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US markets fell today after a weak performance by pharmaceutical and banking stocks.

The Dow Jones lost 0.14% to 20,924.76, the S&P shed 0.29% to 2,368.39, and the Nasdaq was 0.26% lower at 5,833.93.

Pharma stocks slipped after President Donald Trump tweeted that he was planning to increase competition in the industry and bring down prices.  

Several hospital operators also fell sharply after Republicans announced a proposal to replace the Affordable Care Act.

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Uber has said it will hire a chief operating officer, just weeks after embattled chief executive Travis Kalanick said he needed "leadership help". 

In a blog, Mr Kalanick said: "This morning I told the Uber team that we're actively looking for a COO: a peer who can partner with me to write the next chapter in our journey."

It comes weeks after Mr Kalanick promised to "fundamentally change and grow up", following a video that showed him arguing with an Uber driver over fares.

Uber is also investigating allegations of sexual harassment at the company.

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Ikea has agreed to sell 25 of its retail parks in eight European countries (not including the UK) to the asset manager Pradera for €900m. 

The furniture-maker said the parks - each of which is located beside an Ikea store - did not “fit the vision” of creating “inspiring and family-friendly meeting places”. 

But it said it would retain another 25 retail parks across Europe, let to tenants such as Decathlon and Leroy Merlin. 

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Uber is looking for someone to head up the ride-hailing firm alongside chief executive Travis Kalanick.

"This morning I told the Uber team that we’re actively looking for a chief operating officer: a peer who can partner with me to write the next chapter in our journey," chief executive officer Mr Kalanick posted earlier on Tuesday, external .

A week ago Mr Kalanick apologised to staff after a video emerged of him swearing at one of the company's drivers.

The outburst came after Fawzi Kamel, who was driving the chief executive, complained his income was falling and blamed Uber's fare structure. 

"The criticism we've received is a stark reminder that I must fundamentally change as a leader and grow up," Mr Kalancik said in an email. 

"This is the first time I've been willing to admit that I need leadership help and I intend to get it," he added.

BBC World Service

The Spanish company Gik has developed a blue wine and struck deals to sell it around the world. But the firm has been told by the authorities in Spain that under European law, wine must be red, white or rose, not blue. 

It's caused something of a headache for Gik, as one of its founders, Taig McCarthy, toldthe BBC's Rob Young.  

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EU consumer organisations are planning to take joint action in an effort to win compensation for Volkswagen drivers who bought emissions-cheating diesel cars, the European Commission said on Tuesday.

The Dutch consumer authority will prepared "joint enforcement action" against the car manufacturer, according to spokesman for Europe's Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova. 

"Commissioner Jourova encouraged the authorities to use all means at their disposal to protect European consumers," spokesman Christian Wigand said.

He added that "concrete results from this process" were expected by the end of the month.

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More on the news that the Chinese telecoms giant ZTE Corp has agreed to pay penalties totalling more than $1bn for flouting sanctions on Iran.

The US Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross, didn't pull his punches at a news conference in Washington.

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Apple may lose its position as the world's most valuable publicly traded company, research suggests.

Oil giant Saudi Aramco is expected to have a market capitalisation of $1tn to $1.5tn when it lists its shares next year, a survey of investors, external by EFG Hermes found.

This would be up to twice the value of Apple’s current market cap of about $734bn.

BBC World Service

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The US has fined the Chinese telecoms maker ZTE more than $1bn (£820m) for selling banned American-made equipment to Iran, reports BBC World Service.

The Chinese company pleaded guilty to violating US export rules aimed at preventing some countries from acquiring sensitive technology. 

The US Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross, said businesses that flouted economic sanctions would not go unpunished. 

ZTE shipped millions of dollars' worth of hardware and software to Iran from some of the best-known US technology firms. 

$300m of the fine will be suspended. 

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It's been a busy day for Work and Pensions Committee chair Frank Field.

He's also written to the Pensions Regulator, the Chair of the Vauxhall pension scheme trustees and the PSA Group Management Board President "seeking clarifications about the implications of the sale of Vauxhall to Peugeot".  

The Vauxhall pension fund is £840m in deficit. 

In the letter to PSA president Carlos Tavares, external , Mr Field asked, among other things, for clarification about what responsibilities PSA and GM will have for GM UK's pension schemes.

He also asked what assurances Mr Tavares had given to the pension scheme trustees and the Pensions Regulator about that commitment. 

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MPs on the House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee have begun to scrutinise the BHS pension settlement announced last week between Sir Philip Green and the Pensions Regulator.

Under the deal Sir Philip agreed a £363m cash settlement with the Pensions Regulator to plug the gap in the BHS pension scheme. 

Now the Committee chairman Frank Field has written a letter to the Pensions Regulator, external  asking for more detail on the terms of the out-of-court settlement, and the full impact it will have on the BHS pensioners.

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It's another rocky day for shares in Snap, the owner of messaging app Snapchat.

On Monday they closed down by 12% taking them below the price at which they started trading last week in New York. So far today they're down by another 11%.

The stock soared by 44% on Thursday after making its Wall Street debut, valuing the $28bn, after it raised $3.4bn in the richest US technology company listing since Facebook in 2012

Shares in Shap went even higher on Friday.

However, analysts have given mixed views on the future of Snap, debating whether it can emulate the success of Facebook.

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Scotland-based temporary power company Aggreko has seen its shares close 12.95% lower after warning of a dip in profit this year.

The energy firm reported a 24% drop in pre-tax profits for 2016 to £172m - much of that explained by the weak oil drilling and refining markets in the United States.

The figures also lacked the boost Aggreko gets regularly from supplying power to the Olympics and Winter Olympics. Comparisons with 2015 looked poorer because that year included temporary powering for the European Games.

The company pulled out of bidding for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro games, complaining that the bidding process was running too late and was disorganised.

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More from Carlos Ghosn at the Geneva Motor Show and BBC business editor Simon Jack asked him if Nissan's investment in Sunderland was contingent on any Brexit deal that the UK negotiates.

Not in the short term he insists.

"The investment is made, we are now committed, but as a car maker we renew our product every six years so you constantly have decisions on investments," he said. 

"So we're not talking about short term. Short term we feel good about what we are doing. 

"But what I'm saying is after the conditions of Brexit have been defined all industries are going to evaluate the new status and in function of this evaluation they're going to decide to continue to invest or to stop or reduce their investments to the UK," he added. 

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FTSE 100  has closed lower. It's at 7,338.99, a fall of 11 points or 0.15%.

Paddy Power Betfair was down by 5.2%, making it the biggest loser.

The decline followed the release of results which revealed it made a loss last year, due to the merger between Paddy Power and Betfair. 

Renault-Nissan chief executive Carlos Ghosn has been talking to BBC business editor Simon Jack at the Geneva Motor Show. 

Simon asked him how solid the guarantee was that Nissan would increase investment in the company's Sunderland plant.  

"How solid is a guarantee it will be difficult to tell you before Brexit happens because Brexit for the moment  - we don't know what it is.

"I don't know, you don't know what are the Brexit rules because they have not been negotiated and we don't know when they are going to happen, one year, two years, three years, down the road. 

In the meantime, he added, Nissan's best policy was to believe the commitment made by the UK government when it said it would preserve the competitiveness of UK industry.

"There's no reason to doubt that. We've been in the UK  for so many years, we have dealt with many governments and governments in the UK have a tradition to honour their commitment, so we believe it and that we feel good about it.

"This being said we have to wait until Brexit has been negotiated and we see the conditions of the new status before giving you a final opinion about how good it's going to be doing business in the UK when you have a European plant based on the UK territory," he added.