Stock markets fell on Tuesday, the dollar retested its recent lows and gold extended its six-year high as investors remained shy of riskier assets and sought safety ahead of an expected meeting between the presidents of China and the US. 

UK retail sales were hit by unseasonably cold weather in May and the trend seems to have continued in June, according to a closely watched survey.

The UK’s financial regulator has already held discussions with Facebook over its planned digital currency and will seek many more, warning that the technology giant “will not walk through authorisation” likely needed from the watchdog to operate.

US drugmaker AbbVie has agreed to buy Allergan, the Irish-domiciled maker of Botox, in a deal worth about $63bn that marks the latest blockbuster transaction in the healthcare business this year.

Neil Woodford’s flagship fund, which froze £3.7bn of investor money this month, is one of only two funds over the past year out of a cohort of 3,000 that breached rules on holding unlisted assets, the head of the UK financial regulator has revealed.

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, has removed a host of large multinationals from its investment blacklist on ethical grounds.

Six of H2O Asset Management’s funds saw their combined assets tumble by more than €2.6bn last week, as investors pulled their money on concerns about holdings of debt linked to a controversial German financier.

A no-deal Brexit would deliver a “knockout blow” to the competitiveness of Britain’s automotive sector and could cost as much as £50,000 a minute from border delays, according to new analysis by the industry’s trade body.

French asset manager Tikehau has raised €715m in fresh capital, the largest amount raised so far this year in France.

Régis Schultz, the well-regarded chairman and chief executive of French retailer Casino's upmarket Monoprix banner, is leaving the group. 

Petrofac, the oilfield services company which remains under investigation by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office, said it has experienced “challenges” winning new work in Saudi Arabia and Iraq, two markets that were recently cited in the corruption inquiry.

Fashion retailer New Look has fallen to a full-year loss of over £500m after writing off £402m of goodwill and brand value, and added that current trading is "challenging" because of Brexit uncertainty and miserable weather.

Carpetright said it returned to sales growth in its new financial year and that its turnround plan is on track following an emergency restructuring to close shops and reduce rents last year.

The US dollar continued to lose ground on Tuesday amid rising expectations of rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, boosting other major currencies ahead of speeches by US rate-setters this week. 

The rally in gold continued in Asian trading on Tuesday with prices hitting a fresh, more than six-year high on the back of a weakening US dollar and heightened geopolitical tensions. 

China will issue Rmb2bn ($290.6m) of bonds in Macau in July, marking the first offshore issuance by the country's central government in the former Portuguese colony.

China’s vice-premier had a phone call with Steven Mnuchin, US Treasury secretary and Robert Lighthizer, US trade representative, on Monday, as trade talks resume ahead of an expected meeting of the two countries’ leaders later this week.

US stocks finished in the red on Monday after news of the Trump administration’s new sanctions on Iran wore down a positive start to the session that came courtesy of technology stocks.

Shares in some of the US’s biggest beauty and cosmetics groups lost their shine on Monday after Amazon unveiled a fresh push into the space.

Beyond Meat was poised to extend its longest losing streak since going public last month, taking some of the sizzle out of the high-flying vegan burger stock.

WarnerMedia has hired Ann Sarnoff as chief executive of Warner Bros, filling one of the biggest jobs in Hollywood after the storied studio’s previous chief was ousted in the wake of misconduct allegations.

Milan-Cortina has been selected as the host of the 2026 Winter Olympics, beating its only rival Stockholm for the prize of holding one of the world’s biggest sporting events.

Gold jumped to a six-year high and Treasuries rallied as Donald Trump said on Monday the US would impose new sanctions on Iran, spurring demand among investors for haven assets.

Lamine Diack, the former head of the International Association of Athletics Federation, will stand trial in France over allegations of corruption linked to a Russian doping scandal.