Most Germans live by the credo that saving is a virtue, but the ECB’s negative interest rates risk making a mockery of the national obsession, prompting politicians to seek ways to insulate thrifty citizens and keep the burden on the country’s beleaguered banks.

Oil prices rebounded slightly from big falls in recent sessions, but Brent crude remained near seven-month lows around $60 a barrel due to escalating trade tensions between China and the US.

The German Bank intends to completely exit activities related to the buying and selling of shares.

Germany’s KfW Group is pulling out of loans for new coal projects, joining other European development banks that have already followed orders of their governments to minimise exposure to the world’s most widely used power-station fuel.

The US Federal Reserve has held interest rates steady but signalled possible rate cuts of as much as half a percentage point over the remainder of this year, as it responded to increased economic uncertainty and a drop in expected inflation.

Deutsche Bank is understood to be planning to overhaul its trading operations by creating a so-called bad bank to hold tens of billions of euros of non-core assets.

The Revenue will start talking to truck drivers at Dublin and Rosslare ports from today about the potential huge delays and disruption to trade if Britain crashes out of the EU without a deal.

Deutsche Bank is facing resistance from top Qatari shareholders to its planned merger with Commerzbank.

Oil prices rose ahead of a meeting of Opec and other large crude exporters that will focus on production increases, as US sanctions restrict Iranian exports.

The half that began with “melt-up” euphoria ended with melt-down fear.

British mineral exploration company Erris Resources is to use £4m (€4.5m) in flotation proceeds to fund the development of zinc assets in Ireland and has said it is open to acquiring further mining licences here.

Shares in Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank surged after it emerged that private-equity firm Cerberus is a top shareholder at Germany’s two biggest banks, Steven Arons, Sarah Syed and Aaron Kirchfeld report.

Analysts are more optimistic than the UK government that an agreement will be reached with the EU next month to move Brexit talks on to trade, even as Theresa May’s political troubles continue to weigh on the country’s beleaguered currency.

Analysts are more optimistic than the UK government that an agreement will be reached with the EU next month to move Brexit talks on to trade, even as Theresa May’s political troubles continue to weigh on the country’s beleaguered currency, writes Charlotte Ryan. 

Close to $1.20, the euro climbed to a two-and-a-half-year high against the dollar in thin trade yesterday, extending gains made at the end of last week, writes Sam Forgione

Lufthansa has submitted a letter of interest in Air Berlin’s Austrian budget airline Niki and other parts of the insolvent carrier, according to sources.

A number of Irish stocks felt the benefit as global markets rallied yesterday and investors weighed back in on the back of easing tensions between the US and North Korea.

Britain’s economy is likely to lose momentum in the second half of 2017, according to a closely watched survey that could disappoint some Bank of England officials who want to raise interest rates for the first time in a decade.

Oil prices steadied yesterday, pausing for breath after coming under pressure over the past month from rising production in the US, Libya and Nigeria, which has taken the edge off an Opec-led initiative to support the market by cutting production.

Arguments about the potential €60bn bill that the UK may owe the EU as it prepares to quit the Union could eat into the time left for the UK to strike a new trade deal, a leading economist has warned.

European car sales rose to a nine-year high in 2016, with French company Renault taking advantage of recovering demand and Volkswagen’s tarnished reputation to leap to second place from third in th e region.

To understand why Saudi Arabia changed course and decided Opec should go back to managing supply, look at two of the kingdom’s biggest policy challenges: The urgent need to plug holes in its budget and the plan to sell a stake in the state-owned oil monopoly.

Volkswagen has held emergency talks with a supplier in a dispute that has forced the company to halt production of its best-selling Golf and Passat after the parts maker took the unprecedented step of cutting off deliveries of transmission and seat components.

Sterling fell to its lowest level against the euro for almost three years as the Bank of England restarted its stimulus programme, leaving the UK currency as the year’s worst performer once again.

The Bank of England is almost certain to cut benchmark borrowing costs when it sets policy next week, but a slim majority of economists in a Reuters poll said it would hold off for now on restarting its asset purchase programme.

The pound climbed from a one-week low as a report showed the UK unemployment rate fell below 5% for the first time since 2005.

Sterling climbed the most since three days before Britain’s EU referendum as home secretary Theresa May prepared to take over as the UK’s next prime minister, removing one layer of political uncertainty.

A week after the UK began voting to leave the EU, global markets are still being dominated by the consequences.

Opec yesterday predicted that the global oil market will be more balanced in the second half of this year as demand rises and rival supplies falter, echoing views expressed by ministers at the group’s meeting earlier this month.

Sterling jumped yesterday amid evidence the campaign to keep Britain inside the EU is extending its lead.

Try as he might, Matteo Renzi just can’t push Italy’s economy into the eurozone’s premier league. 

Oil prices slid after a meeting between major producing nations on a proposed output freeze fell apart, leaving the world grappling with an excess of unwanted crude.

As Volkswagen’s first dividend cut in six years looms in the wake of the diesel-emissions scandal, the car maker must balance the interests of government, labour, and family power brokers against those of investors who have felt short-changed for years.

Sterling ended its longest run of gains in seven months versus the euro and struggled to maintain a rally against the dollar as evidence mounted that the UK economy is losing momentum.