Europe

Spain fines Booking.com over $446 million for alleged anti-competitive practices

Booking.com will appeal the "unprecedented" decision, arguing it offers valuable programs to support accommodation partners

Eurozone inflation unexpectedly rises to 2.6 percent in July; will ECB cut rates?

The eurozone's service sector inflation declined to 4 percent from 4.1 percent in June

Eurozone GDP rises 0.3 percent in Q2 2024, exceeding analyst projections as Germany unexpectedly shrinks

Germany, Eurozone's biggest economy, unexpectedly contracted 0.1 percent in Q2

EU agri-food trade surplus reaches $5.43 billion in April 2024, driven by higher prices and increased exports

Exports reached €19.8 billion ($21.5 billion), mainly due to increased prices of olives and olive oil

EU, Singapore conclude negotiations for landmark Digital Trade Agreement

The agreement aims to build trust, ensure predictability for businesses, and remove barriers to digital trade

Global gas demand forecast to grow 2.5 percent in 2024, driven by Asia: IEA

However, global demand growth is expected to fall below 2 percent year-over-year in the second half of 2024

China sees surge in foreign tourism with visa-free policies, diverse payment options

14.64 million foreign nationals entered China through various ports during the first six months of the year

France’s economy projected to grow 0.9 percent in 2024, 1.3 percent in 2025: IMF

Real GDP grew by 1.1 percent in 2023, supported by net exports, while consumption remained weak

Global wealth poised for continued growth, $83 trillion intergenerational transfer by 2040: Report

In 2023, wealth growth across the world has recovered from its 3 percent contraction the previous year

Global gold ETFs plummet $6.7 billion in 2024, marking worst performance in over a decade: Report

Data showed that Asia was an outlier that registered inflows of $3.1 billion in H1 2024

Germany’s inflation eases to 2.5 percent in June, paving way for ECB rate cut

Inflation in Europe's largest economy had already slackened to 2.3 percent in March, its lowest level since June 2021

Germany’s renewable energy share reaches 58 percent in first half of 2024

Photovoltaic systems generated more than 10 billion kilowatt hours of electricity in one month for the very first time in June

Denmark to introduce first-ever carbon tax on agriculture

The deal calls for taxing farmers 300 Danish crowns ($43.16) per ton of CO2 in 2030, increasing to 750 crowns by 2035

Spain’s GDP expands 2.5 percent annually in Q1 2024, exceeding initial estimates

GDP grew by 0.8 percent sequentially, a faster pace than the 0.7 percent growth seen in the fourth quarter of 2023

ECB may cut interest rates twice more this year, to reach as low as 2.25 percent in 2025

While the ECB must ensure inflation returns to 2 percent, it shouldn’t overly dampen economic activity with interest rate cuts

South Korea’s overseas assets reach new high of $1.911 trillion

External financial assets reached $1.911 trillion at the end of December last year

Oracle to invest over $1 billion in AI and cloud computing in Spain

Madrid is expected to receive investments of more than 6 billion euros from the cloud industry in the next three years

U.K. inflation reaches central bank’s 2 percent target: Will policymakers respond with rate cuts?

This marks the lowest annual increase in the consumer price index since mid-2021, in line with analysts' forecasts

ECB shouldn’t rush or delay future interest rate cuts: Bank of France governor

France central bank governor calls on governments and regulators to boost capital markets union to help close investment gap

ECB cuts interest rates for the first time since 2019, down to 3.75 percent from 4 percent

Eurosystem staff now see headline inflation averaging 2.5 percent in 2024, 2.2 percent in 2025, and 1.9 percent in 2026

China reclaims top spot with $196.5 billion in international tourism spending in 2023: Report

This reflects the continued recovery of the Asia and Pacific (APAC) region from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic

Microsoft to invest $3.2 billion in cloud and AI infrastructure expansion in Sweden

The tech giant plans to deploy 20,000 advanced GPUs at its Swedish data centers

Eurozone inflation hits 2.6 percent in May, services inflation reaches 7-month high of 4.1 percent

Until this month, Eurozone inflation had been steadily declining towards the ECB's 2 percent target

U.K. headline inflation falls to 2.3 percent in April, but core and services prices remain elevated

Services inflation eased only slightly to 5.9 percent from 6 percent, missing the 5.5 percent forecast