Reuters

By Joan Faus

BARCELONA (Reuters) - Crunch elections in Catalonia next week will test the wisdom of the latest political gambles by Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who aims to use the vote to buoy his power nationally but risks inadvertently awakening a dormant Catalan separatism.

Sanchez aims to wrest control of the wealthy region in the May 12 vote from separatists who wield outsized influence over Spanish politics. But if his... (continue reading...)

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian court cancelled the seizure of part of JPMorgan Chase's funds in Russia in a dispute with Russian state-owned bank VTB, according to a court document.

JPMorgan said in a filing on Wednesday that its assets in Russia may be seized after lawsuits in Russian and U.S. courts.

The bank faces several legal challenges over its Russian dealings after the U.S. and European nations imposed economic sanctions on Russia... (continue reading...)

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese household spending probably accelerated its pace of declines in March, a Reuters poll showed on Thursday, underscoring the difficulties facing policymakers keen to engineer self-sustaining economic growth and normalise monetary policy.

March household spending could fall 2.4% from the same month a year earlier, compared with the prior month's 0.5% decline, according to the poll of 16 economists.

That would mark... (continue reading...)

By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Shipping group Maersk raised its full-year profit guidance after posting better than expected quarterly earnings on Thursday, citing strong container shipping demand and the diverting of vessels around Africa to avoid the Red Sea.

The Copenhagen-based company, viewed as a barometer of world trade, said growth in demand for ocean container shipping was at the upper end of the expected 2.5-4.5%... (continue reading...)

By Ron Bousso

LONDON (Reuters) - Shell on Thursday reported first-quarter adjusted earnings of $7.7 billion, sharply beating expectations, on the back of strong oil trading and higher refining margins.

The oil major also announced it will repurchase a further $3.5 billion of its shares over the next three months, at a similar rate to the previous quarter. Its dividend remained unchanged.

"Shell delivered another quarter of... (continue reading...)