US retail sales grew more than expected last month as Americans loosened their purse strings in a sign that consumers remain on a solid footing and continued to support the world’s largest economy in the second quarter.

France’s environment minister has submitted his resignation, saying that “ecological action is weakened by incessant personal questions” relating to allegations of inappropriate spending while president of the lower house of parliament.

Global stocks stayed cautious on Tuesday, with investors fixated on the first round of earnings from America’s banking heavyweights.

Wells Fargo on Tuesday reported second-quarter revenues that were roughly flat and profits that exceeded Wall Street’s expectations. However, declining rates continued to weigh on the bank’s business as it looks to repair the damage done by the fake accounts scandal that broke in 2016.

Philip Green’s Arcadia Group has vowed to fight a legal challenge from the US property firm Vornado against its debt restructuring process as the retail giant seeks to turn itself round.

A strong performance from its equities and investing and lending divisions helped Goldman Sachs to a solid second quarter, but the bank warned that conditions in fixed income markets remained challenging while its pipeline of investment banking transactions is falling.

Slower loan growth, tighter lending margins and soft capital markets results from JPMorgan Chase unsettled bank investors on Tuesday morning, despite a strong performance in by the retail division and better than expected profits.

Johnson & Johnson beat expectations on earnings and revenue and raised full-year guidance, benefiting from strong international sales and falling litigation expenses.

France has announced restrictions on water use in two-thirds of its départements as drought grips the country ahead of the summer holiday season.

Sterling has fallen below levels hit in a “flash crash” earlier this year to lows last traded more than two years ago as worries over a disorderly Brexit intensified.

Kazakh businessman and cryptocurrency entrepreneur Kenges Rakishev has sold his 22 per cent stake in gold miner Petropavlovsk, following a rally in its share price over the past year.

Views on the state of the German economy darkened again in July, according to a key survey, as analysts weighed factors including rising tensions in the Gulf, the US-China trade dispute and uncertainty around the UK’s exit from the EU.

The UK job market remains resilient despite rising Brexit uncertainty, with faster than expected earnings growth and the lowest unemployment rate in decades. 

Greece is planning to sell its new seven-year bond at a significantly tighter spread against German debt than in transactions earlier this year in a sign of the country’s comeback from a deep crisis less than a decade ago.

Austrian chipmaker AMS AG announced on Tuesday it does not see “sufficient basis” for continuing its attempt to acquire German microchip and lighting technology company Osram Licht, a day after Osram made the unsolicited takeover approach public.

Low-cost airline Ryanair will cut flights next summer and potentially close some European bases as a result of the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max jets after two fatal crashes.

Irish building materials supplier CRH announced it will sell its European distribution business to private equity funds managed by Blackstone.

The UK’s competition watchdog has launched an investigation into plans to take Inmarsat, Britain’s largest satellite company, private.

A well-received collection by new chief designer Riccardo Tisci and brisk business in China propelled Burberry to better than expected sales growth in the first quarter of this year.

The International Monetary Fund has lowered its growth forecast for Singapore, citing rising global trade tensions, just days after the city-state reported its worst quarterly economic performance in a decade.

Pakistan has lifted airspace restrictions imposed after a military stand-off with India in February, in a reprieve for international carriers which had to make costly detours.

Australia’s central bank has left the door open for further interest rate cuts, having already reduced its key policy rate to successive record lows in recent weeks.

A US federal judge on Monday slashed damages owed by Bayer in a case related to claims that exposure to weed killer Roundup causes cancer.

Wall Street notched fresh record highs in cautious trading on Monday as investors awaited the first onslaught of quarterly earnings reports.