Inflation in Egypt again hit a new high for this year in February, the government said Thursday, with prices rising most steeply for food. The country is in the midst of an economic crisis and a currency depreciation.

Annual inflation rose to 32.9% in February, the government statistics agency said, up from 26.5% in January. Grains, meat, poultry, fish and fruit were among the products with the biggest price spikes.

Wall Street drifted modestly lower early Thursday amid increasing anxiety following Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell's warning to Congress this week that rate hikes might accelerate because upward pressure on prices has been stronger than expected.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials slipped 0.1% and the S&P 500 fell 0.3% before the bell.

The Association of Banks in Lebanon announced Thursday that the country’s banks will resume their open-ended strike on Tuesday, March 14, decrying recent judicial rulings.

U.S. auto safety regulators have opened an investigation into Tesla's Model Y SUV after getting two complaints that the steering wheels can come off while being driven.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the probe covers an estimated 120,000 vehicles from the 2023 model year.

Global shares were mostly lower Wednesday as investors fretted that the Federal Reserve might raise interest rates faster if pressure stays high on inflation.

France's CAC 40 shed 0.2% to 7,325.65 in early trading. Britain's FTSE 100 dipped 0.3% to 7,898.54. Germany's DAX inched down less than 0.1% to 15,555.97. U.S. shares were set to drift higher with Dow futures up 0.1% at 32,901.00. S&P 500 futures rose nearly 0.1% to 3,993.25.

Adidas' breakup with the rapper formerly known as Kanye West and the inability to sell his popular Yeezy line of shoes helped batter earnings at the end of last year, leading to a net loss of 513 million euros ($540 million).

The fourth-quarter loss, also attributed to higher supply costs and slumping revenue in China, contrasts with a profit of 213 million euros in the same period a year ago, the German shoe and sportswear maker said Wednesday.

French train and metro drivers, refinery workers, garbage collectors and others were holding further strikes on Wednesday against President Emmanuel Macron's plan to raise the retirement age to 64, in efforts to keep up pressure on the government amid the ongoing parliamentary debate.

New protest actions focused on women — and the retirement reform's impact on working mothers — were expected Wednesday, to coincide with International Women's Day. Feminist activists see the pension reform as unfair to women, especially because they say it would further deepen gender inequalities faced during their career.

Germany's defense minister voiced caution Wednesday over media reports that a pro-Ukraine group was involved in blowing up the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea last year.

German daily newspaper Die Zeit and public broadcasters ARD and SWR reported Tuesday that investigators were able to largely reconstruct how the pipelines from Russia to Germany were sabotaged on the night of Sept. 26, 2022.

Lego said Tuesday that profits increased by 5% in 2022 from a year earlier and sales rose even as it raised prices on higher-ticket toys.

The Danish toy company said net profit rose to 13.8 billion kroner ($2 billion) from 13.3 billion kroner. Sales were up 12%, while revenue grew 17% to 64 billion kroner ($9.2 billion).

Global shares were mixed in muted trading Tuesday as investors tried to digest a slew of economic data and awaited moves by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

France's CAC 40 fell 0.1% in early trading to 7,363.24. Germany's DAX added nearly 0.1% to 15,659.63. Britain's FTSE 100 edged up less than 0.1% to 7,931.95. U.S. shares were set to drift higher with Dow futures up nearly 0.1% at 33,470.00. S&P 500 futures rose 0.1% to 4,057.75.