China continues efforts to modernize, diversify and expand its nuclear arsenal, with about 500 operational warheads today and more than 1,000 likely by 2030, the Pentagon said.

Intensifying Chinese pressure on Taiwan is prompting some equity investors to buck the trend and exit Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.

UBS Group AG is poised to start its next wave of job cuts at Credit Suisse, this time targeting about 10% of support staff, likely in areas such as compliance, risk and marketing, Financial News reported.

European natural gas prices resumed gains on mounting fears that the conflict in the Middle East will widen and affect global flows of the vital fuel ahead of winter.

European lenders including Deutsche Bank AG and ING Groep NV may suffer yet another setback on their arduous path to winning back investors, this time delivered by the European Central Bank.

Equities fell as investors responded to the threat of a weekend escalation in the Middle East conflict, driving oil and gold higher. Treasuries rose as yields at multi-year highs drew buyers.

L’Oreal SA shares fell after the cosmetics maker reported weaker-than-expected sales growth, hurt by a challenging travel retail market in China and Korea.

War in the Middle East could cause the oil price to surge to $140 a barrel and bring the world to the brink of a recession, according to Ana Boata, head of economic research at Allianz Trade.

An inflation-induced tax boom has left UK government borrowing on track to come in significantly below official forecasts this year, figures Friday show.