Japan's economy grew more than expected in the first quarter, data showed Wednesday, as it crawls back from a brief recession, but observers cautioned that a full recovery may still be some way off.

US and British regulators fined six major global banks nearly $6 billion Thursday for rigging the foreign exchange market and Libor interest rates.

Renault launched its first budget car developed specially for India on Wednesday, seeking to expand its foothold in the huge but highly competitive market.

Lafarge chief executive Bruno Lafont has been awarded a 2.5 million euro ($2.8 million) bonus for the successful merger with Swiss rival Holcim as the cement company announced job cuts.

Britain's Marks and Spencer on Wednesday revealed the first increase in annual profits in four years in a turnaround under chief executive Marc Bolland, partly thanks to "outstanding" food sales.

Microsoft's plan to make its new version of Windows a mobile hit by letting it accept tweaked Apple and Android apps has met an obstacle: some of the software developers the company needs to woo just aren't interested.

Germany's nearly 1,800 banks are being forced to rethink their business models in the face of persistently low level of interest rates and weak profitability.

One of the biggest strikes in the Turkish automobile sector in recent times showed no sign of letting up Wednesday, with Ford the latest producer to be hit.

Five of the world's largest banks are to pay fines totalling $5.7bn (£3.6bn) for manipulating the foreign exchange market, US officials say.

Indonesia's central bank held its key interest rate steady on Tuesday for the third consecutive month despite slowing growth in Southeast Asia's biggest economy.

Investor sentiment in Germany is at its lowest level in five months after weaker-than-expected growth in the first quarter begins to deflate exaggerated expectations for Europe's biggest economy, data showed on Tuesday.

Britain's annual inflation rate sank into negative territory last month for the first time in more than half a century, official data showed on Tuesday.

Greece on Monday entered the final stretch of tortuous talks with its international creditors on a bankruptcy-saving loan deal, with the government calling for a breakthrough by the end of the month.

Vodafone's annual net profits slumped dramatically but the performance was skewed by the sale of its stake in Verizon Wireless, the British company said Tuesday.

Only a fourth of the world's workforce have stable contracts, leading to growing job insecurity, a UN report said Tuesday.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba on Monday denounced as baseless a lawsuit by French apparel company Kering Group, whose luxury brands include Gucci, which accused it of selling fake products.

The finance ministry, seeking to speed up deals with outside investors, is set to take full control of the oversight of more than $40

As China's economy slows and Beijing becomes more relaxed about letting its companies fail, a rising number of foreign bondholders risk being caught up in the country's unpredictable court system.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on South Korea to be a "leading partner" in his country's economic modernisation as he talked up investment opportunities at the start of a two-day visit Monday.

Toyota City stands as a testament to the meteoric rise of its namesake, now the world's biggest carmaker with record profits and sales of more than 10 million cars globally last year.