Global demand for aluminium is likely to grow this year at its slowest pace since the global recession of 2009, according to Alcoa of the US, in the latest sign of a worldwide economic slowdown. 

The Federal Reserve said businesses are becoming less optimistic in many parts of the country because of the recent financial market volatility, higher interest rates and trade tensions.

Cars.com is contemplating a shift in direction.

The provider of classified auto adverts has retained JPMorgan Chase and law firm Latham & Watkins to explore strategic alternatives, including a possible sale of the company, it said on Wednesday.

US stocks managed to cling on to a second day of gains following upbeat results from some of the biggest Wall Street banks and fresh stimulus from China.

Bank of America’s head of global investment banking Diego De Giorgi is stepping down, four months after the departure of his boss Christian Meissner, two people familiar with the situation told the FT.

Add to the list of things awaiting the reopening of the US government: plans by Cboe Global Markets to shake up the close of trading in the US equity market.

France has called for a new leadership to be put in place at Renault after its boss Carlos Ghosn was denied bail in Japan on Tuesday.

Snap’s executives are disappearing from the company as quickly as messages on its Snapchat app. The latest exit has left analysts on Wall Street “troubled” and the company’s shares eyeing their worst one-day performance since May 2018.

US applications for home loans continue to rebound, hitting an 11-month high last week as a pullback in mortgage rates fuelled a sharp increase in purchasing activity.

Goldman Sachs and Bank of America are eyeing their biggest one-day gains in years after their forecast-beating quarterly results continued to entice investors to snap up stocks in the beaten-up sector.

Tom Enders, chief executive of Airbus, said the company “may accelerate” its plans for a no-deal Brexit in light of the landmark rejection on Tuesday by Britain’s parliament of Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement.

Wall Street was off its highs by late morning but was eyeing its second consecutive daily rise on Wednesday, boosted by strong bank results and additional Chinese stimulus.

US homebuilder confidence bounced off a three-and-a-half year low in January, in the latest sign that the recent drop in mortgage rates is helping to revive activity in the housing sector.

Nordstrom said slower traffic in its department stores hurt sales during the critical holiday shopping season and warned that full-year earnings will come in around the low end of its guidance.

Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House of Representatives, has written to Donald Trump to ask him to delay his State of the Union address given the federal government shutdown.

Louis Dreyfus Company, the international agricultural trader, announced that it would exit its non-core dairy business by the middle of this year mid-2019 as part of its strategy to divest non-core businesses.

Goldman Sachs chief executive David Solomon has apologised to the “people of Malaysia” for the involvement of its former partner Tim Leissner in the multi billion dollar 1MDB money laundering and bribery scandal.

Global clean energy investment declined 8 per cent last year to reach $332.1bn, because of a Chinese crackdown on solar subsidies and the falling cost of wind and solar projects.

BlackRock has been targeted by an elaborate hoax involving a spoof letter purporting to be written by the fund group’s chief executive Larry Fink that was sent to media outlets.

Leo Varadkar has insisted he will not accept a time limit on the Irish border “backstop” after Theresa May’s Brexit deal defeat, in a sign that Dublin will seek to ride out any pressure to dilute measures to prevent a hard border in Ireland.

US stock futures were slightly higher on Wednesday, taking some encouragement from key bank earnings that beat Wall Street estimates.

Cinema chain Cineworld faced a slowdown in sales growth during the latter portion of 2018 with the release of a blockbuster Star Wars film the previous year leading to a challenging comparison.

A slower-than-expected recovery in the private jet market will hit 2018 earnings at Embraer, the Brazilian aircraft maker said on Wednesday.

Ford’s chief executive called for renewed investor patience amid a global turnround plan and a product offensive of pick-up trucks and sport utility vehicles, after the company forecast last year’s profits would come in at the bottom end of expectations.