Portugal’s credit rating is set to return to the headlines Friday as Standard & Poor’s updates its opinion on the southern euro zone economy. This could be just another statement if the country wasn’t hanging on to its one and only investment grade. Canada’s DBRS is the only credit rating agency willing to give Portugal […]

Shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk is taking the right steps to improve shareholder value, said the company’s former group chief executive. The conglomerate is currently in the midst of separating its transport and logistics businesses from its energy operations — an effort that’s been many years in the making, Nils Andersen told CNBC on Friday. Maersk […]

European stocks are set to open lower after North Korea sent another missile over Japan into the Pacific Ocean. The FTSE 100 is seen down by 5 points at 7,385; the DAX is set to open lower by 30 points at 12,534 and the CAC 40 is seen off by 15 points at 5,207. Most […]

U.S. fashion brands need to adapt their strategy if they want to compete in the U.K. market. American retailers such as Forever 21 are losing space in the U.K. with shoppers preferring home brands. This is because British brands are more client focused, offer better shopping experiences and are likely to have a more loyal […]

President Donald Trump is on course to ring in the new year without having passed almost any of his campaign promises into law, according to a new survey conducted by CNBC. Chief financial officers (CFOs) from some of the world’s largest firms said they had become increasingly pessimistic that the former New York businessman would […]

Mercedes-Benz owner Daimler has invested millions in an Israeli start-up whose battery technology can charge electric vehicles in a matter of minutes. Tel-Aviv-based StoreDot announced Wednesday that the trucking arm of the German automotive giant had led a $60 million funding round, and would partner with the firm to adopt its FlashBattery technology. The company […]

Saudi Aramco’s planned initial public offering remains on track, the company said on Thursday, after Bloomberg reported that the oil company is preparing contingency plans for a possible delay by a few months into 2019. Saudi authorities are aiming to list up to 5 percent of the world’s largest oil producer on both the Saudi […]

Germany’s Munich Re warned it could miss its profit target this year, the first major reinsurer to flag a hit to earnings from damage caused by hurricanes Harvey and Irma. “These two events are expected to result in high insured losses, which the market and Munich Re are unable to quantify at the moment,” it […]

Switzerland’s central bank tweaked its long-held language about the “significant overvaluation” of the Swiss franc on Thursday as it kept other parts of its ultra-expansive monetary policy on hold. The Swiss National Bank acknowledged the weakening of the franc against the euro in recent weeks, which it said “is helping to reduce, to some extent, […]

The Bank of England held interest rates steady Thursday but said that a hike is likely to be needed in the “coming months.” The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted by a majority of 7-2 to keep rates at a record low 0.25 percent but noted that a strengthening economy and inflationary pressures could prompt them […]