Tesla will probably sell about 10% fewer cars this year than previously expected as the coronavirus outbreak weighs on demand for vehicles, said investment bank Morgan Stanley.

The escalating trade war between the US and China is nudging the world economy toward its first recession in a decade with investors demanding politicians and central bankers act fast to change course.

Royal Dutch Shell’s second-quarter profit slumped to a 30-month low on weaker fuel prices and refining margins, denting a steady recovery in recent years and sending the Anglo-Dutch energy company’s shares down over 5%.

Sterling resumed its dive amid warnings that a crash-out Brexit in late October would sink the currency — and the prospects for many Irish firms.

For months, executives from Anheuser-Busch InBev raced to prepare for a listing of its Asian subsidiary, Budweiser Brewing Company. It was to be this year’s biggest initial public offering and would surpass Uber Technologies’ $8.1bn (€7.2bn) share sale.

Investors consider an economic recession in Germany inevitable, according to economic research group Sentix.

No one knows if we are facing into another recession but but if you haven’t looked at the positioning of your own financial products, now is probably a good time to do so, suggests economist Eddie Hobbs.

Germany’s biggest residential landlords have declined on concern that the city of Berlin will freeze rents in the capital for five years in response to a surge in housing costs.

Fears of a fresh global recession have increased with latest data showing continued shrinkage in manufacturing levels around the world as trade war and Brexit concerns escalate.

Investors in global stocks and Irish shares, in particular, will learn this week whether the growing fears over escalating trade wars will send markets reeling again.

Apple shares, which have fallen about 7% since the US made moves to curb Huawei Technologies earlier this month, have a near-term floor at $160, about 10% below price they were trading yesterday, according to analysts at Morgan Stanley.

In his twilight years, leading Irish businessman Michael Smurfit has found a new vocation as a commentator and author.

A bad month is getting worse for US and European semiconductor stocks.

The euro’s stagnant start to the year might be ending as signs emerge that Europe’s economic growth is reviving.

Bank of Ireland has moved to reduce the amount of crisis-era landlord mortgage loans on its books — but has opted to securitise or refinance the loans rather than going for an outright sale for the time being.

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

In January last year, IDA Ireland announced record results with nearly 230,000 people now employed in FDI companies.

Inditex fell the most in 2019, after the Spanish owner of the Zara clothes chain reported the weakest earnings growth in five years. It’s not immune to the retail malaise that has burdened rival, Hennes & Mauritz (H&M), and many others.

Brightening prospects of what looked like, even a week ago, an unlikely Brexit breakthrough will be the key focus of Irish exporters, foreign exchange traders, and the Dublin and London stock markets this week.

Ten years ago this month, the financial world was rocked by the collapse of a Wall Street giant.

Shares in Ryanair fell 1% to bring its losses in the past year to over 27% as German pilots and cabin crew said they would strike today, forcing it to cancel 150 services.

Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) chairman Stefan Persson may be single-handedly propping up shares in the Swedish fashion retailer.

Former Anglo Irish Bank chairman, Sean FitzPatrick, had a €22m pension fund from Anglo Irish Bank when he retired as CEO in 2005, he told the High Court.

A cannibal killer who strangled and dismembered a policeman he met on Grindr took his own life two months into his life sentence, an inquest found.

The Government has said it will take “weeks to assess” the impact on the Irish economy of Donald Trump’s trade sanctions on Russia as 650 jobs at Aughinish Alumina in Limerick remain under threat.

Paddy Power-Betfair shares fell by nearly 4% as investors reacted badly to news of the departure of the head of its key Australian division.

Paddy Power-Betfair shares fell by over 2%, before recovering, on analyst concerns that an expected surge in online revenue may not materialise and that competitors may outpace its growth.

US stocks have taken another small step backwards after a plunge in the price of oil dragged down shares of energy producers.

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

Shares in the British pub group in which Irish financiers John Magnier and JP McManus hold a 23% stake fell by as much as 12% on the back of falling profits and a decision not to award shareholders an interim dividend next year, writes Geoff Percival.

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 is likely to be driven this week by the state of Brexit negotiations and UK politics, after losing support from bets on central bank policy tightening.

Long-lasting Nivea body milk and other new products helped German skin care group Beiersdorf beat quarterly sales forecasts and raise its full-year target.

Cabot Credit Management, the UK’s biggest debt collector has confirmed it will list on the London Stock Exchange, targeting a £1bn (€1.1bn) market capitalisation.

The chief executive of Goldman Sachs has cast further doubt over the banking giant's future in London after Brexit in a provocative tweet that is likely to pile further pressure on the Government.

The EU is likely to confirm this week that Brexit talks have not made sufficient progress to move onto discussions about a future trading relationship, though the UK will be hoping it will consider a two-year transition period.

The euro and European government bond yields slipped after the EU’s most powerful leader, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, won a fourth term but faced a fractured parliament as support for the far right surged.

Shares in beauty group L’Oreal surged the most in seven years on speculation that the death of the founding family’s matriarch, Liliane Bettencourt, could clear up the cosmetics maker’s ownership through a takeover or a buyback.

A global insurance giant has picked Dublin as its new post-Brexit base.

With the EU unyielding in its Brexit demands, and with the third round of talks failing, the UK will become ever more dependent on its largest trading partner says John Lloyd

Brexit is set to deliver a much-heralded jobs boom with over 80,000 new roles to be created - in Frankfurt.