Deutsche Bank, Germany's biggest bank, said Tuesday improved market conditions boosted underlying profits in the third quarter, even if net profit was down due to a much bigger tax bill.

Deutsche Bank said in a statement its net profit amounted to 755 million euros ($980 million) in the period from July to September, compared with 777 million euros a year earlier.

Bayer, the German maker of Aspirin, said Tuesday bottom-line earnings were hit by litigation costs connected with its Yasmin oral contraceptive in the third quarter, but it remained confident for the full year.

Bayer said in a statement its net profit fell by 17.8 percent to 528 million euros ($688 million) in the period from July to September.

A Greek investigative journalist was sent for trial on Monday charged with breach of privacy after publishing names from an alleged list of Swiss bank accounts that the Athens government has been accused of trying to cover up.

Costas Vaxevanis, a veteran television journalist who is editor of the "Hot Doc" magazine, appeared in court in Athens after the list was published in its Saturday issue.

French President Francois Hollande was under new pressure on Monday to ramp up the competitive position of lagging French industry after top business leaders demanded a 30-billion-euro cut in welfare charges paid by employers and big cuts in state spending.

Hollande, who is grappling with pre-election pledges to create jobs and spur growth while being forced to embrace austerity to plug a 37-billion-euro ($47 billion) hole in public finances, was set to discuss the issue with the heads of the World Bank, IMF and other top financial institutions in Paris.

The world's markets may believe that the worst of the financial crisis in Europe is over after three turbulent years, but those people who control the purse strings of the world's businesses are not breathing any easier.

An annual survey of finance directors from global business consultancy BDO finds that the crisis over too much government debt in Europe remains one of their key concerns — so much so that Greece is considered a riskier place to invest and set up business in than war-torn Syria.

Japan's Honda Motor said Monday that first-half net profit more than doubled to $2.7 billion, but its shares dived as the automaker warned full-year results would be much weaker than forecast.

Investors pushed the stock down more than 5.0 percent to 2,390 yen in Tokyo as they reacted to news that the maker of the Accord and Civic would report a profit that was 20 percent lower than previously expected.

The New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq will be closed completely Monday and possibly even Tuesday due to the imminent arrival of Hurricane Sandy, its operator said.

"In consultation with other exchanges and market participants, NYSE Euronext (NYX) will close its markets on Monday, October 29, 2012 and pending confirmation on Tuesday, October 30, 2012," the operator said in a statement.

Hundreds of Spanish police officers protested outside the interior ministry in Madrid on Saturday to denounce budget cuts and the elimination of benefits, as firecrackers burst into the air.

Like all Spanish civil service employees, police officers are taking the full blow of the austerity measures brought in by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's right-wing government in a bid to tackle the debt crisis.

Changes could be in store for U.S.-Asian relations, but that has little to do with the presidential race. Lost in the backbiting between President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney over China is that they generally agree on their approaches to Asia. But whoever wins the Nov. 6 vote will have to deal with a region in flux — and figure out how to keep simmering tensions from boiling over.

Leadership changes are imminent in East Asia's dominant economies — China, Japan and South Korea — in the midst of territorial disputes that could spark conflict. The new leaders who emerge will be crucial in setting the tone for relations with the next occupant of the White House.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday underscored the importance of Wall Street reforms passed on his watch, saying they will help end taxpayer-funded bailouts of troubled companies.

"That's what Wall Street reform is all about -- looking out for working families and making sure that everyone is playing by the same rules," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address.