Euro zone businesses performed much better than forecasters expected this month and China's vast factory sector grew a shade faster but there were worrying signs that the upturn could be short-lived.
Industry
Tajikistan most improved in World Bank business ranks
Tajikistan made the greatest strides in business-friendly reforms in the past year, part of an overall trend of improving business regulations across Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the World Bank said in a report released on Tuesday.
Solid rebound in Japan factory output eases economic concerns
Japan's industrial output rose in September at the fastest pace in eight months in a tentative sign of recovery in factory activity, offering some relief for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as he moves closer to making a decision on a second sales tax hike.
Japan Sept retail sales rise 2.3 percent year-on-year
Japanese retail sales rose 2.3 percent in September from a year earlier, government data showed on Tuesday, suggesting consumer spending is gradually picking up.
ECB fails 25 banks in health check but problems largely solved
Roughly one in five of the euro zone's top lenders failed landmark health checks at the end of last year but most have since repaired their finances, the European Central Bank said on Sunday.
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Private equity firms are circling Bayer's (BAYGn.DE) 10 billion-euro ($12.7 billion) plastics business, hoping to divert the German drugmaker from its plan to list the division, two people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
Squeezed between cut-throat competition from online financing firms and rising funding costs, China's midsize banks are falling out of investors' favor as they increasingly lag behind the country's top five lenders.
German airline Lufthansa (LHAG.DE) is close to a deal to sell its IT infrastructure unit to IBM (IBM.N), including an outsourcing agreement for the services, as part of a shake-up of its technology activities, it said on Wednesday.
BlackBerry (BB.TO) (BBRY.O) shares rose more than 3 percent on Monday after a news website said Chinese computer maker Lenovo Group (0922.HK) might offer to buy the Canadian technology company.
Banks should defer bonus payments for 10 years and tap the bonus pool to pay any regulatory fines, a top Federal Reserve official said on Monday, taking aim at continued lapses across the industry even after the 2007-9 financial crisis.
Brad Pitt's gritty World War Two drama "Fury" conquered all box office foes over the weekend, ringing up $23.5 million in ticket sales at theaters in the United States and Canada.
The shine may soon come off Chile's decade-long copper boom as technical and regulatory problems in getting new mines into production highlight just how hard it will be to keep ratcheting up the supply.
It may be the only time you will find these words in the same sentence: "Ebola" and "Add to Wishlist." Giantmicrobes Inc., which makes a line of plush toys based on viruses and other microscopic organisms, has sold out its entire Ebola stock, including the small Ebola doll for $9.95, a Gigantic Ebola doll for $29.95 and an Ebola Petri Dish toy for $14.95, according to the company's website.
U.S. stocks extended their rebound from this month's bruising selloff on Friday, giving the S&P 500 its best day in over a week, as worries about the U.S. earnings outlook eased, but the S&P 500 still posted its fourth straight week of declines.
