
Shares in French carmaker Renault plunged 20%, before recovering to close 10.3% lower, after police raids on the company's facilities. The firm confirmed the raids took place last week and said investigators wanted to check equipment at its factories.

Argentina's new finance minister said on Wednesday it was imperative to resolve the country's legal dispute with U.S. creditors over unpaid debt because financing of the country's fiscal deficit this year may depend on progress on the issue.

Argentina Finance Minister Alfonso Prat Gay revealed on Wednesday that the fiscal deficit registered in 2015 was of 5.8% of GDP and 7.1% of GDP is all debts are computed, and complained that “there has been wasteful spending and when there is an expense it’s not well done.”

Sao Paulo police on Tuesday night fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse protesters upset over rising transport fares, sparking memories of the 2013 street clashes in Brazil, this year's Olympic host. Riot cops wanted to prevent demonstrators from moving from the spot where they were gathered at one end of the city's major Paulista Avenue.

The mayor of 2016 Olympic host city Rio de Janeiro insisted authorities had the finances to avoid disruption to the summer Games despite Brazil’s recession. Latin America's largest economy is suffering from a deep recession and soaring inflation -- a contrast to the boom times of 2009, when Rio won the right to host the Olympics.

Airbus delivered a record number of planes in 2015 but failed to dethrone Boeing as the world's biggest aircraft manufacturer. The European company delivered a record 635 planes last year, compared with a tally of 762 jets for Boeing.

Brazil's total agricultural exports slid 8.8% to US$88.2 billion in 2015, compared to the previous year, despite record sales of soybeans, corn, chicken, coffee and cellulose, officials said. The drop in sales was caused by falling prices for the commodities Brazil sells on the global market, Foreign Agribusiness Relations Secretary Tatiana Palermo said.

Seaweed exports from Chile reached 209 million dollars in the first nine months of the year, which is 16.4% below the same period in 2014.According to the latest Boletín de Exportaciones Pesqueras y de Acuicultura de Chile, (Fisheries and Aquaculture exports report) prepared by the Economy Department of the Fisheries Development Institute (IFOP), the contribution of these products to total income received from the sector's exports was 5%.

The US dollar reaffirmed its value in the Chilean money exchange market during the first week of the year, trading in the commercial sector at an average of 728 Pesos, almost at its highest level of 735 twelve years ago, 31 March 2003.

German carmaker Volkswagen has posted its first drop in VW brand sales in 11 years as the company continues to cope with its emissions scandal. Sales of VW brand cars fell 4.8% in 2015 to 5.82 million cars from 6.12 million a year earlier. Falling demand in China and US added to the losses as orders fell in December.