European lenders took up almost twice the amount of cheap loans that analysts had predicted in a second round of European Central Bank refinancing, according to data released Thursday.

Global airlines are expected to post record profits of almost $40 billion this year, the head of industry body IATA said Thursday, but he warned the sector faced threats from terrorism, a sharp rise in oil prices and protectionism.

The 'passport' rights allowing 5,500 British-based financial firms to operate freely across the European single market are at stake, the country's financial watchdog has revealed in highlighting potential fallout from Brexit.

India's government will partly fund a $2 billion gas pipeline project linking five eastern states to help kick-start economic growth in a region that has trailed the rest of the country, the oil minister said on Wednesday.

Sentiment at Asian companies edged up to its highest level in five quarters in July-September, boosted by signs that China's economy is stabilizing and as concerns about Britain's move to exit the European Union recede, a Thomson Reuters/INSEAD survey showed.

Global economic growth will flounder this year and next at rates not seen since the financial crisis as the march of globalisation grinds to a halt, the OECD warned on Wednesday.

The yen rebounded on Wednesday, with investors skeptical about whether the Bank of Japan's latest measures will be enough to generate inflation and many also cautious about the dollar before the Federal Reserve policy announcement.

A crushing victory for Russia's ruling party at parliamentary polls has been hailed as a big win for President Vladimir Putin -- but for the deputies elected it might just prove a poisoned chalice.

German airline Lufthansa and Air China said on Tuesday they had signed a deal to jointly operate all the groups' connections between Europe and China.

Vietnam will delay ratifying the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) until after the US elections, a lawmaker said Wednesday, in the latest blow to the massive trade pact.

Indian importers have purchased around 76,000 tonnes of Ukrainian-origin wheat in the past couple of weeks as India increases its wheat imports after a poor crop, European traders said on Tuesday.

INDITEX, the world's biggest clothing retailer, said on Wednesday its first half net profit rose 8 percent from a year ago, beating analysts' estimate and driven by strong sales as it focuses on flagship stores and its online business.

OIL prices jumped 2 percent on Wednesday after a surprisingly large drop in US crude inventories and as an oil services workers strike in Norway threatened to cut North Sea output.

US carrier Verizon Communications Inc has begun taking orders for Samsung Electronics Co Ltd's new Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, after having stopped sales of the device earlier due to fire-prone batteries.

The European Commission said on Wednesday it would propose scrapping daily limits on mobile telecoms roaming following criticism of its initial idea to limit the amount of time consumers could use their phones abroad.

After a lacklustre recovery from the 2008 financial crisis, Denmark's central bank has warned that the labour market faces a squeeze as unemployment falls, the population ages and young people shun vocational jobs.

India is talking to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia to fill half of the 1.5 million tonnes of the Mangalore strategic storage, along with Iranian crude, its oil minister said on Wednesday.

Carrying her wages in wads of cash across Myanmar was once a risky, onerous but unavoidable ritual for maid Khin Myint Oo. But now she just pings off a text to move the money to her children back home as mobile banking sweeps into a country whose people have for decades been locked out of basic financial services.

The dollar jumped on Wednesday after the Bank of Japan altered its policy framework, and investors bought back the US currency ahead of the outcome of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting later in the session.

British drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline on Tuesday promoted its consumer healthcare head Emma Walmsley to chief executive, a move which will make her the most powerful woman on the FTSE 100.