They are called zombies, companies so laden with debt that they are just stumbling by on the brink of survival, barely able to pay even the interest on their loans and often just a bad business hit away from dying off for good.

An Associated Press analysis found their numbers have soared to nearly 7,000 publicly traded companies around the world — 2,000 in the United States alone — whiplashed by years of piling up cheap debt followed by stubborn inflation that has pushed borrowing costs to decade highs.

China's exports in May grew at their fastest pace in more than a year despite trade tensions, though imports fell short of analyst expectations, according to customs data released Friday.

Exports jumped 7.6% in May from the same month last year to $302.35 billion, rising at the fastest pace since April 2023. Imports rose by 1.8% to $219.73 billion, missing estimates of about 4% growth.

The European Central Bank plans to move ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve on Thursday in cutting interest rates, making the eurozone the biggest rich-world economy to start easing borrowing costs for businesses and consumers as the inflation that arose after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine slowly recedes.

ECB President Christine Lagarde and other officials have made it clear that a quarter-point rate cut from the current record high of 4% is more than likely when the bank's 26-member governing council meets at the institution's skyscraper headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany.

Global markets rose Thursday after Wall Street barreled to records Wednesday as the frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology keeps sending stocks higher.

European markets opened higher as investors awaited a decision by the European Central Bank. It is expected to cut its key interest rate from a record high of 4% later in the day. France's CAC 40 rose 0.3% to 8,032.86, and Germany's DAX surged 1% to 18,758.43. Britain's FTSE 100 edged up 0.2% to 8,259.40.

Zara owner Inditex, the world's largest fashion retailer, on Wednesday reported a record net profit for the first quarter, even as the Spanish group faces growing competition from Chinese-founded online rival Shein.

A fresh offering of shares in Saudi Aramco, the Gulf kingdom's largely state-owned oil behemoth, comes at a pivotal moment for sweeping economic reforms that have struggled to lure foreign investment.

The sale of 1.545 billion shares, expected to begin trading next week, could fetch nearly $12 billion –- a short-term boon for officials working to finance everything from luxury resorts to football stadiums and a planned desert megacity known as NEOM.

Global shares traded mixed Wednesday, as investors weighed recent data highlighting a slowing U.S. economy that offers both upsides and downsides for Wall Street.

France's CAC 40 rose 0.4% to 7,966.52, while Germany's DAX surged 0.6% to 18,516.05. Britain's FTSE 100 edged up 0.2% to 8,249.33. The future for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.2% and the S&P 500 future rose 0.1%.

People have been queuing Wednesday outside the Bank of England's headquarters in London and at post offices around the U.K. to get their hands on the first U.K. banknotes featuring the portrait of King Charles III.

The portrait of the king will appear on all four banknotes issued by the Bank of England — 5, 10, 20 and 50 pounds — with no other alterations to the existing designs. The notes will coexist alongside those featuring his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, whom he succeeded as monarch on her death in September 2022.

The far-right Flemish Interest party had set up the demonstration in the picture-pretty rolling fields south of Brussels, ahead of the four-day European Union election starting Thursday. The goal was clear: Decrying how farmers would lose fertile land to what they see as overbearing environmentalists trying to turn it into a chain of woods, killing off a traditional way of life.

It was also another show how agriculture has been instrumentalized by the populist and hard right groups throughout the 27-nation bloc.

U.S. markets drifted lower before the bell Tuesday as investors await a trove of labor market data this week.

Futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average each fell about 0.3% before the bell.