Equities advanced on both sides of the pond as a deal led by Michael Dell to take Dell private and a potential bid by Liberty Global for Virgin Media underpinned confidence in stock valuations. Shares of Dell rose, last up 0.9 percent to US$13.395, after founder and CEO Michael Dell announced a US$24.4 billion leveraged buyout. The transaction will be …

Prices of dairy products rose in Fonterra’s latest GlobalDairyTrade auction, the first since news emerged last month that small traces of a nitrate inhibitor had been found in some of the company’s milk powder. The GDT-TWI Price Index rose 2.4 percent compared to the last sale two weeks ago, the fourth straight gain. The average winning price rose to US$3,598 …

The Reserve Bank of Australia kept its cash rate unchanged at 3 percent as expected and said it sees room to cut interest rates if needed as inflation remains low. “With inflation likely to be consistent with the target, and with growth likely to be a little below trend over the coming year, an accommodative stance of monetary policy is …