US stocks withstood a choppy session to close — by slim margins — at record highs in the wake of China announcing it agreed a gradual reduction in tariffs as part of an interim trade deal between Beijing and Washington.

US consumers cut back on discretionary spending at the start of the holiday shopping season, signalling that a key driver of economic growth may have cooled more than expected in the fourth quarter.

Stocks across Asia jumped on Friday as political risks appeared to melt away, with the ruling Conservative party on course to win the UK’s general election and the emergence of a possible US-China trade deal.

US stocks jumped, pushing the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite to record closing highs, after Donald Trump spurred investor hopes a “BIG DEAL” on trade between the US and China was close.

The co-founder of Bonobos is leaving Walmart little more than two years after he agreed to sell the online men’s clothing store to the US retailer and took charge of its burgeoning collection of digitally focused brands.

An underlying measure of US whole sales prices was unexpectedly unchanged in November, signalling inflation remains subdued.

Several factors including design, poor drainage and heavy rainfall caused the deadly dam breach at Vale’s Córrego do Feijão mine in January, according to an independent report commissioned by the company.

Palladium — the metal of choice for the discerning car thief — powered to a record high on Thursday on fears of a supply crunch.

Industrial production in the eurozone contracted in October, dragged lower by a steepening downturn in Germany and Italy, although French factories’ output expanded thanks to their specialisation in consumer goods.

Turkey’s central bank has slashed its benchmark interest rate for the fourth time this year as it pushed ahead with a drive to kick-start lending and revive economic growth.

The Swiss National Bank warned on Thursday against the politicisation of monetary policy with climate change activism, even as it sought to damp public disquiet over its now five-year-old policy of negative interest rates.

Argentina’s new economy minister, Martín Guzmán, pledged that the new government would avoid confrontation and seek constructive relations with its creditors, as it seeks to stave off its ninth sovereign debt default.

The shale oil pioneer Harold Hamm plans to step aside as chief executive of Continental Resources a half century after he founded it, the company said on Wednesday. 

Brazil’s central bank cut its benchmark interest rate for a fourth straight meeting, shrugging off a drop in the currency.

US stocks closed within a whisker of record highs, buoyed on Wednesday by the Federal Reserve’s confidence in the labour market and the central bank’s projection interest rates would remain on hold through 2020.

The Federal Reserve in December opted to leave rates on hold as expected and ditched language referencing “uncertainties” in its outlook in its latest statement.

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday indicated it will leave policy on hold for an extended period of time putting off a change in interest rates until 2021.

The former president of GM said transportation is “broken” and that the “much-ballyhooed” rise of ride-hailing groups has only entrenched the problems of pollution and congestion that it had meant to solve.

Inditex, the world’s largest clothing retailer, reported a 12 per cent jump in net profit to €2.7bn in the first nine months of the year, helped by a rollout of stock-tracking technology and flagship store openings.

Perfect Day, a California based vegan dairy start-up focused on microbial fermentation, has closed a $140m funding round led by Singapore’s Temasek.

US consumer prices climbed more than expected last month, driven by rent and energy costs, though an underlying gauge of inflation remained muted, reinforcing expectations the Federal Reserve will leave rates on hold.

Investors have scrambled to protect against a fall in the pound following the UK general election on Thursday as polls suggest the race is tightening.

A UK regulator has warned of the risk that Amazon’s investment in Deliveroo will harm competition in the online food delivery and grocery markets and threatened a deeper probe into the deal.

Visa will enter a partnership with MFS Africa, a pan-African mobile money hub, with a view to linking Africa’s mobile money ecosystem with global digital payments and tapping into the $50bn African remittance market.