Reuters

France’s central bank on Thursday revised up slightly its 2018 growth forecast to 1.9 percent, after the French economy enjoyed its strongest growth in six years in 2017.

Asian stocks sagged on Thursday while government bonds attracted safe-haven demand amid mounting investor concerns that growing trade tensions will hurt the global economy.

German lawmakers voted on Wednesday to re-elect Angela Merkel as chancellor for a fourth, and likely final, term that may prove her most challenging yet as she takes charge of a fragile coalition with her personal standing diminished.

U.S. retail sales fell for a third straight month in February as households cut back on purchases of motor vehicles and other big-ticket items, pointing to a slowdown in economic growth in the first quarter.

Oil edged up on Wednesday as strong Chinese factory activity encouraged investor inflows into industrial commodities such as copper, although fast-growing U.S. crude output tempered price gains.

China’s real estate investment over the first two months of 2018 grew at it strongest pace since 2015, with developers rushing to roll out new projects as a government crackdown on risky financing triggered worries about future financing.

China’s industrial output grew much faster than expected at the start of the year, suggesting the economy may be picking up momentum even as U.S. President Donald Trump readies hefty tariffs.

Alphabet Inc’s Google said on Wednesday it will ban advertisements for cryptocurrencies and related content starting in June.

The administration of President Donald Trump is seeking to impose tariffs on $60 billion of Chinese imports and will target the technology and telecommunications sectors, a source who had discussed the issue with the White House said on Tuesday.

Oil fell more than 1 percent on concerns over rising U.S. production and as equities fell, erasing earlier gains driven in part by the firing of U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.