Walt Disney struck a deal to buy TV, film and international business from 21st Century Fox for $52.4 in stock, to make it able to compete with growing rivals Netflix and Amazon.com.
Japan's business confidence strengthened for the fifth quarter in succession in Q4 to reach an 11-year high, as the economy gathered momentum from higher corporate profits and robust exports.
The US President Donald Trump spoke by phone with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin over the dangerous situation in North Korea and agreed on cooperation to resolve it.
The South African retail company Steinhoff said on Thursday that its major shareholder and CEO Christo Wiese was going to resign from his position.
Brazil was to delay a bill intended to reduce social benefits until February 19, 2018, a representative from the country's Congress said on Thursday.
The Governor of the Bank of Canada Stephen Poloz noted on Thursday that the Canadian economy was close to its full potential, thus requiring less stimulus in the future.
The Bank of Mexico increased its borrowing rate by 25 basis points to 7.25% on Thursday to reduce inflationary risks.
Teva Pharmaceutical has aimed to sell manufacturing plants, lay off at least 25% of its workforce and suspend dividends on ordinary shares to deal with its debts.
The value of Spotify has inched 20% higher and reached $19B during the last few months ahead of filing for the NYSE listing, outperforming many European and US tech indexes.
Italian Luxottica, eyewear maker, and French Essilor, lens manufacturer, are set to get the unconditional EU antitrust approval for the merger, which is worth €48B.
Renault has invested €36M in plant capacity to build approximately 6,000 sports vehicles annually under Alpine brand, as it launched a new production line in Dieppe, France.
The Euro zone government bond yields moved closer to multi-months lows as the ECB aimed to cut the bond-buying scheme, making it unclear if sharp corrections are due in 2018.
Saudi Aramco has aimed to regain the lost market share as soon as the OPEC-led pact terminates, as well as the company will push ahead expansion strategy to compete with Big Oil.
According to Canadian Real Estate Association, the home sales edged up in November, while the forecast for 2018 prices and sales were lowered amid stricter mortgage rules.
The US business inventories dropped in October due to sales growth, pointing out that inventory investment would not boost the economic growth during the fourth quarter of 2017.
Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel stated on Thursday that she considered there was a great chance to start the next phase of the Brexit talks.
On Thursday, the European Central Bank surged its GDP and inflation estimates, seeing inflation at 1.7% in 2020 and the GDP at 2.3% versus the previous forecast of 1.8%.
Import prices in the United States surged 0.7% in November, following the prior month's downwardly revised 0.1% gain, driven by the increased costs of the imported petroleum products.
China's President Xi Jinping stated that war must be avoided on the Korean Peninsula, adding that the issue should be resolved through the peace talks.
Delta Air Lines announced it would place a firm order for about 100 Airbus A321neo planes and optional order for 100 more jets.
The leader of the Austrian Conservatives Sebastian Kurz stated on Thursday that he expected to reach a deal on a new government formation with the far-right Freedom Party by the next week.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Teva Pharmaceuticals on Thursday to minimise its layoffs and maintain Teva's identity as the Israeli firm.
Saudi Arabia and Russia signed a roadmap deal to cooperate in the atomic energy sector, the Russian nuclear company Rosatom reported on Thursday.
The new President of Zimbabwe Emmerson Mnangagwa called for the Western sanctions removal, saying that the 2018 elections were closer than "you expected".