Bank of America overcame tighter lending margins to produce better than expected growth in net income in the second quarter, with tight cost control and lower provisions for loan losses leading the way.

Global stock markets were subdued on Wednesday after Donald Trump damped hopes of a swift resolution to trade talks with China, while sterling came under further pressure, extending its run lower on growing no-deal Brexit fears.

The Pensions Regulator is probing concerns some employers are changing their business names to avoid their pension duties to staff.

The head of the UK’s financial regulator said the meltdown of Neil Woodford’s flagship equity fund, which has frozen £3.7bn of investor money, was an example of a firm appearing to “be following the letter of the rules but not the spirit”.

Sterling was trading below $1.24 on Wednesday morning amid dollar strength and growing investor concern that a no-deal Brexit is becoming increasingly likely.

The UK’s inflation rate remained unchanged in June, meeting the Bank of England’s target for the second month in a row.

Elliott, the activist hedge fund manager, has taken a 5 per cent stake in Saga, the specialist insurance and travel group.

Tanzania has stepped up the pressure on gold miner Acacia Mining, ordering it to stop using a waste storage facility at its largest gold mine by Saturday, an act that could cripple operations.

Shares in London-listed oil companies slid on Wednesday after an apparent thaw in US-Iran tensions sent the price of crude tumbling.

Political upheaval in Hong Kong has hit sales at Swiss watch maker Swatch in the first half of the year as the fallout from a controversial extradition bill continues to reverberate.

Renault is to inject €128m (£116m) into an electric vehicle joint venture with China’s Jiangling Motors, giving the French carmaker greater exposure to the world’s largest market for EVs.

Premier Oil has cut its forecast for 2019 operating costs following strong production in the first half of the year and ongoing tight controls on spending as it continues to tackle its $2.15bn debt pile.

GVC, the owner of betting shop chain Ladbrokes Coral, reported double digit online growth as it seeks to offset a sharp fall in revenue from its UK retail arm.

DouYu International, the Chinese video streaming company backed by Tencent, has priced its Nasdaq initial public offering at the lower end of its indicated range, amid prevailing investor caution toward China tech offerings.

The US has announced sanctions on Myanmar’s military commander-in-chief, banning him from the country over his alleged involvement in human rights abuses against the Rohingya ethnic minority.

Singapore’s non-oil exports slumped by their most in more than six years in June, in the latest sign of trouble for the island nation’s economy amid global trade tensions and slowing growth.

United Airlines tweaked its profit outlook higher for the full year despite the financial impact of the grounding of the carrier’s 737 Max fleet, cutting capacity guidance and announcing second-quarter earnings well above market expectations.

Wall Street eased back from record highs on Tuesday amid worries over US-China trade talks, adding to the cautious mood in global markets as investors fixated on the first round of earnings from America’s banking heavyweights.

Oil prices lurched lower on Tuesday on the prospect of easing tensions between the US and Iran as secretary of state Mike Pompeo said Tehran signalled willingness to discuss its weapons programme.

Investors took a slice out of Domino’s stock on Tuesday after the pizza chain posted weaker sales growth than expected amid intensifying competition from online food delivery services.

France has agreed to back Romania’s Laura Codruta Kovesi to head the new European Public Prosecutor’s office instead of its own candidate Jean-François Bohnert, according to French and Romanian sources.

Christine Lagarde submitted her resignation as managing director of the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday following her nomination to serve as the next European Central Bank chief.

COFCO International, the overseas trading arm of China’s largest agriculture company, has secured a three-year sustainability linked $2.1bn loan from a consortium of 20 banks, at a time when borrowers and lenders are looking to uptake more green finance.

T Rowe Price, one of the world’s largest asset managers, has become the latest — and largest — fund manager to cover research costs globally in response to sweeping changes to the investment research business.