The US Federal Reserve heralded the beginning of the end for its third round of quantitative easing as Ben Bernanke said it could slow the $85bn-a-month pace of asset purchases �in the next few meetings� if the labour market is strong.

Thursday 09.10 BST. Global stocks are in sharp retreat, led by a savage plunge in Tokyo, as traders are spooked by the prospect of reduced central bank support and a slowing Chinese economy.

LONDON | Thu May 23, 2013 9:45am BST. LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's economy grew 0.3 percent in the first quarter as originally estimated, but consumer spending rose at its weakest pace since the third quarter of 2011.

IMF chief Christine Lagarde has arrived at a court in Paris for questioning over a payout to a controversial tycoon during her time as finance minister.

Speaking after he delivered the annual British Retail Consortium lecture, Tim Steiner said the reaction of Waitrose to Ocado's tie-up with Morrisons has been a �joke�.

Flybe's made the announcement as it updated markets on its turnaround plan. This included pushing back the delivery of 16 new aircraft by three to four years to help it return to profitability by reducing pre-delivery payment charges this year.

Shares in car parts and bicycle retailer Halfords were hit after it posted a big drop in annual profits. Pre-tax profits for the 12 months to end-March fell almost 25% to �71m compared with a year earlier.

Mark Carney, says the UK is a "crisis economy" as it struggles to emerge from the global recession and the IMF says George Osborne needs to change tack.

Mothercare posted another big loss in the last financial year, but the UK retailer said it was making good progress with its turnaround plan.

Commodities fell for a third day, paced by declines in copper and oil, as manufacturing in China unexpectedly shrank for the first time in seven months and the head of the Federal Reserve hinted that stimulus may be tapered.