ZURICH (Reuters) -Swiss chocolate maker Barry Callebaut confirmed its mid-term guidance on Wednesday after reporting an 8.9% rise in sales volumes in the three months to Nov. 30, helped by easier comparisons and a strong performance of its business for chefs and caterers.

Foreign investors are piling into China at the start of 2022, seeing it as a haven from the inflation, growth and pandemic problems plaguing most other markets.

Laser-focused on how aggressive the Federal Reserve will be in tightening policy, some U.S. investors and strategists are starting to worry about what may seem a distant threat: a sharp economic slowdown or even the next recession.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Commerce Department said Tuesday a global survey of semiconductor chip producers and users shows a shortage will persist, sparked primarily by wafer production capacity constraints.

U.S. President Joe Biden has threatened to impose devastating sanctions on Russia if leader Vladimir Putin invades Ukraine, but some big companies and business groups are pushing the White House and lawmakers to be cautious.

TOKYO (Reuters) -Some Bank of Japan policymakers saw consumer inflation briefly accelerating towards their 2% target as price pressures build up on changing corporate price-setting behaviour, a summary of opinions at the bank's January meeting showed on Wednesday.