1 German unemployment fell last month and the jobless rate held at a post-reunification low, thanks to "moderate economic growth" in Europe's largest economy, the Federal Labour Office said yesterday.

2 There are downside risks to the United States economic outlook, said New York Federal Reserve president William Dudley, an assessment that could flag a longer pause before the Fed's next interest-rate hike.

3 Japan became the first Group of 7 nation to auction 10-year government bonds at a negative yield yesterday, but a relentless whittling down of global inflation meant investors still lapped up the highly rated debt.

4 Handbag and accessories maker Kate Spade & Co reported a 7.6 per cent rise in quarterly sales, driven by demand for its Kate Spade New York line of products in North America.

5 Yahoo said it may have to write down the goodwill value of Tumblr, more than two years after the web pioneer spent US$1.1 billion (S$1.54 billion) to buy the microblogging site.