Articles By Geetha Pillai
Like-for-like sales excluding fuel declines 1.8% in the first three months of the year.
Markets await a string of key regional data apart from quarterly earnings reports.
Most Asian indices near a two-year peak boosted by positive earnings reports.
Toyota expects 40% rise in 2014 profit on increased sales outside Japan.
Looking forward, Next is anticipating a group profit in the range of £615m to £665m.
Investors are awaiting earnings reports despite positive Asia performance.
Asian markets continue to gain for the third day in the week.
EasyJet reports 2.5% increase in passenger bookings in April.
Sales or costs are manipulated in companies with the knowledge of bosses, according to E&Y Fraud survey.
Firms remain confident on the back of predicted growth in export orders.