The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.

  Bloomberg Truck Alliance Inc., an Uber-type service for trucks in China known as Huochebang, is near an agreement to raise about $156 million, people familiar with the matter said. The investment will be led by Baidu Capital, the investment arm of China’s largest search engine, and could be announced as soon as this week, said the people, who asked ...

  Bloomberg Ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing is near an agreement to raise at least $5 billion in a deal that would make it the most valuable startup in China, according to people familiar with the matter. The round may close as soon as this week and would lift Didi’s valuation to about $50 billion, up from a previous $34 billion ...

  Bloomberg China’s run of solid economic indicators proved little consolation for its shaky financial markets in April. The dichotomy stems from a shift in the leadership’s focus towards reducing leverage — one that’s set to determine whether growth joins asset prices in heading down. Economists are practically unanimous in saying that reduced debt loads would be good for China’s ...

  Bloomberg JD.com Inc., Alibaba’s fiercest rival in Chinese e-commerce, is in talks to make a major investment in Indonesia’s PT Tokopedia to speed its expansion into Southeast Asia’s largest economy, people familiar with the matter said. JD is in early-stage negotiations to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in one of Indonesia’s largest online marketplaces, one of the people ...

  Bloomberg SoftBank Group Corp. is in talks to invest about $1.4 billion in India’s One97 Communications Ltd. in a deal that would value the owner of the country’s largest digital-payments provider at about $7 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal is not yet finalized and the terms may yet change, said the people, asking not ...

  Bloomberg A directive requiring US pipeline companies to use American steel and iron in their projects is testing President Donald Trump’s ability to keep his promises to two industries on opposing sides of the issue. In comments to the US Department of Commerce, which is crafting the so-called “Buy American” plan, pipeline companies and their trade groups argued the ...

  Bloomberg UK manufacturing unexpectedly grew at the fastest pace in three years in April as the domestic market strengthened and the pound’s depreciation boosted exports. A measure of factory conditions rose to 57.3 from 54.2 in March, according to IHS Markit’s Purchasing Managers’ Index. That’s far better than the 54 forecast by economists in a Bloomberg survey and above ...

  Bloomberg India’s Infosys Ltd. said it plans to hire 10,000 Americans in the next two years, following criticism from the Trump administration that the company and other outsourcing firms are unfairly taking jobs away from US workers. Infosys, which employs about 200,000 people around the world, will expand its local hiring in the US while adding four hubs to ...

  Bloomberg Euro-area factories expanded output at the fastest pace since 2011 as the currency bloc’s economy continued to gather momentum. A gauge of manufacturing activity rose to 56.7 in April from 56.2 the previous month, IHS Markit reported. An April 21 preliminary estimate was for an increase to 56.8. With the European Central Bank showing little hurry to end ...

  Bloomberg Italy’s unemployment rate unexpectedly increased in March as the number of people looking for a job rose and the pace of economic growth could not satisfy their demand. Joblessness climbed to 11.7 percent from 11.5 percent in February, statistics agency Istat said in Rome. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of 12 analysts called for a reading ...