Three of China's top 10 banks plan to issue up to 60 billion yuan ($9.79 billion) of preference shares by the end of the year, according to filings with the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

China's Prime Minister Li Keqiang proposed a friendship treaty with Southeast Asian countries and offered $20 billion in loans on Thursday but held firm on the line that Beijing will only settle South China Sea disputes directly with other claimants.

Japanese financial services provider Orix Corp (8591.T) said it would buy accounting software maker Yayoi Co from private equity firm MBK Partners for more than 80 billion yen ($691 million), as it tries to expand its customer base into smaller companies.

Japanese companies overwhelmingly want Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to delay or scrap a planned tax increase, a Reuters poll shows, highlighting concerns that it could derail a fragile economic recovery.

Ukraine will be forced to buy coal from Russia to get through the winter, a serious setback to the country's efforts to lessen energy dependence on its powerful neighbor, Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuri Prodan said on Wednesday.

J.C. Penney Co Inc reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss on Wednesday but said same-store sales were flat and slightly cut its full year revenue forecast, sending shares of the department store chain lower in extended trade.

Takata Corp (7312.T) has modified the composition of an air bag propellant that contains a volatile chemical at the center of a recall of millions of cars worldwide, the company told Reuters.

U.S. equity prices edged off record highs on Wednesday led by weakness in the financial sector after six global banks were fined a total of $4.3 billion for currency rigging, while the oil market sagged on concerns about a supply glut.

Comcast Corp's (CMCSA.O) merger with Time Warner Cable Inc (TWC.N) is going "full steam ahead" despite uncertainty around new rules governing net neutrality, Comcast Chief Executive Officer Brian Roberts told reporters on Wednesday.

President Barack Obama plans to nominate Antonio Weiss, a top official at investment bank Lazard (LAZ.N), to be under secretary of the Treasury for domestic finance, the White House said on Wednesday.

Network equipment maker Cisco Systems Inc forecast current-quarter profit below analysts' average estimate, weighed down by capital budget cuts at telecom service providers and weak sales in emerging markets.

Asian shares slipped slightly on Thursday as investors looked to a run of Chinese economic indicators due later in the day, while Wall Street shares ended a five-day winning streak as falling oil prices hurt energy stocks.

At least two top-10 Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O) shareholders are so unhappy with Chief Executive Marissa Mayer's turnaround efforts that they are making a direct plea to AOL Inc (AOL.N) CEO Tim Armstrong to explore a merger and run the combined company.

The United States and China announced a largely symbolic plan on Wednesday to implement new limits on carbon emissions, the highlight of a summit between Barack Obama and Xi Jinping in which both leaders played down suggestions of differences and rivalry.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's (BABA.N) finance services arm "will definitely go public," Executive Chairman Jack Ma said on Tuesday, eyeing a mainland China listing for the e-commerce company's crown jewel.

American Airlines Group Inc (AAL.O) will not add seats to the largest jets flown by its regional carriers, saying it is more important for new management to build trust with pilots than to increase revenue, Bloomberg reported.

British carrier Flybe Group (FLYB.L) will exit its Finnish joint venture with Finnair (FIA1S.HE) after the companies failed to agree on how to increase the unit's profitability, Finnair said on Wednesday.

Indian generic drugmaker Aurobindo Pharma Ltd (ARBN.NS) said on Wednesday its U.S. unit won a bankruptcy auction to buy nutritional supplements maker Natrol Inc for $132.5 million.

Chinese video streaming firm Youku Tudou Inc (YOKU.N) said on Wednesday Xiaomi Technology Co Ltd [XTC.UL] will acquire a stake in the online video host.

Japanese stocks scaled seven-year highs on Wednesday on growing expectations Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will postpone a planned sales tax hike to avoid damaging a fragile recovery, and call a snap election to bolster his political standing.

South Africa will resume seafood exports to Russia for the first time in almost two decades as Moscow looks elsewhere for food sources following Western sanctions over Ukraine.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will postpone a planned tax increase and call a general election for December, a newspaper said on Wednesday, in what would be the biggest shift in Abe's economic policies since he came to power two years ago.

Some 400 works by Man Ray including photographs, films, sculptures and even chess sets will go under the hammer in Paris this month, the last chance for collectors to buy directly from the 20th century surrealist's estate.

The United States on Tuesday proposed that the International Monetary Fund write off some $100 million in debt it is owed by Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to free up more resources for those countries, the hardest hit by the Ebola outbreak.

Chrysler Group will begin replacing potentially defective air bag inflators made by Takata Corp in more than 371,000 U.S. vehicles in early December, according to documents filed by the automaker with U.S. safety regulators.

Airlines are sticking with plans to buy the latest generation of fuel-saving passenger jets even though falling jet fuel costs have undercut the case for these planes, the head of one of the world's largest aircraft leasing companies said in an interview.

British and U.S. regulators are poised to levy hefty fines on leading banks in a landmark settlement after a year-long global investigation of allegations of collusion and manipulation in the foreign exchange market.

AT&T's $1.7 billion agreement to buy Iusacell, Mexico's No. 3 cellular operator, puts it in the unfamiliar position of market underdog, owning an asset that may require billions in investment to catch up to the market's two larger players.

Despite General Electric Co's impending sale of its appliances business, the company is not abandoning the consumer.The U.S. conglomerate, along with startup invention company Quirky, on Tuesday revealed seven "connected home" retail products that allow people to remotely control and monitor such things as temperature, doors and windows, water leakage and energy usage.

BlackRock Inc (BLK.N) is reorganizing its sales force and has hired Lee Beck, a former managing director with J.P. Morgan Funds, to oversee sales to wirehouses, according to an internal memo obtained by Reuters.