Sirius Minerals has launched a high-yield bond offering, a crucial part of the funding package for the giant fertiliser mine it is building under the North York Moors.

Shares in JC Penney tumbled more than 15 per cent in premarket trade on Friday following a media report the struggling US department store operator had hired advisers to explore debt restructuring options.

Oil jumped on growing geopolitical fears after a US warship shot down an Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz, while global stock markets rallied on rising expectations of monetary easing by the US Federal Reserve later this month. 

Investors are shifting towards the view that the European Central Bank could cut interest rates as soon as next week.

Oilfield services group Schlumberger appointed Olivier Le Peuch as its new chief executive officer, succeeding Paal Kibsgaard, who announced he is retiring from the position at the end of this month.

Lower fees weighed on BlackRock’s second-quarter earnings despite buoyant markets and investor inflows swelling the world’s largest fund manager close to $7tn in assets.

Shares in Publicis, the world’s third-largest advertising group by revenues, dropped 8 per cent on Friday after the group cut revenue guidance for 2019 following a disappointing second quarter in the US.

UK government borrowing rose sharply in June, highlighting the risks to the public finances if a new prime minister embarks on an unfunded spending spree.

Credit Suisse has lost a high-profile legal battle with the UK’s tax authorities to claw back £239m it paid as a levy on banker bonuses after the financial crisis.

Taiwan could give refuge to Hong Kong protesters who have fled the Chinese administrative region, the Taiwanese government said on Friday.

PepsiCo is to acquire South Africa’s Pioneer Foods for $1.7bn, expanding the US fizzy drinks and snacks company’s footprint in the African market as it diversifies under a new chief executive.

ITV and the BBC have laid out their launch plans for their joint streaming subscription service in the UK, as Britain’s biggest broadcasters join forces to fend off mounting competition from online rivals such as Netflix.

Sterling edged higher in morning trading in Asia after rallying overnight as MPs backed a parliamentary manoeuvre designed to stop a no-deal Brexit, and EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier signalled openness to alternative arrangements at the Irish border. 

Shares in CrowdStrike, the cyber security company that uncovered Russian hackers inside the servers of the US Democratic National Committee, jumped 11 per cent on Thursday after the group topped analyst estimates in its maiden results as a public company.

Gannett, publisher of USA Today, is in advanced talks to combine with GateHouse Media in a deal that would merge the two largest owners of newspapers in the US by circulation, said two people briefed about the matter.

Wall Street ended a two-day losing streak, while Treasuries also rallied, as investors refocused on a potential US rate cut following fresh commentary from Federal Reserve officials.

BMW’s supervisory board named Oliver Zipse as the next chief executive of the German carmaker.

US President Donald Trump said he may review a Department of Defense cloud computing contract for which Amazon is a finalist, casting new uncertainty over a deal that could be worth up to $10bn for the winner.

Munich Re, the reinsurer, has said its second-quarter results will be well ahead of last year because of a lack of major claims.

Talks to sell a stake in energy data provider Argus Media have collapsed, several people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

The ins and outs of the 1MDB money laundering and bribery scandal will be played out in a Brooklyn courtroom from May 11 next year if former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng fails to reach a plea agreement with US prosecutors before then.

A write down is on the cards at South32, the miner spun out of BHP Group, as the sale of its South African thermal coal assets enters the final stages.

South Africa’s Reserve Bank cut rates by 25 basis points to 6.5 per cent, as it slashed its forecast for growth this year in Africa’s most industrialised nation.

The global group of markets watchdogs has hit back at the Bank of England’s assertion that it was putting investment funds under review partly because earlier international attempts to tighten the rules were not detailed enough.