LG Electronics' mobile business dived into the red for the first time in 18 months during the third quarter, pulling down overall net profit despite a surge in home appliance sales, the company said Thursday.

The South Korean electronics maker said its handset unit, which includes smartphones, posted an operating loss of 77.6 billion won ($67.8 million)  in the July-September period.

German airline Lufthansa said Thursday it was raising its full-year forecasts after low oil prices and positive passenger numbers lifted profits in the third quarter. 

"The realignment of the Lufthansa group is now being reflected in good results. There is no question that the low oil price helped us to achieve these," said chief executive Carsten Spohr.

Norwegian oil giant Statoil on Wednesday again slashed its investment forecast for this year as dropping oil prices and writedowns led to weaker-than-expected third quarter earnings.

The group reported a net loss of 2.8 billion kroner (299 million euros, $329.1 million) during the quarter, which was an improvement on the 4.8-billion-kroner loss it registered in the same period a year ago owing to a vast cost savings program.

German auto giant Volkswagen said Wednesday that the global pollution-cheating scam it is currently embroiled in pushed it deeply into the red in the third quarter and would hurt earnings for the whole of 2015.

VW said in a statement that it booked a net loss of 1.673 billion euros ($1.85 billion) in the period from July to September, compared with a profit of 2.971 billion euros a year earlier. 

Weak U.S. economic data dented confidence on Asian trading floors Wednesday, sending investors running for safe investments ahead of policy announcements by the Federal Reserve and Japan's central bank.

Dealers are nervous heading into the corporate earnings season, with equities and currency markets having suffered their worst quarter for four years during July-September.

Troubled British bank Barclays on Wednesday announced the appointment of former JP Morgan investment banker James Staley as its new chief executive.

The 58-year-old American will take up his new role on December 1, the bank announced in a statement, indicating a renewed focus on its investment division.

U.S. Republican leaders Tuesday began selling the comprehensive budget deal they reached with the White House to fellow lawmakers, running into conservative opposition to lifting the debt ceiling without dramatic spending cuts.

The agreement, negotiated largely in secret between outgoing House Speaker John Boehner and the White House with input from other congressional leaders, would raise spending caps by modestly increasing federal spending by about $80 billion over the next two years.

European lawmakers on Tuesday approved an end to loathed mobile phone roaming charges in the EU by 2017 and adopted rules to ensure open internet access.

"This abolition of roaming surcharges has been long awaited by everybody: ordinary people, start-ups, SMEs and all kinds of organizations," said Pilar del Castillo, the Spanish MEP who helped steer the legislation through the European Parliament.

Syria's oil, gas and mineral resource industries have suffered losses totaling more than $50 billion since the country's conflict erupted in 2011, the oil minister said in comments published Tuesday.

Oil Minister Suleiman al-Abbas was quoted as saying by Syria's al-Watan newspaper that attacks carried out by "terrorist" groups and U.S.-led air strikes on jihadists have severely damaged infrastructure.

Saudi Arabia is studying a rise in its heavily-subsidized domestic energy prices, the oil minister said on Tuesday, as the kingdom confronts a record deficit caused by falling oil revenues.

"All prices eventually rise," Ali al-Naimi said on the sidelines of a mining conference.