1.France is building the world’s largest industrial gas company:
France’s Air Liquide said it will buy Airgas of the United States for $13.4 billion (£8.6 billion) to enhance its position in the US, the world’s leading market for industrial gases.
2.The US is going after RBS and JPMorgan executives:
Federal prosecutors are pursuing criminal cases against the bank executives for allegedly selling flawed mortgage securities, the Wall Street Journal reported.
3.US manufacturing output rose for the first time in three months:
Production increased 0.4 percent last month, the Federal Reserve said, after slipping 0.1% in September.
4.BMW Invests as Automakers Shine Amid South African Gloom:
As South Africa’s economy languishes near a recession there is one major success story: The car industry.
While mining companies such as Anglo American Platinum Ltd. and Lonmin Plc are among businesses cutting jobs and output in Africa’s most-industrialized economy, two of the world’s biggest automobile makers have announced investment of more than 10.5 billion rand ($737 million) in the past four months.
5.World’s Drug Bill to Rise to $1.4 Trillion in 2020, Report Says:
The world’s annual pharmaceutical bill will grow by about a third to $1.4 trillion in 2020 as brand-name drugs for cancers and rare diseases come to market, according to researchers at the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics.
6.U.K. to Shut Its Dirtiest Coal Power Plants Within a Decade:
The U.K. plans to close all coal plants that haven’t been upgraded with cleaning technology by 2025 as the government signaled an exit from the world’s most widely used power-plant fuel.
There will be a consultation next spring on the closing of all “unabated” coal-fired stations, the Department of Energy and Climate Change said Wednesday in a statement. The government will restrict their use from 2023.
7.Dollar sits atop large gains, euro dogged by ECB easing expectations:
The dollar sat near a 7-month high against a basket of currencies on Wednesday as the euro slid on expectations for more monetary easing by the European Central Bank in December.
8.AP Moller to cut jobs over 30% drop in imports:
Nigeria’s busiest container terminal, AP Moller Terminals Apapa Limited, Lagos Port Complex, is to reduce its work force over the 30 per cent drop in the volume of imports coming to the terminal.
9.Airtel Nigeria announces plan to downsize workforce:
Leading telecommunications service provider, Airtel Nigeria, has announced plans to downsize it workforce to reposition for next growth phase. The telecoms firm said that it is embarking on a strategic restructuring that will reposition the business and reinforce its competitiveness in the market place.
10.China October home prices rise for 1st time in 14 months, outlook cloudy:
Home prices in China rose for first time in over a year in October on an annual basis, signalling a housing market stabilisation that could help re-energise the listless economy.
A swift rebound in property prices, however, is unlikely due to high inventories in all but the biggest cities, forcing developers to slow the pace of or even stop expansion to protect their cash flows.
