Hyundai to set up $4b JV for driverless cars

Bloomberg Hyundai Motor Group will spend $1.6 billion to develop autonomous vehicles with Aptiv Plc, marking one of the biggest investments yet by a traditional carmaker into the burgeoning robocar industry. Aptiv will take a 50 percent stake in the venture, while Hyundai Motor, Hyundai Mobis Co and Kia Motors Corp will contribute a combined $1.6 billion in cash and ...

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High-yield energy bonds are falling back to earth

Not all high-yield bonds are on a hot streak. On its face, the US junk-bond market appears as if it can do no wrong. The average yield on the Bloomberg Barclays US Corporate High Yield Index dropped to a 20-month low of 5.58% on September 18. Investors poured $3.3 billion into junk-debt funds this week, the most since February. Overall, ...

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Fed interest rate cuts look less likely

The Federal Reserve has now lowered its target interest rate for overnight loans between banks twice since the end of July. The central bank’s economic projections and Chairman Jerome Powell’s post-meeting news conference suggest policy makers aren’t quite ready to cut rates a third time, and will need to see either weaker economic data or an intensification of the US-China ...

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China internet plays adjust to a post-growth world

A sharp rebound in Chinese internet stocks over the past six weeks would have you believe that companies just turned in another quarter of stellar growth. Instead, what they did was to deliver the spending pragmatism that shows management understands the new era that’s upon us. Revenue for a basket of Chinese companies – from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. to ...

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Standardised labelling may reduce food waste

Many efforts to minimise climate change are far removed from people’s everyday lives. It’s the responsibility of unseen others to reduce power-plant emissions or regrow carbon-absorbing forests. But there is one significant way almost everyone can help, and that is by wasting less food. Americans in particular consume only about half as much of what’s in their refrigerators as they ...

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Germany’s green new deal doesn’t do much for climate

The German government’s 54 billion-euro ($60 billion) climate deal, approved after about 20 hours of overnight negotiations, is a typical product of the reluctant coalition run by Chancellor Angela Merkel: It achieves a balance of interests and little more. If German voters want a more ambitious plan, and there are indications that they do, they’ll have to wait until after ...

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This UK firm doesn’t fear a hard Brexit

As Britain appears to be careering towards a no-deal Brexit, Next Plc Chief Executive Simon Wolfson is trying to reassure investors that the company should come out largely unscathed. That sounds overly optimistic, but Next has less to fear than most retailers. Wolfson, a Conservative Party peer and well-known Brexit supporter, says that as long as Britain’s ports operate effectively, ...

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Goldman shows bright future for banks, if not for bankers

The continuing debate about the future of banking since the 2008 financial crisis has intensified recently on reports that banks are cutting jobs and slashing pay. While the outlook for bankers is precarious, the same can’t be said for the banks. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has featured prominently in the chatter about cutbacks, and not just because of its pre-eminence ...

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Gloomy European data hits stocks as bonds advance

Bloomberg US equity futures fluctuated and European stocks retreated as disappointing data in the euro area overshadowed easing concern about trade relations between America and China. Treasuries rose and the common currency slid. Manufacturing and services numbers for the euro zone came in far short of estimates on Monday, with disappointing readings from countries including Germany and France. The Stoxx ...

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Indian stocks rise again on corporate tax cut boost

Bloomberg Indian stocks rose for a second day on expectations that the government’s surprise $20 billion company tax cut will revive economic growth and boost company earnings. The S&P BSE Sensex jumped 2.8 percent to 39,909.03 in Mumbai, while the NSE Nifty 50 Index advanced 2.9 percent. Both gauges surged 5.3 percent, marking their biggest gain since May 2009, after ...

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