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.
Industry
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.
Barnes & Noble to keep Nook business, spin off college books unit
Barnes & Noble Inc (BKS.N) said it would spin off its college books unit and keep its Nook tablets and e-book business, instead of spinning off a combination of the two.
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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.
U.S. consumers are shifting away from weight-management foods, forcing companies ranging from Kellogg Co to Nestle SA to change ingredients and focus their marketing on different health benefits as sales slip.
