Japanese automaker Nissan reported Thursday a seven-fold surge in January-March profit and forecast strong sales for this fiscal year riding on the popularity of its new model offerings.

Nissan Motor Co.'s net profit for the fiscal fourth quarter totaled 106.9 billion yen ($798 million), up dramatically from 14.2 billion yen a year ago.

The Bank of England is set to raise interest rates later Thursday to their highest level since late 2008 as it continues to combat stubbornly high inflation in the U.K.

Financial markets expect the bank's nine-member Monetary Policy Committee to lift its main interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.5%, its 12th straight increase.

The financial leaders of the Group of Seven wealthy nations meet in Japan beginning Thursday as a standoff over the U.S. debt ceiling and potential default looms as one of the biggest potential threats to the global economy.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said one of her priorities in Niigata, a port city on the Japan Sea coast, would be to emphasize the importance of resolving the standoff over the national debt in the world's largest economy.

Toyota's January-March profit edged up 3% from the previous year on robust sales as a chips supply crunch gradually eased.

Toyota Motor Corp. racked up 552.2 billion yen ($4 billion) in quarterly net profit, up from 533.8 billion yen ($3.9 billion), according to results released Wednesday. Quarterly sales soared nearly 20% to 9.69 trillion yen ($72 billion).

Global shares declined in muted trading Wednesday as investors awaited an upcoming report on inflation in the United States, an important indicator for where interest rates and global growth might go in the coming months.

France's CAC 40 shed 0.2% in early trading to 7,382.48. Germany's DAX declined 0.3% to 15,914.55. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.2% to 7,752.65. U.S. shares were set to drift lower with Dow futures down 0.1% at 33,599.00. S&P 500 futures fell 0.1% to 4,128.25.

Top business leaders from Japan and South Korea announced Wednesday they will use a fund meant to underscore the two countries' burgeoning ties to strengthen their cooperation in energy, industry and other sectors.

Japan Business Federation, known as Keidanren, and its South Korean counterpart, the Federation of Korean Industry, announced a fund of 200 million yen ($1.5 million) in March. The money comes from an initial installment of 100 million yen ($750,000) from each side to complement efforts initiated by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's government to resolve a historical dispute over Japanese brutality during its 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

Global shares mostly fell Tuesday as investors took a wait-and-see view on the week ahead, including stubbornly high inflation across the economy.

Data showing lagging imports in China sent Chinese benchmarks lower. Oil prices fell.

Dubai International Airport had over 21.2 million passengers pass through its terminals in the first quarter of the year, potentially nearing numbers it saw before the coronavirus pandemic grounded air traffic around the world.

The Dubai airport, the home of the long-haul carrier Emirates, is the world's busiest for international travel and serves as a bellwether for the global aviation industry.

Oil giant Saudi Aramco reported a first-quarter profit on Tuesday of $31.88 billion, down nearly 20% from the same period last year as energy prices have sunk over global recession concerns.

The firm known formally as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co. blamed the drop — compared to $39.47 billion in the same quarter last year — on the lower crude oil prices. Aramco made a $30.73 billion profit in the fourth quarter of last year.

Before President Joe Biden and congressional leaders can even try to avert an unprecedented U.S. government default, their initial challenge on Tuesday will be to agree on what exactly they're talking about as they hold their first substantive meeting in months.

With the government at risk of being unable to meet its obligations as soon as June 1, raising the specter of potential economic calamity, Republicans are coming to the White House hoping to negotiate sweeping cuts to federal spending in exchange for allowing new borrowing to avoid default.