N.Z. ministers to visit China over Fonterra contamination

New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Murray McCully will visit China in about a week as the country deals with the fallout from a contamination scare at the world’s largest dairy exporter, Fonterra Cooperative Group Ltd. McCully will be followed in a “few weeks or months” by trade minister Tim Groser and Prime Minister John Key will visit the country once a report into the incident is completed, Key’s spokeswoman Kelly Boxall said by telephone Sunday. New Zealand’s dollar fell to a one-month low after

Aug. 11, 2013

Apple’s patent fight with Google revived

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) ― A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday revived an Apple smartphone patent complaint against Motorola Mobility.A three-judge panel sided with Apple, telling the U.S. International Trade Commission to reconsider part of its ruling last year that Motorola did not infringe on the iPhone maker’s patented touchscreen technology.“The ITC succumbed to the bias of hindsight as the record bears significant objective evidence that Apple’s patent was innovative,” a three-judge appellate pan

Aug. 8, 2013

China trade shows signs of recovery

China’s exports and imports rebounded in July, exceeding estimates and adding to signs that the world’s second-largest economy is stabilizing following a two-quarter slowdown. Shipments abroad rose 5.1 percent from a year earlier, the General Administration of Customs said in Beijing Thursday. That compares with the median estimate for a 2 percent increase in a Bloomberg News survey and June’s 3.1 percent drop. Imports advanced 10.9 percent, leaving a trade surplus of $17.8 billion. Improved tra

Aug. 8, 2013

BOE’s Carney gives ‘forward guidance’ on interest rates

LONDON (AP) ― The Bank of England’s new Gov. Mark Carney sought to spur Britain’s sluggish recovery Wednesday when he said the central bank will not consider raising its record low interest rate until unemployment falls below 7 percent. In a significant change of policy for the Bank of England, Carney outlined the bank’s “forward guidance” in one of the most closely watched press conferences by the U.K.’s monetary authority. With the current U.K. unemployment rate at 7.8 percent, the economy wou

Aug. 8, 2013

Japan OKs blueprint for spending cuts

TOKYO (AP) ― Japan’s Cabinet approved Thursday a blueprint for cuts to welfare and public works spending intended to repair the nation’s overstretched finances.Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has meanwhile deferred until later this year a decision on hiking Japan’s sales tax, which might help fortify public finances, but could do more harm than good if it derails the economic recovery nurtured by Abe’s government.Japan’s public debt amounts to more than twice the size of its economy, which is the worl

Aug. 8, 2013

Fed member says bond buys likely to slow later in year

WASHINGTON (AP) ― A Federal Reserve voting member said Tuesday the central bank is “quite likely” to start reducing its bond purchases later this year but that any change hinges on the economy showing improvement. Charles Evans, president of the Fed’s Chicago regional bank, held off saying which month the Fed could begin to scale back its $85 billion a month in bond purchases. But he did not rule out the Fed’s next meeting on Sept. 17-18, during an interview with reporters. “Our adjustment to as

Aug. 7, 2013

BOJ seen adding stimulus by June as 2% inflation elusive

The Bank of Japan will expand its record easing by June next year as inflation remains distant from its 2 percent target, according to a survey of economists by Bloomberg News. Twenty of 26 analysts expect more stimulus in the next 10 months, while all said the bank would keep policy on hold at a two-day meeting starting Wednesday. Consumer prices excluding fresh food, the BOJ’s preferred measure of inflation, rose 0.4 percent in June. Koichi Hamada, a retired Yale University professor who advis

Aug. 7, 2013

[Newsmaker] Amazon founder jumps into paper business

Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos announced on Monday he would buy the Washington Post for $250 million in a surprising move. For Bezos and the embattled U.S. newspaper, the question is whether the business genius has any tricks up his sleeve to revive the paper without drastically changing its journalistic status.Established in 1877, the influential newspaper has been owned by the Graham family for the last 80 years. The sales decision thus came as a shock, though not totally surprising given that

Aug. 6, 2013

Investors turn H.K.’s red taxis into latest bubble market

Allan Shek, the owner of a Hong Kong shop selling gold and jade jewelry, says he’s made millions on the side by riding wild swings in the stock market and by buying into the city’s property boom. No more. Last month, he bought five Hong Kong taxis and the licenses to operate them. Seven or eight of his friends have bought taxis too, he says. “If I have the ability, I will buy another 15 taxis this year,” says the 60-year-old Shek, speaking with rapid-fire enthusiasm over the latest way to make m

Aug. 6, 2013

IMF: French growth slowed by rigid labor laws, public spending

PARIS (AP) ― France’s rigid labor market, high taxes and inefficient public spending are dragging down its economy, the International Monetary Fund warned Monday in a report calling on the government to accelerate economic reforms. In its annual assessment of France’s economy, the IMF said the country has made considerable progress in cutting spending, confirming its prediction that the deficit will drop to 3.9 percent of the country’s gross domestic product in 2013, down from 4.8 percent in 201

Aug. 6, 2013

Toyota’s $37b cash pile means turning point for Abenomics

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been urging Japan’s companies to spend their growing piles of money to bolster the country’s economy. Toyota Motor Corp., with cash swelling to about $37 billion, is beginning to comply. The carmaker said on Aug. 2 that net income almost doubled to 562.2 billion yen ($5.7 billion) last quarter ― more than General Motors Co. and Volkswagen AG combined ― as U.S. sales rose and the weaker yen boosted overseas profit. Cash and marketable securities rose 11 percent and t

Aug. 5, 2013

Global banks in Japan boost profit on Abe market rally, job cuts

Bank of America Corp. led a fivefold increase in profit at foreign banks’ Japan securities units last fiscal year as they accelerated job cuts and increased fees and commissions during the country’s stock-market rebound.Combined net income at the Japanese units of 10 global banks rose to 32.8 billion yen ($332 million) for the year ended March 31 from 5.7 billion yen a year earlier, according to regulatory filings obtained by Bloomberg News. The banks eliminated about 1,000 Japan jobs in total o

Aug. 5, 2013