The pound fell sharply yesterday after Prime Minister Theresa May announced Britain was seeking a delay to its exit from the European Union until June 30, while investors awaited the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate call.

Japan’s government downgraded its assessment of the economy in March for the first time in three years, blaming a bruising US-China trade war for slumping exports and industrial output.

Asian markets mostly fell yesterday with nervous investors keeping tabs on developments in China-US trade talks and the Brexit saga, while awaiting the conclusion of a key Federal Reserve meeting.

Two fatal accidents involving Boeing 737 MAX jets in the last six months have resulted in their grounding worldwide.

With airlines remaining focused on efficiency, single-aisle jets are at the centre of fleet plans for several airlines around the globe.

The European Union executive is urging EU leaders this week to get tough on trade with Beijing and use their €2.4tn ($2.7tn) market in public tenders as leverage to pressure countries such as China to open up.

BMW AG warned earnings will fall “well below” last year’s level, and embarked on a €12bn ($14bn) efficiency drive to offset the impact of trade conflicts and unprecedented spending on electric cars.

Qatar Airways on Wednesday celebrated the arrival of its 250th aircraft, an Airbus A350-900 from Toulouse, France; the latest addition to the group’s growing fleet of passenger, cargo and executive aircraft.

Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) has successfully priced a $750mn five-year sukuk at par with a profit rate of 3.982%, which is equivalent to a credit spread of 150bps over US dollar-denominated mid-swaps.

The State of Qatar, which is among the world’s top exporters of liquefied natural gas (LNG), remains at the forefront of efforts to minimise methane emissions, according to an official of the Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah International Foundation for Energy & Sustainable Development.

Increased buying interests of foreign institutions on Wednesday led the Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) into a positive trajectory to inch near 10,000 levels.

Driven mainly by Ooredoo’s two major markets, Qatar and Indonesia, data revenue contributed QR14.2bn, or 47%, of the group’s total revenue in 2018, chairman Sheikh Abdulla bin Mohamed bin Saud al-Thani said last night.