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Bloomberg Euro-zone manufacturing remained near the weakest in seven years last month, a poor start to the final quarter that raises pressure on the region’s governments to add fiscal stimulus to insulate the region from a worsening global slowdown. Factories from China to the US are suffering from flagging demand. While a Purchasing Managers’ Index for the 19-nation euro region ...

Bloomberg UK construction extended its longest contraction since 2013 in October as domestic political turmoil and a weak economic backdrop weighed on demand. IHS Markit’s index of building activity rose to 44.2, from 43.3 in September, but remained below the 50 threshold that indicates expansion for a sixth month. Civil engineering led the drop, with residential home building also losing ...

Bloomberg Fitbit Inc, soon to be acquired by Google, says it’s shifting manufacturing operations out of China for its health trackers and smart watches to avoid US tariffs. But until then, it wants relief from President Donald Trump’s duties. The smart watch maker has filed a request for an exclusion on the 15% duty that took effect from September 1 ...

Bloomberg US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross met with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at a regional summit in Bangkok, a person familiar with the discussion said. The meeting came hours after Ross told a morning business forum that the US was “very far along” with “Phase One” of a trade deal with China. President Donald Trump told reporters at the White ...

Bloomberg Jay Piramal said he plans to resign as chairman of Shriram Capital Ltd, the Indian non-bank finance company backed by South Africa’s Sanlam Group, as he works to sell his stake in Shriram’s parent group. “I will step down in due course as I do not have much role in Shriram Capital,” Piramal said in a recent interview in ...

Bloomberg Singapore banned electric scooters from footpaths after a string of injuries from collisions with pedestrians. Starting from October 5, the city-state’s government will fine riders on footpaths as much as S$2,000 ($1,474) or jail them for three months, or both, Senior Minister of State for Transport Lam Pin Min said. Electric scooters have become a popular option in a ...

Bloomberg Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd opposed any move by the government to provide financial relief to rival telecom operators, which have been ordered to pay $7 billion in past dues, saying they had adequate recourse to funds. Bharti Airtel Ltd can easily raise 400 billion rupees ($5.7 billion) by selling some of its assets or shares while ...

Bloomberg After spending August experimenting with a four-day work week in a country notorious for overwork, Microsoft Japan said sales per employee rose 40% compared with the same month last year. The “Work-Life Choice Challenge Summer 2019” saw full-time employees take off five consecutive Fridays in August with pay, as well as shortening meetings to a maximum of 30 minutes ...

Bloomberg China approved a drug to treat Alzheimer’s made by a Shanghai-based pharmaceutical company, the first new therapy endorsed for the disease in 17 years and a major breakthrough in the country’s push to become a leader in scientific research. The National Medical Products Administration said in a statement that it granted conditional approval to Oligomannate. In trials, the drug ...

Bloomberg South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe agreed in their first meeting in 14 months to ease tensions, according to the South Korean presidential office. Moon and Abe shared the view that the relationship between South Korea and Japan is important and re-affirmed in principle that issues between the two nations should be resolved via ...