The outlook for global growth in 2019 has dimmed for the first time, according to Reuters polls of economists who said the US-China trade war and tightening financial conditions would trigger the next downturn.

Gold fell on Monday as rising stock markets pointed to improved investor appetite for risk, with a slightly firmer dollar also sapping bullion's appeal.

Germany's economy struggled in the third quarter on a dip in car manufacturing but the drivers of its recent expansion remain in place, so growth should rebound in the final three months of the year, the Bundesbank said on Monday.

Dutch electronics giant Philips, which is focusing its business on medical equipment and services, on Monday posted higher third quarter sales but profits dipped due to currency headwinds.

Two major construction companies were Monday ordered to pay fines totalling more than $3 million for colluding to win contracts on Japan's multi-billion-dollar maglev project.

The new North American trade agreement ends key legal protections for many US businesses operating in Mexico, leaving their operations exposed to a risk they had avoided under the old trade deal: Mexico's court system.

Audi's first electric sport utility vehicle (SUV) will hit showrooms four weeks later than planned because of a software development issue, a spokesman for the German luxury car brand said on Sunday.

China must balance the need for stable growth while managing risks and maintain a prudent and neutral monetary policy, the State Council, the country's cabinet, said on Sunday following a meeting of top economic and financial policymakers.

Most Americans seem to think international trade deficits are a bad thing.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Sunday it will be harder for countries to get waivers on Iran oil sanctions than during the Obama administration and dismissed concerns that oil prices could rise, saying the market had already factored in the losses.

German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said in an interview for publication Sunday he backed a global minimum fiscal regime for multinationals as Europe looks to levy tax notably on US tech giants.

A crop once deemed so important it served as a form of currency, Japanese rice has fallen out of favour with younger, westernised consumers, in a shift that has left ageing farmers struggling for survival.

German investor confidence plunged sharply in October, a closely watched survey said Tuesday, dragged down by fears over US-China trade tensions and a hard Brexit.

Britain's unemployment rate remained at 4.0 percent in the three months to August, the lowest point since 1975, official data showed Tuesday.

The 2018 World Cup added more than $14 billion to the Russian economy, more than one percent of the country's gross domestic product, tournament organisers said in Doha on Tuesday.

US carmaker Ford came under fire from the French government on Monday over its plans to close a factory producing gear boxes in southwest France that employs 850 people.

The US budget deficit hit a six-year high of $779 billion in the most recent fiscal year, the Treasury announced Monday, underscoring the cost of last year's sweeping tax cuts.

At week's end, global investors and policy makers will likely be given a stark reminder of the costs of a bitter Sino-US trade war, with a Reuters poll predicting that China's third-quarter growth will slow to its weakest pace since the global financial crisis.

Japan wants to highlight global imbalances as key topics of debate, and take steps to fix them, when it chairs next year's gatherings of the Group of 20 major economies, government officials said this week.

The city of Pittsburgh, the one-time steel capital that's long been a symbol of Rust-Belt decline, is emerging as a vibrant hub for artificial intelligence, robotics and biomedical companies eager to tap a rich talent pool.