When the Swiss central bank abandoned its cap on the franc back in January, corporate Switzerland warned of an economic "tsunami" that would hit exports, hammer jobs and plunge the Alpine nation into a deep recession.
Europe
No respite in sell-off of low-risk bonds
Low-risk bonds sold off again on Tuesday driving down stocks and helping push the euro higher against the dollar. Ten-year U.S. Treasury yields, the benchmark for global borrowing costs, hit their highest since early December, while German 10-year yields added 8 basis points to 0.67 percent.
Ahold, Delhaize leap on tie-up talks; analysts split
Dutch grocer Ahold (AHLN.AS) and Belgian rival Delhaize (DELB.BR) are exploring a potential tie-up, a source familiar with the matter said, sending their shares soaring, though analysts were split over the merits of any deal.
No respite for candy factory caught up in Russia-Ukraine crisis
The fortunes of the Russian outpost of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's candy empire have ebbed and flowed with the Russian-backed separatist conflict in the east of his country.
Finland's Fiskars buys Wedgwood tableware maker for $437 million
Finnish home and garden products company Fiskars (FIS1V.HE) said it was buying china and glass maker WWRD for $437 million to put more focus on luxury brands and boost growth in the United States.
Latest News
With optimism building that the United States is already recovering smartly from another horrible start to the year, focus will shift this week to reports that may show the euro zone is finally shaking off half a decade of torpor.
A top EU official urged Athens and its creditors to make progress in their talks on a cash-for-reform deal on Monday, warning there was no "Plan B" in the event of a Greek default.
Advisory firm ISS has recommended that BMW (BMWG.DE) shareholders should vote against the appointment of outgoing chief executive Norbert Reithofer as chairman of the carmaker's supervisory board, newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung reported.
China's Tiens Group Co. Ltd is treating more than half of its 12,000 employees to a four-day holiday in France and has booked up 140 hotels in the capital Paris as part of the package, a French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said on Thursday.
Timo Soini, the Finns Party leader and possible new finance minister of Finland, said on Friday it would make sense for Greece to leave the euro zone.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras forecast a happy end soon to fraught negotiations with creditors on a cash-for-reform deal, and the chairman of euro zone finance ministers said talks were making progress, though not enough for a deal next Monday.
Bombardier Inc (BBDb.TO) is aiming to sell a 20- to 30-percent stake in its rail unit via an initial public offering in Frankfurt as early as October, said three sources familiar with the matter on Friday.
BG Group said on Friday it was still happy with Shell's $70 billion takeover bid despite a recent upturn in oil prices that led the company to increase the profit outlook for its liquefied natural gas (LNG) business.
Crude oil prices edged down on Friday, set for their first weekly decline in more than a month as concerns over a global supply glut outweighed strong Chinese crude imports.
