The U.S. Federal Reserve must put the brakes on economic activity to tackle surging prices, James Bullard, president of the St Louis Fed, told the Financial Times in an interview.

The euro was pinned to a five-week low on Wednesday as prospects for peace in Ukraine seemed to darken, while the kiwi was boosted when New Zealand's central bank delivered its steepest rate hike in two decades.

Australia's competition watchdog on Wednesday took Honda Motor Co's local unit to court alleging the Japanese carmaker falsely claimed to its customers that two of its dealerships had stopped servicing Honda vehicles.

Top proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services on Tuesday recommended investors cast proxy votes against the pay of Wells Fargo & Co Chief Executive Charles Scharf and other leaders, citing concerns about the discretion used to award the pay and lack of disclosures.

BEIJING (Reuters) -China increased its overall trade with Russia and war-hit Ukraine in the first quarter from a year earlier in yuan terms, and Beijing said economic cooperation with both countries would remain normal.

Japan's core machinery orders posted their biggest monthly fall in nearly two years in February, official data showed on Wednesday, dragged down by a steep drop in demand from IT and other service firms to extend their decline into a second month.