BUSINESS

Trucks carrying Coca Cola roll across the border into Russia, tourists return from abroad laden with Zara's latest designs, and local online marketplaces snap up IKEA's furniture stocks.

French food group Danone said on Wednesday it expected better margins this year after soaring raw materials and energy costs weighed down its full-year 2022 operating margin.

Toyota Motor Corp, the world's biggest automaker, said on Wednesday it would accept a union demand for the biggest base salary increase in 20 years and a rise in bonus payments, as Japan steps up calls for businesses to hike pay.

Britain's big supermarkets say they have never been more competitive on price, yet their customers are still flocking to German-owned discount stores Aldi and Lidl.

Brent crude oil slipped more than 1% in a volatile session on Tuesday as persistent concerns about global economic growth outweighed supply curbs and prompted investors to take profits on the previous day's gains.

Microsoft Corp has struck a 10-year deal to bring "Call of Duty" and other Activision games to Nvidia Corp's gaming platform if the Xbox maker is allowed to complete its much-contested $69 billion acquisition of Activision.

The dollar and sterling were buoyant on Wednesday, after a surprise rebound in business activity in the United States and the UK raised the likelihood that their respective central banks would have further to go in raising interest rates.

Productivity did not suffer from the lighter working weeks, with company revenue rising 1.4 percent on average over the trial.

British employers offered the biggest annual pay rises in 32 years during the three months to the end of January, but these increases are still a long way behind double-digit inflation, industry data showed on Wednesday.

Nurses in England will pause planned strike action to enter "intensive talks" with the British government on pay and conditions, both sides said on Tuesday, in the first sign of a break in a long-running dispute.

An analysis by Enterprise Nation reveals the number of new businesses registered in 2022 in the UK hit a record level.

Recruitment firm, Robert Half, has cautioned that the UK could face the same skills challenge in the next few years without an overhaul of skills development.

ChatGPT's ability to generate code can be utilised for data breaches, leaving businesses vulnerable to cyberattacks.

Walmart reported better-than-expected profits over the critical holiday-season quarter Tuesday, but offered a disappointing outlook as inflation weighs on consumers.

HSBC HSBA.L> said it still expects to complete the sale of its Russia business in first-half 2023, in the most significant update on the progress of the deal since it said in July 2022 it had agreed to sell the unit to local lender Expobank.

The world of stablecoins is suddenly looking shaky.

Britain looks on course to sidestep a forecast recession as businesses reported an unexpected bounce in activity this month as well as receding price pressures, according to a survey on Tuesday.

Surprisingly strong services growth meant the recovery in euro zone business activity gathered steam this month, expanding much faster than thought, according to a survey on Tuesday, the latest evidence the currency union could escape a recession.

Britain's government ran an unexpected budget surplus in January thanks to strong income tax receipts, giving finance minister Jeremy Hunt a little more leeway as he prepares to deliver a budget statement next month.

The Chief Growth Officer of CI&T stressed that it is crucial for retailers to up their game to survive this period, as consumers are engaging in prudent buying.

Prices of everyday basics like Bounty paper towels and Cadbury chocolate may rise again this year while those of others like Clorox Co wipes and Diet Pepsi are likely to stay steady.

Luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover said on Tuesday it is opening three new engineering hubs in Europe to develop autonomous vehicle technologies as part of its partnership with Silicon Valley artificial intelligence company Nvidia.

Administrators of Sova Capital, a collapsed London broker formerly controlled by Russian banker Roman Avdeev, are seeking UK court approval to sell a pile of Russian securities to Avdeev in a complex and novel attempt to shift illiquid Russian assets.

United Kingdom inflation eased to 10.1% in January 2023 and eased the pressure on the Bank of England. Many retailers, however, need to maintain higher product prices.

Italy is readying measures to address the issues holding back the country's capital markets and reinforce the role of the 200-year-old Borsa Italiana, according to government officials and a draft bill seen by Reuters on Monday.

Europe's main stock markets steadied Monday after record highs for London and Paris last week as investors bet on prospects for a brighter economy despite lingering recession risks caused by high inflation.

European shares were flat on Monday, with the sustained gains in miners on bets of a demand recovery in China countering a fall in Telecom Italia that led the decliners in eurozone stocks.

Tough capital rules for banks holding cryptoassets must be fast-tracked in the European Union's pending banking law if Europe wants to avoid missing a globally-agreed deadline, the bloc's executive has said.

New trending workplace phenomenon, 'Quiet Hiring', describes the practice of companies filling vacancies - without doing any actual hiring.