British banks swerved heavy share price losses in early trading on Wednesday, hours after a parliamentary vote on Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal returned the most blistering defeat for a UK government in almost a century.

The British pound firmed against the dollar and euro Wednesday, and London stocks dropped, as traders awaited a confidence vote on British Prime Minister Theresa May's government after parliament voted massively against its Brexit deal.

A six-year run of marketing spending growth at British companies ended in the final quarter of 2018 as uncertainty over Britain's impending exit from the European Union led companies to clamp down on costs, a survey showed on Wednesday.

Sri Lanka has appealed to the International Monetary Fund to revive a $1.5-billion bailout suspended during the island nation's political crisis late last year, the finance ministry said Wednesday.

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Vietnam's newest commercial carrier Bamboo Airways took flight Wednesday, officially entering Southeast Asia's crowded aviation sector where it will face stiff competition from established players.

Japan's core machinery orders slowed sharply in November in a sign corporate capital expenditure could lose momentum as a bruising US-China trade war spills into the global economy.

A patent lawsuit filed by Qualcomm Inc against Apple Inc was thrown out by a German court on Tuesday, in a reversal for the US chipmaker after it won a recent court ban on the sale of some iPhones in the country.

Three cargoes of US crude are heading to China from the US Gulf Coast, trade sources said on Monday, the first departures since late September and a 90-day pause in the two countries' trade war that began last month.

Singer yesterday introduced air purification solutions of Blueair for home and professional use in Bangladesh.

Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Tuesday he was "very optimistic" about the outlook for the oil market after producers cut output to support flagging prices.

Volkswagen AG and Ford Motor Co said on Tuesday they will join forces on commercial vans and pickups and also that they were exploring shared development of electric and self-driving technology, actions meant to save the automakers billions of dollars.

Official data suggested Tuesday that Germany avoided a recession at the end of 2018 but confirmed a sharp slowdown in growth last year as Europe's largest economy cooled off from boom times.

China on Tuesday signaled more stimulus measures in the near term as a tariff war with the United States took a heavy toll on its trade sector and raised the risk of a sharper economic slowdown.

One of Huawei Canada's top executives on Friday disclosed he was leaving his post after more than seven years with the Chinese telecommunications equipment maker, which is facing heightened scrutiny over security issues from Canada and its allies.

Japan said Friday it will have to amend its upcoming budget to fund compensation for people whose benefits were underpaid for years because of a scandal involving erroneous labour data.

The board of French automaker Renault on Thursday said an ongoing audit into executive pay had found no sign of fraud in the last two years, ahead of a new court appearance in Japan for CEO Carlos Ghosn.

Already-jittery US stock markets shot lower on Thursday following another remark from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. The central bank chief has been unusually outspoken in recent weeks with comments that seemed to be geared at calming nervous investors but an offhand comment at an event Thursday had the opposite effect.

Corporate investors from outside the auto industry are placing increasing bets on electric vehicles, vying with automakers and suppliers to bankroll startup companies working on everything from advanced batteries to charging devices and all-new EVs.

Holiday shopping reports released Thursday underscored anew the challenges US retailers face in the Amazon era -- even if consumers are willing to open their wallets to spend.