Thai Air Asia X, a joint venture including Malaysia’s AirAsia X, the long-haul segment of low-cost Air Asia, and its Thai unit, will be seeking an IPO soon, Tony Fernandes, founder and chairman of AirAsia, said on Friday.

Shares in indebted aviation-to-finance conglomerate HNA Group’s flagship unit fell by the maximum 10 per cent in Shanghai on Friday, their first trading day in more than six months, as the company returns to the market after an internal reorganisation. 

Former Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang has lost his appeal against a conviction for misconduct in public office in a case that underlines the city’s concerns over the close links between politicians and tycoons.

Equities in Asia-Pacific were broadly lower on Friday, tracking Wall Street, while Australian stocks bucked the trend.

Shares in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, a key Apple supplier, jumped to its highest in three months in Taipei on Friday after the company said it expected an improvement in smartphone sales in the second half of 2018.

China’s currency weakened further on Friday, crossing the Rmb6.8 per dollar mark after marking its biggest fall against the dollar since February during the previous session. 

Microsoft began its new fiscal year on Thursday with an optimistic growth forecast thanks to surging demand for its cloud services, boosting its shares to a record high.

President Donald Trump has asked a senior aide to invite Vladimir Putin to Washington this autumn and discussions are under way, press secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted on Thursday. Mr Trump has also said he will be the Russian president’s “worst enemy” if the US-Russia relationship doesn’t work out.

President Donald Trump moved to invite Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to Washington this year, as the top intelligence official in the US said he wished the meeting between the two leaders this week had gone differently.

Twitter has reshuffled its board, appointing former Nigerian finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and former World Bank chief Robert Zoellick as directors and saying Dame Marjorie Scardino, former Pearson chief executive, would step down at the end of the year.

Stocks slid further into the red by market close on Thursday, with investors unsettled by the state of trade talks between the US and China and comments from President Donald Trump criticising the Federal Reserve.

Uber’s head of finance is leaving to become chief financial officer at DoorDash, the food delivery start-up, in the latest executive departure at the car booking company as it prepares for an initial public offering next year.

Merck became the latest drugmaker to say it would exercise restraint over its prices amid growing pressure from the Trump administration over the soaring cost of medicines.

A rough day for emerging market currencies got a little brighter after US president Donald Trump on Thursday expressed his displeasure at the strength of the US dollar.

UK politicians have voted to give anonymity to all MPs under investigation in a move that critics have warned is a “cover up”.

Wall Street edged lower on Thursday following a spate of disappointing earnings and as investors appeared to turn cautious amid concerns that US-China trade talks have stalled.

Share prices of UK listed companies moved abnormally ahead of more than one in five takeover announcements last year, the highest level since the aftermath of the financial crisis.

Dominic Raab, the UK’s new Brexit secretary, has promised to inject “renewed energy vim and vigour” into the country’s Brexit negotiations during his first visit to Brussels.

Royal Mail has suffered a chastening blow from its shareholders over boardroom pay in one of the biggest* ever investor revolts of its kind for a FTSE 350 company.

Shares in Bank of New York Mellon tumbled nearly 6 per cent on Thursday after the losses of two big clients raised concerns about pressures on the business.

Airbus and Boeing are expecting to sell more aircraft than they deliver this year, in a sign of continued buoyant demand despite growing trade tensions.

President Donald Trump has hit out at Brussels’ decision to slap Google with a record €4.3bn antitrust fine, suggesting the move provided further evidence that the EU had “taken advantage” of the US.

A widely-watched measure of volatility in Treasury markets has fallen to a new low for the year, despite broader consternation over trade disputes and warning signals in the bond market that the US may be headed toward recession.

Philip Morris International’s bet on a smoke-free future has hit a snag. The world’s biggest listed tobacco company sharply lowered full-year earnings guidance on Thursday as efforts to win customers for its smokeless devices struggled to gain traction.