But sales of the Nautilus, with two rows of seats, have fallen 31.2% this year even as the brand’s total SUV deliveries rose. So Ford overhauled …