Europe began a new campaign to shield economies from the coronavirus as the region’s two main central banks either delivered or signaled action to avoid a 2008-style crisis, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel promised to do “whatever is necessary”.

It was obvious in Wexford last week, when Fine Gael displayed Clinton-grade hubris.

Boeing may have to book billions of dollars in additional charges, two brokers said, following latest developments around the planemaker’s grounded 737 Max jet that calls into question the timing of the aircraft’s return to service.

Danske Bank, hampered by negative interest rates for longer than any European peer, promised wealthy depositors it will resist a trend to pass the burden on to them.

Adidas said supply shortages for North America will be fixed by the end of the year and that the European market should return to growth, after the German sportswear company reported weaker-than-expected second-quarter sales and profits.

Boeing shares fell as much as 3% yesterday after the US aviation regulator found a new flaw in the 737-Max jet, potentially delaying the aircraft’s return to service and piling more pressure on the planemaker’s suppliers.

A US jury in the Sean Dunne civil trial has awarded just over €18m to his bankruptcy trustee after finding he had proved that the bankrupt Carlow property developer fraudulently transferred some assets to put them beyond the reach of creditors.

Three months ago, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) predicted an ugly 2019 as the healthcare giant faced thousands of consumer lawsuits and pressure in the US on drug prices.

Allergan forecasts 2019 revenue below expectations on looming competition for some of its top drugs and has shelved plans to sell its women’s health business.

Aryzta shares have fallen more than 4.4% as a row over the size of the Cuisine de France-owner’s planned capital raise next month deepened.

Cuisine de France bakery owner Aryzta has agreed on an underwriting deal with five banks, setting the stage for raising €800m in new capital to strengthen its balance sheet.

The jury at David Drumm's conspiracy to defraud trial, which has been underway at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court since January, has been told that proceedings are likely to conclude in June.

A former Anglo Irish Bank executive said he planned to “get a bit of drink” into a Credit Suisse banker at an upcoming dinner and say to him: “I'd like about five billion before the 30th”.

European shares rose, lifted by strong results and German economic data, while US trading was dominated by volatility caused by the latest US inflation numbers.

Great strides are being made to close the tech sector’s gender gap, but, as with many other industries, parity remains a long way off.

Losses among Boeing, General Electric and other big industrial companies weighed on US stocks on Thursday, pulling the market below the record highs it set the day before.

By Eamon Quinn

Leading investment banks have warned that global stock markets may have risen too far and too quickly.

‘Black Friday’ is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to changing consumer buying habits

Pfizer’s quarterly profit beat market estimates, partly helped by higher-than-expected sales of its blockbuster pneumonia vaccine, Prevnar. The company also raised its full-year earnings forecast.

Sterling strengthened against both the euro and the dollar after UK retail sales rose more than forecast in August, boosting investor expectations that the Bank of England will raise borrowing costs in the coming months.

Shares in insurers jumped in markets from Europe to Florida amid signs that predictions about Hurricane Irma’s damage were excessively dire.

After the euro surged through a critical technical level last week, analysts who study charts to help guide their predictions are looking back to 2010 for perspective on how high it could rise.

Pfizer’s revenue shortfall in the last quarter is reigniting pressure on the New York drugmaker to make deals to return to growth.

ITC, Asia’s second-largest cigarette maker by value, plunged the most in 25 years after India surprised investors by raising levies on tobacco products.

After opening shops across New York, UK sandwich and coffee chain Pret A Manger may be heading for Wall Street.

Credit Suisse, some of its employees and hundreds of account holders are the subjects of a major tax evasion and money laundering probe that spans five countries. Investigators in the Netherlands arrested two individuals earlier this week, seizing a gold bar, paintings, jewellery and bank account information.

Drug shares took the strain in the US as President Donald Trump tweet a promise of lower priced medicines for Americans, as European shares were little changed ahead of the ECB’s meeting tomorrow.