Japanese stocks rose sharply due to a firmer yen early Thursday, while the Australian and South Korean markets were lower, as investors reacted to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's congressional hearing.

The supermarket chain Morrisons enjoyed a day in the sun last week after it unveiled a 25-year, �170m licensing deal with Ocado to help it launch food online next year.

George Osborne yesterday won backing from the International Monetary Fund, as it welcomed improvements in the economy. It will come as a relief to the Chancellor who was last month heavily criticised by the watchdog's chief economist for sticking to his ...

Profits at the energy giant SSE surged by 28 per cent on the back of a cold winter that left millions struggling to heat their homes.

The boss of Britain's biggest building society says a government scheme could make it even harder for first-time buyers to bag a home.

Cable & Wireless Communications, the telecoms group that traces its history back to the early days of the British empire, is to leave the UK after more than 140 years and move its headquarters across the Atlantic.

As unsettled weather and rising food prices put off shoppers, retail sales volumes including fuel sank 1.3pc month-on-month, confounding economists' forecasts for flat sales.

A company headed by an Irishman and using wind energy technology first designed in Queen's University Belfast has been granted planning permission by the Scottish government for the world's largest commercial wave farm.

There were 55 beaches deemed to have a water quality good enough to be given a flag this year, compared to 79 last year. For 2013, beaches had to meet a new �excellent� standard imposed by the EU under the EU Bathing Waters Directive.

Britvic is to cut up to 400 jobs - 15 per cent of its workforce - as part of efforts to bolster its fortunes as a standalone company should competition authorities squash its proposed tie-up with Scottish peer AG Barr.