The daily business briefing: August 1, 2016

1. Didi Chuxing to buy Uber's China branch in $35 billion deal

Chinese ride-hailing service Didi Chuxing has agreed to buy Uber China in a deal valued at $35 billion. The move is an effort to make both businesses profitable. They will remain distinct brands, using merged behind-the-scenes structures. Uber will get a 5.89 percent stake in the merged business. Back in the U.S., Uber plans to invest $500 million in a mapping project to reduce its dependence on Google Maps, and to improve pickup times for its riders, the Financial Times reported Sunday. The investment also is seen as a step toward introducing driverless cars in the ride-hailing service's offerings.

TechCrunch Financial Times

2. Asian stocks rise as expectations of U.S. rate hike fade

Asian stocks edged higher on Monday, hitting a one-year high after disappointing U.S. economic data reduced the likelihood that the Federal Reserve would hike interest rates soon. New data showed that U.S. gross domestic product increased at a 1.2 percent annual rate in the second quarter, less than half of the 2.6 percent rate economists had forecast. "Investors have been shifting money to Asia, which is likely to be least affected by Brexit and as the U.S. Fed appears to be in no hurry to raise interest rates," said Yukino Yamada, senior strategist at Daiwa Securities.

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Bloomberg Reuters

3. Manufacturing indicators slip in China and U.K.

China's official manufacturing purchasing managers' index slipped in July to a level indicating a contraction in factory activity in the world's second largest economy for the first time in five months, according to official data released Monday. The index dropped to 49.9 in July from 50 a month earlier. Anything under 50 indicates a contraction. A private measure of China's manufacturing PMI surged, however, sending investors mixed signals. In the U.K., manufacturing declined more than expected in July following the country's vote to exit the European Union.

MarketWatch Bloomberg

4. Tesla agrees to buy SolarCity for $2.6 billion

Electric car maker Tesla Motors announced Monday that it would buy solar panel maker SolarCity for $2.6 billion in stock. The deal will bring together two companies led by entrepreneur Elon Musk to create a one-stop source for consumers' clean energy hardware needs, part of what Musk recently called "part deux" of his Tesla master plan. Tesla shares edged higher and SolarCity's stock fell by 3.75 percent on the news.

CNBC The Street

5. Pope blames terrorism rise on global economy

Pope Francis said Sunday a global economy that marginalizes Muslim youth is the root cause of terrorism. The pope said young people are driven into extremists' arms by a lack of opportunity. "Terrorism grows when there is no other option, and as long as the world economy has at its center the god of money and not the person," the pope said as he flew back to the Vatican after a five-day trip to Poland. "This is fundamental terrorism, against all humanity."

MarketWatch