The Bank of England kept its main interest rate unchanged at 3.75% on Thursday with U.K. inflation remaining above target and economic growth is showing signs of picking up.

The decision was widely anticipated in financial markets but the split on the nine-member rate-setting panel was much closer than expected. Five members of the Monetary Policy Committee opted to keep rates unchanged while four voted for a quarter-point cut.

U.S. President Donald Trump has extended a 26-year-old free-trade agreement with African countries that was left in doubt last year when his administration allowed it to expire while enforcing his policy of reciprocal tariffs.

Trump on Tuesday signed into law an extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, or AGOA, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative.

Eurozone inflation eased in January to 1.7 percent, official data showed Wednesday, thanks to a faster decline in energy costs.

The rise in consumer prices dipped from 2.0 percent the month before, and fell below the European Central Bank's target of two percent. The January reading was in line with forecasts of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg and FactSet.

Indian lawmakers from the ruling coalition praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday for striking a deal with the U.S. that seeks to reduce tariffs on Indian goods, while the opposition raised questions on the impact on sensitive sectors such as agriculture.

President Donald Trump on Monday announced he plans to reduce import tariff on India, six months after imposing steep taxes to punish New Delhi for its unabated purchase of Russian oil that he claimed helped fuel Moscow's war machine against Ukraine.

Mexico and the United States said Tuesday that they had reached an agreement under which Mexico would send a minimum amount of water annually to the U.S.

President Donald Trump had threatened to raise tariffs by 5% on Mexican imports if it did not deliver more water. The countries have been negotiating the issue for months.

The Trump administration is expected to unveil its grandest plan yet to rebuild supply chains of critical minerals needed for everything from jet engines to smartphones, likely through purchase agreements with partners on top of creating a $12 billion U.S. strategic reserve to help counter China's dominance.

Vice President JD Vance is set to deliver a keynote address Wednesday at a meeting that Secretary of State Marco Rubio is hosting with officials from several dozen European, Asian and African nations. The U.S. is expected to sign deals on supply chain logistics, though details have not yet been revealed. Rubio met Tuesday with foreign ministers from South Korea and India to discuss critical minerals mining and processing.

Markets are mostly higher before the opening bell Tuesday as more corporate earnings arrive and lofty precious metals recover from recent sell-offs.

Global shares surged, led by a nearly 7% jump in South Korea's benchmark and a 3.9% rally in Tokyo that took the Nikkei 225 to a record as investors bought tech-related shares.

Bullied and buffeted by President Donald Trump's tariffs for the past year, America's longstanding allies are desperately seeking ways to shield themselves from the president's impulsive wrath.

U.S. trade partners are cutting deals among themselves —- sometimes discarding old differences to do so — in a push to diversify their economies away from a newly protectionist United States. Central banks and global investors are dumping dollars and buying gold. Together, their actions could diminish U.S. influence and mean higher interest rates and prices for Americans already angry about the high cost of living.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam met Tuesday with Jordan's Prime Minister Jaafar Hassan, on the sidelines of his participation in the World Governments Summit in Dubai.

Hassan proposed an initiative to hold a tripartite Syrian–Lebanese–Jordanian meeting in Amman, to discuss energy and electricity files, Lebanon's National news Agency said.

The Kremlin said Tuesday it had not received any indication from India that it would stop buying Russian oil following the announcement of a trade deal with U.S. President Donald Trump.

"So far, we haven't heard any statements from New Delhi on this matter," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, including AFP, a day after Trump said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised he would stop buying Russian oil as part of a deal to ease tariffs.