The sale of new cars in France increased nearly three percent last year, but the market for diesels was markedly down, the French automakers' association (CCFA) said Tuesday. A total of 2,173,481 private cars were first registered last year, in line with automakers' expectations.

Vietnam's growth soared to more than 7 percent this year, its highest in a decade, helped by a surge in its manufacturing sector.

Traditional traders and local players rejoiced Thursday at new e-commerce rules imposed by the Indian government on global giants such as Amazon and Walmart which analysts said could force them to rethink their Indian operations.

US President Donald Trump is considering an executive order in the new year to declare a national emergency that would bar US companies from using telecommunications equipment made by China's Huawei and ZTE, three sources familiar with the situation told Reuters.

Trade negotiators from China and the United States are planning to meet in January for talks, Beijing said Thursday, but stopped short of confirming the exact date or location.

Apple Inc will begin assembling its top-end iPhones in India through the local unit of Foxconn as early as 2019, the first time the Taiwanese contract manufacturer will have made the product in the country, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Real wages in Germany rose by 1.5 percent in the third quarter, the strongest increase in two years, indicating that household spending continued to support growth in Europe's biggest economy in the second half of the year.

Japan's central bank Thursday maintained its ultra-loose monetary easing policy and said it was not looking for an exit strategy, even as the US central bank hikes interest rates.

Weaker economic growth and tepid price pressures in Asia will leave central banks in the region with few reasons to tighten policy next year — especially as US rate hikes slow — unless a new bout of currency weakness forces them to do so.

Hyundai Motor Co plans to start producing electric vehicles (EVs) in Indonesia as part of an around $880 million auto investment in the country, Industry Deputy Minister Harjanto said on Thursday.

Pharmaceutical giants GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer on Wednesday announced a merger of their consumer healthcare units that produce over-the-counter medicines.

Indian drug authorities visited some of Johnson & Johnson's facilities on Wednesday and took “tests and samples” of its talcum powder, the company said in a statement.

Germany was Wednesday set to toughen rules on non-EU share purchases and acquisitions of its strategic companies, amid growing disquiet about takeovers by Chinese firms.

Malaysia on Wednesday charged a second former banker at Goldman Sachs Group Inc in connection with a suspected money-laundering scheme at state fund 1MDB and said it had issued a summons to the bank.

Opec heavyweight Saudi Arabia on Tuesday announced an expansionary budget for 2019 but projected a shortfall for the sixth year in a row due to low oil prices.

India will tax most goods at below 18 percent in a further simplification of the Goods and Services Tax, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, aiming to shore up support among businesses that have struggled with the new system.

A very cautious optimism remains among Asian companies in the fourth quarter as they wait to see whether there will be any breakthrough in a trade dispute between the United States and China, a Thomson Reuters/INSEAD survey showed.

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk made a brief public appearance late on Tuesday to unveil the first tunnel completed by the underground transit venture he launched two years ago as an ambitious remedy to Los Angeles' infamously heavy traffic.

The United States and China clashed anew at the World Trade Organization on Wednesday, accusing each other of undermining the multilateral trading system, according to texts of speeches at closed-door talks seen by Reuters.

Britain's BP has launched the sale of US oil and gas onshore assets that could raise more than $3 billion to help pay for other fields in the United States it bought in October from BHP.