The United States added 37 Chinese entities to a trade blacklist Thursday, including some companies accused of supporting a suspected spy balloon that flew over U.S. soil last year.

The Commerce Department said it also took aim at those that sought to acquire US goods to advance China's quantum technology capabilities.

The British economy bounced back strongly in the first three months of the year, bringing to an end to what economists termed a "technical recession", official figures showed Friday.

The Office for National Statistics said the economy grew by 0.6% in the first quarter from the previous three-month period, with broad-based strength across the crucial services sector in particular.

Global shares traded higher Friday after a rally on Wall Street that pulled the S&P 500 back within 1% of its record.

In London, the FTSE 100 rose 0.8% to 8,448.34 as the government reported that the British economy bounced back strongly in the first three months of the year, bringing to an end to what economists termed a "technical recession."

China is actively seeking foreign investment to boost its slowing growth, but that very sluggishness is weighing on company plans to expand their businesses in the world's second largest economy, an annual survey of more than 500 European companies found.

The slowing economy is now the dominant concern of respondents to the European Chamber of Commerce in China survey, which was released Friday. China still ranks high as a place to invest, but the share of companies considering an expansion of their operations in the country this year fell to 42%, the lowest ever recorded.

A federal judge has questioned whether Apple has set up a gauntlet of exasperating hurdles to discourage the use of alternative payment options in iPhone apps, despite a court order seeking to create more ways for consumers to pay for digital services.

The verbal sparring between Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers and the head of Apple's app store kicked off a hearing focused on whether Apple is still steering U.S. consumers to its once-exclusive app payment system in defiance of an injunction aimed at promoting more choices that could help lower prices.

Prices in Argentina have surged so dramatically in recent months that the government has multiplied the size of its biggest bank note in circulation by five — to 10,000 pesos, worth about $10.

The central bank announcement Tuesday promised to lighten the load for many Argentines who must carry around giant bags — occasionally, suitcases — stuffed with cash for simple transactions. Argentina's annual inflation rate reached 287% in March, among the highest in the world.

U.S. President Joe Biden has laced into Donald Trump over a failed project in the previous administration that was supposed to bring thousands of new jobs into southeastern Wisconsin and trumpeted new economic investments under his watch that are coming to the same spot.

That location in the battleground state will now be the site of a new data center from Microsoft, whose president credited the Biden administration's economic policies for paving the way for the new investments. For Biden, it offered another point of contrast between him and Trump, who had promised a $10 billion investment by the Taiwan-based electronics giant Foxconn that never came.

Nissan's profit for the fiscal year through March jumped 92% to 426.6 billion yen ($2.7 billion) as sales grew in all major global markets except China, the Japanese automaker said Thursday.

Annual sales surged nearly 20% to 12.7 trillion yen ($81.5 billion), Nissan Motor Co. said.

The opening ceremony of the third edition of the Middle East Clean Energy Exhibition and Conference took place on Wednesday afternoon, May 8th. The event was attended by Minister of Energy and Water Walid Fayad. The exhibition and conference, specialized in clean and renewable energy, showcased cutting-edge technologies, along with a range of related solutions and services. Exhibitors presented their commercial products, including inverters, panels, batteries, solar heaters, and project financing. The event is scheduled to run until May 10th, 2024, at Hotel Phoenicia in the heart of Beirut.

The ceremony began with the Lebanese national anthem, followed by a speech by Beirut Expo's founder, Farhat Farhat, emphasizing the importance of holding such initiatives despite internal challenges and the war in southern Lebanon.

Wall Street shifted between gains and losses before the opening bell Tuesday as more corporate earnings arrive during what is otherwise expected to be relatively quiet week.

Futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average each rose less than 0.1%.