Inflation in France bounced back in March, data showed Friday, bolstering hopes that consumer prices in the eurozone are finally moving towards more growth-friendly levels.

French lawyers staged a walkout Friday while Air France staff went on strike over pay, adding to a growing wave of industrial unrest that threatens to slow President Emmanuel Macron's reform drive.

The Saudi stock market dipped on Thursday, despite news the kingdom had been granted secondary emerging market status by the global FTSE Russel index.

Stock markets in Europe and Asia were mostly lower on Wednesday as trade war fears continued to niggle at investor confidence, but Wall Street managed modest rebound in early business, traders said.

Wall Street opened mixed on Wednesday -- "up, down and all around" as one analyst put it -- with tech shares still in the dumps after Tuesday's selloff.

Saudi Arabia and Japan's SoftBank will partner to develop a massive, multi-billion-dollar solar project in the kingdom that could generate 200 gigawatts by 2030, SoftBank said Wednesday.

German consumers' outlook is brighter for April after wavering in March, a regular survey published Wednesday found, regaining confidence in the country's economic strength.

A wave of optimism flowed across stock markets on Tuesday, building on Wall Street's gains the previous session, as fears of a U.S.-China trade war receded.

Two of China's big state-owned banks said Tuesday their profits rebounded in 2017 after a pair of moribund years thanks to an accelerating domestic economy, and analysts expect further gains as a government credit clampdown favors big lenders.

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades hailed as "unprecedented" Tuesday the European Union's condemnation of Turkey for blocking his government's search for offshore oil and gas.