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Bloomberg China launched a Long March 5 rocket from the island province of Hainan, a key step in its ambitions to reach Mars and cement its place as a major power in space exploration. The country’s largest carrier rocket, with a diameter of 5 meters (16 feet), blasted off from Wenchang Satellite Launch Center at 8:45 pm local time and …

Bloomberg Boeing Co. said another high-ranking executive working on the company’s response to the 737 Max crisis will step down. Michael Luttig, 65, will retire at year-end, Boeing said in a statement, three days after the planemaker announced the departure of Dennis Muilenburg as chief executive officer. Luttig, the company’s former general counsel, was reassigned in May to advise Muilenburg …

Bloomberg Oil settled above $61 a barrel amid light volume as US President Donald Trump said a preliminary trade deal with China is “done” and ahead of government data expected to show another crude stockpile decline. Futures rose 1% in New York to close at a three-day high. Trump suggested that the US and China will sign a trade agreement …

Bloomberg China’s imports of US soybeans rose to the highest in 20 months in November after more American cargoes cleared customs ahead of the signing of a partial trade deal in January. China’s inbound shipments from the US surged to 2.6 million tons, the highest since March 2018, and up from about 1.1 million tons in October. China imported almost …

Bloomberg It’s been a tough run for energy stocks. Oil at $100 a barrel is long gone. Investors have exited their losing positions. And energy stocks in the S&P 500 now hold a weight of barely 4%, down from over 10% at the start of the decade. As 2019 comes to a close, investor apathy in the sector is at …

Bloomberg Coffee’s stunning rally in late 2019 took many traders and analysts by surprise, creating tension over where prices go from here. Arabica beans have surged 28% since the end of September, on pace for the best quarterly performance since 2014 and the biggest gain among major commodities in the last three months. The move came after futures in May …

Bloomberg China’s financial regulators are calling for more transparent and fair handling of defaults to restore investor confidence in the world’s second-largest bond market, after repayment failures hit a record high this year. Senior officials from the central bank, the securities regulatory body, the supreme court and other departments discussed court-mediated dispute resolution concerning bond defaults at a symposium in …

Bloomberg Scandal-hit Indian lender Punjab National Bank (PNB) alleged it has been cheated — its third complaint since 2018 when it suffered through a $2 billion blow. The state-run bank filed a complaint in October alleging that Jagdish Khattar, founder of Carnation Auto India Pvt, a vehicle repair and servicing company, cheated the bank of 1.1 billion rupees ($15.4 million), …

Bloomberg After a decade-long debt crisis that made Greece a bond-market pariah, the country now enjoys the luxury of having no financing needs for 2020. Yet the government’s 2020 budget shows it still plans to sell new debt. Despite a cash buffer of some 32 billion euros ($35.6 billion) left over from the country’s bailout programme, Greece wants to maintain …

Bloomberg The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s operation to inject cash into the financial system over the end of the year was undersubscribed, which could indicate year-end funding pressures have eased. Primary dealers submitted $28.8 billion in bids for the 15-day term operation, which matures January 7. That was less than the $35 billion on offer. The central bank …