President Donald Trump on Sunday said the United States and Japan had agreed "in principle" to a "very big" bilateral trade deal.

Analysts have warned that Lebanon needs to accelerate reforms to revive its floundering economy, after a leading global agency downgraded the country's credit rating.

On Friday, Fitch bumped Lebanon down to "CCC" while Standard & Poor's kept it at "B-/B" with a negative outlook.

EU President Donald Tusk said Saturday that the bloc would retaliate against the United States if it imposed tariffs on French wine as President Donald Trump is threatening to do.

The Standard & Poor's credit rating agency on Friday kept Lebanon's rating at B- while the Fitch agency downgraded it from B- to CCC.

In a statement, S&P affirmed its long- and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on Lebanon at 'B-/B', saying that the outlook remains negative.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell vowed Friday to act to ensure that the U.S. economic expansion continues, but admitted the central bank had limited tools to respond to an intensifying trade war.

China announced Friday it will hit U.S. soybeans, lobsters, peanut butter and other imports worth $75 billion with new tariffs in retaliation for Washington's planned duty hikes, further intensifying the bruising trade war between the world's top two economies.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday pledged a quick response to China's decision to slap a new round of tariffs on U.S. goods, and told American firms to find an "alternative" to making their products in China.

Air India called Friday for government help after oil companies stopped supplying the debt-ridden national flag carrier with jet fuel at six domestic airports due to late payment of dues.

Ryanair flew an almost full service on Thursday, the Irish no-frills airline said despite strikes by pilots and cabin crew based in Britain and Portugal triggered by pay disputes.

European and Asian  stock markets faltered Thursday on the eve of a speech from  Federal Reserve head Jerome Powell for clues on the outlook for U.S. interest rates.