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TOKYO (AP) — International stock markets are mixed as last week's report of strong gains in U.S. payrolls fades. Futures point to an upbeat open on Wall Street. Benchmark U.S. crude oil fell below $49 per barrel. The dollar gained against the yen and fell against the euro.
TOKYO (AP) — SoftBank Group Corp. is reporting a 98 percent drop in its April-June profit at 5.5 billion yen ($50 million) on losses stemming from investments in the Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba. Quarterly sales rose 3 percent to 2.19 trillion yen ($20 billion), while the Tokyo-based company's operating profit, which highlights core operations, logged a 50 percent increase year-on-year as its U.S. mobile carrier Sprint, previously a drain on the bottom line, boosted profitability.
BERLIN (AP) — German factory production dropped unexpectedly in June but economists say there are still good signs for longer-term growth. The Federal Statistical Office says that June industrial output was down 1.1 percent over the previous month with drops in the production of capital, consumer and intermediate goods. Economists had predicted a slight rise, but only energy sector production grew. The drop followed a 1.2 percent rise in May.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean prosecutors have recommended a 12-year jail term for Lee Jae-yong, 49-year-old billionaire heir of the Samsung business empire, urging a court to convict him of bribery and other crimes. Lee, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, became emotional today as he denied ever trying to seek political favors in his final remarks in the four-month-long trial. Lee was arrested in February amid a tumultuous corruption scandal that triggered months of massive public protests and culminated with the ouster of South Korea's president.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's official news agency says two Iranian companies have signed the country's biggest-ever car deal with French multinational automobile manufacturer Groupe Renault to produce 150,000 cars, beginning in 2018. IRNA says the deal was signed today in Tehran. The €660 million — or $778 million — deal follows the lifting of international sanctions after Iran's 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers. It's expected to create about 3,000 jobs for the two companies.
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