Sales of higher-margin sports utility vehicles and cost cuts helped Volkswagen shrug off a €1bn legal charge to meet first-quarter operating profit forecasts, sending its shares 4% higher.

Apple analysts are cautiously optimistic about the company expanding its services business, a move they see as offering long-term growth potential.

Debenhams issued another profit warning as it thrashes out a restructuring deal with landlords, local authorities, and creditors which will lead to it closing at least 50 stores.

Ireland's first ever Masters in Artificial Intelligence is to be offered in the University of Limerick.

Chipmaker Qualcomm —which has a significant presence in Cork — has attracted a mega bid that values the giant chip maker at $103bn (€89bn), setting the stage for a major takeover battle that would rock the electronics industry.

Sterling-euro exchange fluctuations have returned to haunt the Irish agri-food industry, amid claims by some currency analysts that the two currencies could converge to equal value within 2017.

A survey that canvasses both business and consumers shows Irish confidence in the economic recovery has improved, but employers are still less upbeat than before the UK voted last summer to leave the EU.

The threat of slowing demand and new competition in GlaxoSmithKline’s flagship HIV drug business has unnerved investors in the UK’s biggest drugmaker, sending its shares down 1.8%.

Stocks, bond yields and the dollar are all falling, yield curves are flattening and sterling is marching higher. The “reflation” trades of 2016 that were supposed to mark a turning point in global markets are fading.

The Brexit vote and the election of Donald Trump in the US must result in a "course correction" for Western politics, David Cameron said.

A Bank of England policymaker has said he would not be surprised if the pound fell further, but that the Bank of England could overlook the effect of weak sterling on inflation, possibly for years.

WPP, the world’s largest advertising group, reported a better than expected jump in first-half net sales and said that its British operations showed signs in July of a “post-Brexit recovery”, sending its shares to a record high.

Sky said a twin focus on product innovation and top-class sport and entertainment would help deliver a better-than-expected rise in revenue in the year ahead after it reported 12% higher full-year profit.

The head of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde yesterday warned the UK of the risks of leaving the EU and said there was a clear economic argument for remaining part of the bloc.

Inflation at zero, rather than a forecast -0.1%, was not enough to shift sterling out of tight ranges on the run in to tonight’s US Federal Reserve meeting, widely expected to raise interest rates for the first time in almost a decade.

Mining and commodities trading firm Glencore yesterday said it would suspend dividends, sell assets, and raise $2.5bn (€2.24bn) in a new share issue to cut its debt by a third to $20bn by the end of next year.

Citigroup plans to rebuild its long-neglected equities franchise seeking to capitalise on a retrenchment by rivals in the face of new rules designed to make the financial system less risky, according to people familiar with the bank’s plans.

Having been the hotbed of financial activity in Ireland for the past 25 years Dublin’s International Financial Services Centre is now a key component of a developing financial technology sector here, alongside native technical expertise.

A “greedy” City trader has become the first man to be jailed for rigging Libor rates in a scandal that shook financial markets.

European pay-TV group Sky yesterday said it expects to perform strongly in its new financial year after better-than-expected profits for 2014-15 prompted investors to rethink their growth forecasts for the newly-enlarged group.

The London market ended the session by posting four straight weeks of losses, despite edging up yesterday.

Citigroup is planning to shift the headquarters of its European retail banking operation to Dublin from London to benefit from lower costs and capital requirements.

Emirates National Oil Company has a 50% chance of succeeding in its bid to take full control of Irish-listed explorer Dragon Oil, according to UK analysts.

Revenue at the world’s 10 largest investment banks rose 9%, year-on-year, to $44.9 billion in the first quarter, as financial market volatility and central bank stimulus measures boosted profits.

Major Wall Street indexes finished the day just short of where they started, despite plenty of news.

UK chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne has a chance to bolster the re-election prospects of prime minister David Cameron next week when he announces his last budget before a knife-edge election.

The potential benefits of investing in the North will be pitched to an audience of property professionals in London today.

The sale of one of Britain’s longest dated inflation-linked government bonds yesterday drew strong demand — producing the lowest negative real yield on record for a syndicated offering of gilt linkers.

Oil prices will continue to drop as high production meets weak demand and a strong dollar pressures crude, and markets will only pick up once major manufacturing economies particularly in Asia feel the benefit of cheaper energy.

European pay-TV group Sky has agreed to sell a controlling stake in Sky Bet to CVC Capital Partners in a deal which values the online betting business at £800 million (€1.1bn), with Sky retaining a 20% stake.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny will today launch a new multi-million-euro technology centre aimed at helping small and medium enterprises create jobs through the commercialisation of the centre’s cutting-edge technology.

US financial services company Citi is creating 600 new jobs in Belfast in a £54m investment.

A burst of buying in US stocks defied slumps in other markets and offered hope for investors shaken by geopolitical turmoil.

Shares in Shire hit a record high yesterday on expectations of a takeover as dealmaking sweeps the drugs sector, after Reuters reported the group had hired investment bank Citi as a defence adviser.

The eurozone’s permanent crisis resolution mechanism is selling bonds in the public market against a brighter backdrop for European peripheral sovereigns.

Pfizer may come back to bid for British drug company AstraZeneca after its reported £60bn (€73bn) takeover approach was rejected, since a deal could make sense for the US pharmaceuticals giant as it seeks to build up its cancer franchise.

Banking giant Citigroup has reported a 2.5% rise in first-quarter earnings to US$4.1bn (€2.95bn), beating the expectations of Wall Street analysts.

Marks & Spencer boss Marc Bolland will come under more pressure tomorrow when the chain reveals another quarter of falling sales in its clothing division.

Citigroup has agreed to pay 1.13 billion dollars (€822m) to settle claims by investors who want the lender to buy back billions in residential mortgage-backed securities.

Bank of Ireland will issue a €500m senior unsecured bond as early as today as it continues a move back to normal market funding.

The National Treasury Management Agency has announces Ireland's return to the 10-year bond markets.

Smurfit Kappa Group has extended its reach in the UK market by acquiring a packaging company for an undisclosed sum.

Smurfit Kappa Group has extended its reach in the UK market by acquiring a packaging company for an undisclosed sum.

Several private equity groups and hedge funds have expressed interest in public finance specialist Depfa, which the state-rescued German bank Hypo Real Estate has put on the block.