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.

HONG KONG | Thu May 23, 2013 9:07am BST. HONG KONG May 23 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares suffered their worst daily loss in seven weeks on Thursday after a preliminary private survey suggested manufacturing activity in China contracted in May for ...

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.

The airline Flybe is dropping its direct flights from Belfast City Airport to London Gatwick from the end of the March 2014. The route has been axed after the Exeter-based company sold its runway slots at Gatwick Airport.

I never set out to be the biggest critic of Ocado. I am a big believer in online retailing, how its growth will improve people's lives and also destroy many household names.

French judges began grilling Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund, on Thursday over allegations that she acted illegally in approving a �400m pay-off for a businessman when she was finance minister under former president Nicolas ...

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.

Pennon Group Plc (PNN), a U.K. water company, said fiscal full-year profit dropped 1.1 percent as sales shrank at its Viridor waste-management unit.

The timing of Easter and the freezing weather seen at the start of the month caused retail sales to fall by 2.2 per cent on an annual basis.