Italian refiner Saras (SRS.MI) and Russian energy giant Rosneft (ROSN.MM) have called off plans to set up a trading joint venture, Saras Managing Director Dario Scaffardi said on Tuesday.

China's biggest lender by assets, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, said on Wednesday it had signed an infrastructure pact worth $2 billion with the oil-rich west African nation of Equatorial Guinea.

The World Bank is seeking to finance development projects in areas in Iraq that the government has recaptured from Islamic State militants, its regional vice president said.

If fear of Europe-wide financial wildfire was Athens' trump card in its standoff with euro zone creditors - then the card has now turned up a dud.

XPO Logistics Inc (XPO.N) has agreed to buy France's Norbert Dentressangle SA (GNDP.PA) for $3.53 billion, including debt, in a deal it says will make it one of the top 10 logistics company in the world.

GN Store Nord reported first-quarter core profit a touch below forecasts on Wednesday and its shares fell as its headset division disappointed despite a strong performance by the larger hearing aid segment.

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) overtook Apple Inc (AAPL.O) to recapture the title of world's top smartphone maker by volume in the first quarter of 2015, research firm Strategy Analytics said on Wednesday.

U.S. economic growth likely braked sharply in the first quarter as harsh weather dampened consumer spending and energy companies struggling with low prices cut spending, but there are signs activity is picking up.

Cost cutting and an improving European car market helped Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) beat first-quarter profit forecasts, easing the pressure on management following the shock ouster of long-standing chairman Ferdinand Piech.

The head of the Eurogroup said on Tuesday that a recent shakeup of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' negotiating team would not by itself resolve the impasse between Greece and its creditors, and Athens would need new loans to stay afloat.

As the Federal Reserve's policy-setting committee wraps up its third meeting of the year, a critical task awaits the U.S. central bank: narrowing the wide gap between how it and the markets view the path of interest rates.

Stocks fell in Europe on Wednesday, following Asian stocks lower, while the dollar held near two-month lows before a Federal Reserve policy statement expected to show the U.S. central bank in no hurry to raise interest rates.

Detroit automakers have come full circle, relying as they did before the financial crisis on profits from selling trucks and sport utility vehicles in the United States to cover losses overseas.

Investors will rake in more than $1 trillion in 2015 as U.S. companies increase stock buybacks and boost dividends, Goldman Sachs Group Inc said, with benefits coming soon as many S&P 500 companies exit a blackout period for repurchases next week.

The Dow and S&P 500 ended a volatile session higher on Tuesday, helped by strong earnings from Merck and gains in IBM after it boosted its dividend, while the Nasdaq fell with Apple.

Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) posted quarterly revenue that missed Wall Street targets and cut its full-year revenue forecast due to weak demand for its new direct response advertising, sending its shares down as much as 24 percent on Tuesday.

China overtook France last year as the world's second largest wine grower by area under cultivation as it continued to plant vast fields of mostly imported grape vines to meet growing demand.

Around half of investors expect Greece to leave the euro zone within the next 12 months, a survey by German research group Sentix showed on Tuesday.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Monday asked China to drop a ban on imports of U.S. poultry imposed because of an outbreak of bird flu in chickens and turkeys.

Japan should aim to make nuclear energy account for between 20 and 22 percent of the country's electricity mix by 2030, with renewable energy making up slightly more, the industry ministry said on Tuesday.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc on Monday said the 46 ingredients used in its roughly 1,800 restaurants were now free of genetically modified organisms, becoming the first major U.S. restaurant chain to make that switch.

Ford Motor Co (F.N) reported a first-quarter profit that was less than analysts expected, selling fewer vehicles in North America as it worked to increase production of the redesigned F-150 pickup truck, and losing money in South America.

The U.S. House Armed Services Committee's fiscal 2016 defense bill includes $1.15 billion in extra funding for 12 additional Boeing Co Super Hornet combat jets and $1 billion for six Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 B-model fighters.

Tokyo Electron Ltd (8035.T) shares plunged 15 percent on Tuesday to a six-month low after U.S. regulatory opposition forced the scrapping of its planned takeover by U.S.-based Applied Materials Inc (AMAT.O).

Mylan NV (MYL.O) rejected Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd's (TEVA.TA) $40 billion takeover offer on Monday, saying in a scathing letter that it grossly undervalued the company and that Mylan has no interest in payment in what it termed "high-risk" Teva stock.

China's Tencent Holdings Ltd launched on Tuesday an operating system for internet-connected devices such as TVs and watches that is open to all developers, taking on domestic rivals Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Xiaomi Inc in the smart hardware space.

Huawei Technologies Co Ltd launched on Tuesday the Honor 4C smartphone, the latest bid by the Chinese technology firm to gain market share in the highly competitive budget handset segment from domestic rivals such as Xiaomi Inc.

The euro hovered near a three-week peak on Tuesday, boosted by renewed hopes that cash-strapped Greece could secure extra funding and as the dollar remained weak ahead of a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting that starts later in the day.

Japanese Economy Minister Akira Amari played down the prospect of substantial progress in trade talks being announced after a summit meeting between Japan and the United States on Tuesday.

World shares shuffled away from all-time highs on Tuesday as surging Chinese stocks took a breather and investors began to retreat to the sidelines ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting.