Japanese households cut spending further and retail sales fell for the first time in seven months in January, data on Friday is likely to show, a sign the central bank's radical stimulus has yet to convince consumers that inflation will take hold.
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One in 10 bankers scraps bid for top UK job as vetting gets tougher
More than one in 10 people picked for the top jobs in British finance pull out during a regulatory vetting process which has got tougher since the financial crisis.
Private equity 'walks on eggshells' as funds eye Brazil hospitals
Brazilian hospitals and health clinics are drawing strong interest from global buyout firms after the government recently decided to allow foreign ownership of those facilities, although the suitors may find only a few promising targets.
U.S. economy slowed in fourth quarter, but growth outlook still favorable
U.S. economic growth braked more sharply than initially thought in the fourth quarter amid a moderate increase in business inventories and a wider trade deficit, but strong domestic demand brightened the outlook.
Dollar on track for eighth month of gains on U.S. data, Fed outlook
The dollar index slipped on Friday, pegged back by month-end selling, but was still on track for its eighth straight month of gains on better data and comments from Federal Reserve officials that bolstered bets for a rate rise this year.
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An inflation-busting wage deal for Germany's biggest labor union agreed on Tuesday looks set to boost household spending this year after consumer activity propelled strong growth in Europe's largest economy at the end of 2014.
HSBC (HSBA.L) reported a 17 percent fall in annual pretax profit and cut its profitability target, saying allegations its Swiss business had helped customers to dodge taxes had brought shame on the bank.
Across the U.S. Midwest, the plunge in grain prices to near four-year lows is pitting landowners determined to sustain rental incomes against farmer tenants worried about making rent payments because their revenues are squeezed.
Apple Inc (AAPL.O) said it would spend 1.7 billion euros ($1.9 billion) to build two data centers in Europe that would be entirely powered by renewable energy and create hundreds of jobs.
The weak global diary market, hit by oversupply and a tail-off in Chinese demand that has driven international milk prices down by around 50 percent, is unlikely to pick up anytime soon, analysts say.
Outgunned by Chinese and Middle Eastern competitors and lacking the breadth of service of their U.S. rivals, European private equity firms are focusing on specific industries to compete on their home turf.
Dubbed the "king of wines, the wine of kings" by Louis XV of France, Hungary's Tokaji wine is undergoing a makeover as the region hopes to regain fame lost in decades of mismanagement.
China has agreed to lift its ban on Irish beef, Ireland's Prime Minister Enda Kenny said on Friday, making it the only European country to be allowed to export beef to both the United States and China.
A group of shipping companies and a powerful dockworkers union clinched a tentative labor deal on Friday after nine months of negotiations, settling a dispute that disrupted the flow of cargo through 29 U.S. West Coast ports and snarled trans-Pacific maritime trade with Asia.
