Hong Kong’s economy is continuing to recover, advanced figures showed Friday, albeit at a slightly slower than expected pace with little sign that the international finance hub’s coronavirus pandemic isolation will end any time soon.

Britain is nearing an agreement in principle on a free trade deal with New Zealand, its trade ministry said on Saturday, as London looks to bolster its post-Brexit trade ties with non-EU partners.

Mexican state energy giant Pemex said Wednesday that a recovery in oil prices helped it make a profit of around $720 million in the second quarter of 2021.

British bank Lloyds said Thursday that first-half net profits surged  on lower-than-expected credit losses as the economy extended its  recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Contracts to purchase previously owned US homes declined in June in step with a spike in home prices after rebounding strongly in the prior month.

China stepped up attempts to calm frayed investor nerves after a wild markets rout this week by telling foreign brokerages not to  “overinterpret” its latest regulatory actions, setting the stage for a rebound in beaten-down stocks on Thursday.

British car production rose by nearly a third in the first half of 2021 from last year’s slump, but remained down on the five-year average as the sector warned that Covid-19 continued to cause staffing and supply problems. 

Samsung Electronics’ net profits surged more than 70 per cent in the second quarter thanks to higher memory chip prices fuelled by pandemic-led demand, the South Korean tech giant reported Thursday.

A roughly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure investment bill advanced in the US Senate on Wednesday, passing a key milestone that moves the emerging legislation toward formal debate and possible passage. 

The US economy likely gained steam in the second quarter, with the pace of growth probably the second fastest in 38 years, as massive government aid and vaccinations against Covid-19 fueled spending on travel-related services.

Canadian pipeline operator TC Energy Corp could spend billions of dollars on its plans to lower emissions by switching to renewable energy to run its huge network of US and Canadian oil and gas pipelines. 

Sweden’s economy looks to have recovered all of the losses wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic, economists said, after preliminary figures released on Thursday showed the country was at the forefront of the economic rebound.

Spain’s unemployment rate fell in the second quarter of the year as companies hired more staff following the easing of Covid-19 restrictions, official data showed on Thursday.

Boeing Co on Wednesday posted its first quarterly profit in almost two years, as deliveries of its best-selling 737 MAX jets to airlines gained traction amid a sharp rebound in travel bookings following an increase in global Covid-19 vaccinations. 

GSK forecast a smaller drop in 2021 profit on Wednesday as the drugmaker beat second-quarter earnings expectations, buoyed by a recovery in routine visits to doctors as pandemic restrictions ease. 

Executives who run companies making everything from airplane parts to cars and steak burritos are at odds with economic policy makers on how durable the recent surge in US inflation will be and see higher prices hitting margins and profits through the remainder of this year, if not longer. 

Microsoft on Tuesday reported a jump in profits in the recently ended quarter, keeping strong momentum from accelerated gains in cloud computing during the pandemic. Profits for the fiscal fourth quarter rose 47 per cent to $16.5 billion and revenue grew 21 per cent to $46.2 billion.

British house prices fell in July after a coronavirus emergency tax break for buyers was scaled back at the end of June but demand for bigger homes as a result of the pandemic is likely to support the market, mortgage lender Nationwide said. 

The British High Court has agreed to hear a case by environmental campaigners claiming that the government’s support of North Sea oil and gas companies conflicted with its plans to slash the country’s carbon emissions by 2050. 

Beijing on Wednesday told Tencent and other tech developers to address  “harassing” pop-up windows on their apps, in the latest salvo in China’s battle against the sector.