Headlines

The number of corporate insolvencies in Germany rose to ‌a 13-year high in the first ‌half of 2026 despite signs of a nascent recovery ​in Europe's largest economy, figures from the federal statistics office showed on Friday, Reuters reported. Local courts reported 12,812 corporate insolvency filings from January to June, ‌an increase ⁠of 6.7% year-on-year, with transportation and warehousing the most affected sectors. The ⁠last time a higher figure was recorded for the first half was in 2013, with ​13,253 cases.

U.K. economic growth rose unexpectedly in July following a strong start to the year, with activity continuing to perform strongly despite a rise in energy prices due to the war in the Middle East, the Wall Street Journal reported. Gross domestic product rose 0.4% at the start of the third quarter, following a rise of 0.3% in June, the U.K.'s statistics agency said Friday. The data signals continued strength in the U.K. economy following a solid performance in the first half of 2026.

A drawn-out conflict in the Middle East ‌risks keeping inflation elevated for a ‌long period but the European Central Bank ​could also damage economic growth if it raises interest rates "a great deal more", ECB policymaker Gabriel Makhlouf said on ‌Friday, Reuters reported. The ECB ⁠raised borrowing costs on Thursday for the second time this ⁠year and sources told Reuters policymakers expect further policy tightening in the ​months ahead, ​with a move ​possible as early ‌as October.

Fifty European CEOs and investors have urged EU legislators not to "dilute" the bloc's EU Inc. law, currently under negotiation in Brussels, according to a joint letter sent to policymakers on Thursday, EuroNews.com reported. The law would make it cheaper and easier for businesses to launch and operate across EU borders and is expected to be approved by the end of the year. However, negotiations in Brussels suggest the final version may fall short of what many startup founders had hoped for. The EU Inc.

The IMF said on Thursday the global economy ‌had weathered the energy shock caused by the war in the Middle East better than feared and global economic output was still expected to expand by about 3% in 2026, but it cautioned that risks remained high, Reuters reported. Julie Kozack, spokesperson for the International Monetary Fund, said that oil and gas prices remained elevated and the energy shock from the war ​was not over. Global debt pressures were also mounting and the disinflation process over the 2022 cost-of-living crisis had stalled.

French central bank chief Emmanuel Moulin said on Friday that France ‌was not in catastrophic economic danger but ‌the government must act to reduce the country's public deficit, Reuters reported. Moulin ​was speaking after INSEE revised its economic forecast for the euro zone's second-largest economy lower on Thursday, predicting growth of just 0.4% this year. Moulin ‌cited several factors ⁠such as a deadly heatwave and issues at Airbus. France's national statistics institute previously ⁠forecast growth of 0.7% for 2026, short of last year's 0.9% expansion.

Austria's central bank has trimmed its economic growth forecast for the ‌country in 2026 due to a weaker-than-expected ‌first six months of the year, but raised it for ​next year as the outlook is improving, it said on Friday, Reuters reported. In an update to its last economic forecasts published in June, the Austrian National Bank (OeNB) ‌said it now ⁠expects gross domestic product to grow by 0.5% this year, 0.1 points less ⁠than it had previously predicted. It raised its forecast for 2027, however, to 1.3% from 1.1%.

Prediction markets are "rife with inside trading," the European Securities and Markets Authority said in a risk monitor giving the sector its own chapter, Decrypt.com reported. It lists three episodes. New wallets made $1.2 million hours before February's strike on Iran; by May, Bubblemaps had traced nine linked accounts to $2.4 million of Iran bets that won 98% of the time. A U.S. Army master sergeant was charged over $400,000 of Polymarket profits on the capture of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.

Mexico and the United States are racing to reach a bilateral trade deal before the U.S. midterm elections in less than eight weeks, according to six sources in both countries familiar with the talks, an effort made ​more urgent by the collapse of Canadian negotiations with Washington, Reuters reported. "We both want to reach a deal before the midterms," said one Mexico-based source, who spoke on condition of anonymity to ‌discuss private talks. The negotiations are aimed at striking an interim bilateral bargain under which Mexico could win relief from some U.S.

Westmont Hospitality Group agreed to buy China Evergrande Group’s iconic log-cabin hotel in Canada out of bankruptcy proceedings after the Chinese real estate company failed to make payments on its debt, Bloomberg News reported. Fairmont Le Château Montebello, which has hosted luminaries including Grace Kelly and Margaret Thatcher, was put up for sale this year by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the court-appointed receiver. The acquisition was approved by the Quebec Superior Court in a decision released Thursday, and the transaction is expected to close on Nov. 15.