
Brazil's state-controlled Petrobras unexpectedly increased wholesale gasoline and diesel prices in the domestic market, potentially widening a controversial premium to international prices. The heavily indebted company said that the gasoline price would increase by 6%, and diesel by 4%, as of this Wednesday.

The World Trade Organization shaved half a percentage point off its global trade projections for 2015, after a disappointing first half of the year left export growth weakened across the developing world. World merchandise trade volume is expected to rise 2.8% for the year, down from April projections of 3.3%. The WTO also revised its 2016 projections to 3.9%, from 4.0%.

Luxury car brand Audi has confirmed that 2.1 million of its cars around the world were outfitted with software that enabled them to cheat emissions standards. The announcement clarifies Audi's role in the diesel emissions scandal roiling its parent company, Volkswagen.

Brazilian former president Fernando Henrique Cardoso, (1995/2002) said that the serious economic situation faced by Brazil is very complex, will take time to overcome and most surely the impact will be felt in neighboring Uruguay, a country which must target other markets, other economic spaces.

Asian shares have headed sharply lower, following the rout in global equities as fears over growth and lower commodity prices grow. Japanese shares hit an eight-month low as investors awaited the Bank of Japan's Tankan quarterly business confidence survey, due on Wednesday.

Royal Dutch Shell has stopped Arctic oil and gas exploration off the coast of Alaska after “disappointing” results from a key well in the Chukchi Sea. In a surprise announcement, the company said it would end exploration off Alaska “for the foreseeable future”.

A combination of weather, currency and political factors should result in another huge South American crop of corn and soybeans, further depressing grain and oilseed prices, says an analyst, according to a report from Canada's The Western Producer.

Brazil President Dilma Rousseff cited the nation's foreign currency reserves as a backstop to excessive volatility and weakness in the Brazilian Real.

Marking the observance of World Tourism Day, senior United Nations officials are spotlighting the transformative potential of one billion tourists and their increasing capacity to help boost socio-economic and environmental development.

Brazil's unemployment rate rose for an eighth straight month in August to the highest in over five years, although the increase was slightly smaller than markets expected. The non-seasonally adjusted jobless rate rose in August to 7.6%, from 7.5% in July, statistics agency IBGE said.