Equity markets across Asia slipped, with Europe following suit, after data from China showed that the world’s second-largest economy expanded at its slowest pace in almost three decades in the third quarter.

Renault shares fell sharply after the French carmaker cut its sales and profit guidance for 2019 as it grapples with tough market conditions and struggles to reboot its alliance with Japan’s Nissan.

Logistics group Wincanton has approached Eddie Stobart over a possible combination, becoming the latest potential suitor for the troubled British trucking company.

InterContinental Hotels Group, the owner of the Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn brands, said that protests in Hong Kong had caused revenues in the region to drop by more than a third as it also faced tough conditions in the US and mainland China.

The London Stock Exchange Group has begun the search for a new chief financial officer after it said David Warren will retire once he has helped to complete the planned $27bn purchase of Refinitiv, the data and trading group.

Japan’s consumer price growth fell to a near two-and-a-half-year low in September, data showed on Friday, which could increase pressure on the central bank to further ease monetary policy.

Stocks on both sides of the Atlantic pushed higher as investors welcomed an agreement on the UK’s Brexit deal with the EU and Wall Street got an additional boost from upbeat earnings in the US.

Juul Labs will cease US online sales of its fruity-flavoured e-cigarette pods as it battles a “lack of trust” and pressure from regulators over the health effects of vaping.

United Group, a private equity-owned cable company, is in exclusive talks to buy Vivacom, Bulgaria’s largest telecoms group, according to people familiar with the situation.

BHP touted its green credentials on Thursday, even as nearly a quarter of its UK shareholders supported an investor resolution calling on the world’s largest miner to end its membership of lobbying groups for the industry.

Industrial production in the US declined sharply in September, driven by weakness in mining, as lower global oil prices hit America’s oil patch, and automobile production, after a strike at General Motors.

Dubai’s biggest lender is to launch a rights issue planning to raise 6.45bn UAE dirhams ($1.76bn) as it seeks capital to fund its expansion.

The German government has revised down its forecast for economic growth next year from 1.5 per cent to 1 per cent, in a further sign of the slowdown that is clouding the prospects for the eurozone’s largest economy.

Investment in European food and agritech start-ups is expected to more than double this year as corporate and generalist venture capital groups increased funding in what has been regarded as a niche market.

Russia has said that a solution to the crisis in Syria must involve the transfer of control over the Turkish-Syrian border to Damascus.

UK retail sales stagnated in September after falling the previous month, adding to concerns about the resilience of consumer spending.

Domino’s Pizza Group is pulling out of four European markets as it continues its search for a new chief executive and chairman.

Unilever delivered weaker-than-expected third-quarter sales as slowdowns hit in India and China and a hoped-for recovery in Latin America failed to materialise.

UK retailer WH Smith plans to double its international travel business and strengthen its presence in the $3bn US airport market with a deal to buy Marshall Retail Group.

Nestlé, the world’s biggest food and drinks maker, pledged to return SFr20bn ($20.2bn) to shareholders over the next three years after completing the sale of its skin health business. 

Mining company BHP will decide whether to go ahead with a giant Canadian potash project in 2021 after it has spent a further $345m on final preparation work.

IBM came up short of Wall Street’s revenue expectations in the latest quarter, as the acquisition of open source company Red Hat failed to stem a 3.9 per cent decline that partly reflected signs of growing business uncertainty in Europe.

Global stocks were mostly weaker on Wednesday as geopolitical tension stemming from Brexit and Hong Kong were weighed up alongside US earnings and disappointing retail sales figures.

Many businesses have lowered their outlooks for the next year, with companies in the Midwest and Great Plains particularly downbeat, according to the Fed Beige Book’s report of conversations with local business leaders around the US.