BUSINESS

Asian and European equities rose ahead of a much-anticipated speech by Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell later Friday, as the dollar weakened amid speculation about how big an expected interest rate cut next month could be.

The US jobs market was probably cooler than expected in the year through March, Labor Department data showed Wednesday, signaling weaker but still-positive growth.

Switzerland's new instant payment system will bolster the future of cashless payments in the country, the Swiss central bank said Wednesday after the scheme went live.

Boeing has suspended flight testing of its new 777X wide-body jet after identifying the failure of a part connecting the engine to the body of the aircraft, the latest in a long line of quality control issues for the troubled US aerospace giant.

Investors appear to have gotten over the turmoil that beset trading floors this month as a string of data suggested that worries of a US recession had been overdone.

Turning heads as they cruise past office buildings and malls, driverless taxis are slowly spreading through Chinese cities, prompting both wariness and wonder.

Major pharmaceutical companies lashed out following a landmark deal unveiled Thursday to cut the costs of 10 key medicines, with some saying the price-setting process was not transparent.

Britain's economy grew 0.6 percent in the April-June period, a slight slowdown compared with the first three months of the year, official data showed on Thursday.

Chinese industrial production growth slowed in July while unemployment rose, official data showed Thursday, highlighting an uneven recovery in the world's second-largest economy despite recent government measures to try to stimulate expansion.

Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn on Wednesday reported a six percent jump in net profit for the second quarter of the year, driven by strong growth in demand for artificial intelligence servers.

Women's accessories sold by some of the world's most popular online shopping firms contained toxic substances sometimes hundreds of times above acceptable levels, authorities in Seoul said Wednesday.

Mercedes-Benz Korea released the names of its electric vehicle battery suppliers on Tuesday, bowing to public outrage after one of its cars burst into flame in a parking lot earlier this month.

Asian markets mostly rose Monday as investors tried to move on from last week's upheaval fuelled by US recession worries, with focus shifting to the release of key inflation and retail data.

Exhausted from a rising cost of living in the United States and non-stop ads, some young adults on TikTok are pushing back.

E-commerce tycoon Colin Huang has become China's richest man, an index showed Friday, capping an ascent for the former Google employee whose shopping site Temu has sucked in consumers with its low prices and all-powerful algorithms.

Asian stocks rallied Friday as investors breathed a sigh of relief after US jobs data soothed concerns that the world's top economy could tip into recession, bringing a painful week to a positive end.

Donald Trump on Thursday voiced frustration at the independence of the Federal Reserve and suggested that the US president should have "at least a say" over the course of monetary policy.

Beijing said Friday it had filed an appeal with the World Trade Organization over the European Union's imposition of additional tariffs on imports of electric vehicles from China.

Elon Musk's X sued an advertising group and several large corporations on Tuesday accusing them of causing billions of dollars of losses by "illegally" boycotting the social media platform.

The US trade deficit narrowed slightly less than analysts anticipated in June, according to government data released Tuesday, helped by an uptick in exports.

Tokyo's key Nikkei index closed more than 10 percent higher Tuesday, bouncing back from a record selloff the previous day on worries over the US economy and a stronger yen.

Saudi oil giant Aramco on Tuesday reported net profit of $29.07 billion in the second quarter, a slight drop from the same period last year as output remained subdued.

US investigators will on Tuesday open a two-day hearing into a near-catastrophic January incident on a Boeing 737 MAX operated by Alaska Airlines that required an emergency landing.

TikTok will permanently remove a feature in a spinoff app in France and Spain that rewards users for watching and liking videos, bowing to pressure from European regulators, the EU and the Chinese-owned company said Monday.

Tokyo led a collapse across Asian and European equities Monday, after weak US jobs data fanned fears of a recession in the world's top economy and boosted bets on several Federal Reserve interest rate cuts.

Nintendo said Friday that first-quarter net profit more than halved as sales for the seven-year-old Switch slowed down and fans keenly awaited news on the hit console's successor.

Tokyo tanked Friday as it led losses across Asia due to a stronger yen and expectations for more Japanese rate hikes, with equities also slammed after weak data sparked fears of a US recession and a plunge on Wall Street.

US tech giants saw their shares fluctuate this week as investors tried to gauge whether artificial intelligence will fill coffers or drain them.

Leaders of a South Korean union representing tens of thousands of workers at Samsung Electronics staged a protest Thursday outside the house of the company's chairman and heir, after fresh negotiations failed.