Lufthansa and its partner MSC have been looking at financial data opened up by state-owned ITA Airways to see if the Italian airline would make a good strategic acquisition, the German carrier's chief executive said on Thursday.

HELSINKI (Reuters) -Finnish stainless steel maker Outokumpu saw its shares soar more than 6% on Thursday after reporting stronger-than-expected quarterly profits, boosted by higher prices for stainless steel and ferrochrome.

MILAN (Reuters) -UniCredit cheered investors by saying it would soon start a 1.6 billion euro ($1.7 billion) share buyback put at risk by the Ukraine war, even as it set aside almost as much to cover the cost of quitting Russia.

DUBLIN (Reuters) -Ryanair has no plans to tap the bond market to finance its Boeing 737 MAX deliveries but it is ready to move at short notice should attractive opportunities arise, Chief Financial Officer Neil Sorahan said on Thursday.

Megacap growth stocks dragged U.S. stock indexes lower at the open on Thursday, a day after the Federal Reserve's less aggressive tone sparked a rally.

Euro zone government bond yields extended their decline on Thursday after the Bank of England slashed its forecast for the British economy in 2023.