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US markets have closed lower after a muted pre-holiday trading session, with the Dow Jones failing to top the symbolic 20,000 mark. 

After hitting fresh highs yesterday, the benchmark index ended Wednesday 0.16%, or 32.66 points, lower at 19,941.96 points. 

The S&P 500 slipped 0.25%, or 5.58 points, to 2,265.18 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 0.23%, or 12.51 points, to 5,471.43.

Topping the Dow were Nike Inc, which climbed 0.98%, Boeing Co., which rose 0.70%, and American Express Co., up 0.35%.

The re-emergence of inflation will be a "key feature" of 2017, according to PwC’s chief economist, John Hawksworth

Nevertheless, the accountancy firm expects to see the Bank of England keep interest rates on hold for "at least the first half of 2017", while the economic impact of Brexit unfolds.

The "wait and see mode" will also extend to the chancellor, Mr Hawksworth said, predicting a "relatively boring" Budget in March.

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The number of watches Switzerland exports is set to reach the lowest level since 1984 this year, according to a report from Bloomberg.

As the chart below shows, exports dropped 11% in the first 10 months of the year while major brands like Vacheron Constantin, Cartier and Vulcain cut jobs.

Switzerland is the world's number one producer of luxury watches, but lower demand from developing economies and the rise of a buoyant second-hand watch market have hurt the industry.

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Nigeria has confiscated 2.5 tonnes of "plastic rice" smuggled into the country by unscrupulous businessmen, the customs service says.

Lagos customs chief Haruna Mamudu said the fake rice was intended to be sold in markets during the festive season.

He said the rice was very sticky after it was boiled and "only God knows what would have happened" if people ate it.

It is not clear where the seized sacks came from but rice made from plastic pellets was found in China last year.

Read more.

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Finland's Nokia says it is suing Apple for breaching 32 technology patents.

Nokia's law suits have been filed in three courts in Germany and one in Texas.

The claims cover patents for displays, user interfaces, software, antennas, chipsets and video coding.

On Tuesday, Apple started legal action against Acacia Research and Conversant Intellectual Property Management, alleging they had conspired with Nokia to extort money from Apple.

Read more.

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British companies' input costs rose at the fastest pace in about five years during the last three months, a Bank of England survey has shown.

Prices paid for materials climbed at the fastest pace since the end of 2011, while import costs rose at the fastest pace since the start of 2012, it said.

Commenting on the findings, Philip Rush, chief economist at consultancy Heteronomics said: "The BoE... survey supports the view that the pound's devaluation will be passed through [to consumers] quicker. Brexit hedging was low and the shock is seen as persistent."

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There may not be enough eggnog to quench America’s thirst this Christmas, the WSJ has reported, external.

Dairies across the country have reported record sales, and surprising shortfalls, of the drink, which is traditionally made with milk, cream, eggs and spices.

Apparently the beverage is back in fashion with younger consumers, who once shunned it for being calorific.

“There’s a whole 'rediscovering eggnog is cool again',” says Amy Shipley, managing director at food consulting firm Sterling-Rice Group in Colorado. “People love something that they indulge in for just a few weeks.”

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The UK government is on track to raise a record amount of tax from property sales, despite a fall in the number of home sales.

Official figures, external show that £7.7bn has been raised from stamp duty land tax (SDLT) during the first eight months of the 2016-17 financial year.

That is 12% more than was raised during the same period the year before.

But this has come despite a 10% drop in the number of homes being sold in the UK.

Read more.

The Dow doesn't look like it'll hit the symbolic 20,000 mark by close, but may still prove us wrong.

It's currently hovering around 19,968.30, down 0.03% on the day. The S&P 500 is 0.07% lower at 2,269.2 while the Nasdaq is down 0.08% at 2,269.01.

UK GDP - which has ridden high compared to other G7 countries this year - is expected to fall in 2017, says John Hawksworth, chief economist at PwC.

This would "reflect the gradual drag on business investment from Brexit-related uncertainty, as well as the squeeze on real household spending power from the weaker pound”, he said.

But while the manufacturing, construction and financial sectors are likely to suffer, he does not predict a recession.

"Parts of the UK economy should remain relatively strong, particularly in the consumer services, tourism and technology sectors."

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The Netflix US Twitter account - with 2.5m followers - has been compromised by a hacker group.

The group, OurMine, posted tweets promoting its own website and services.

However, the tweets were removed about an hour after the first one appeared.

OurMine has hacked several high-profile Twitter accounts this year, including those of Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales, Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and Google chief executive Sundar Pichai.

Read more.

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Which classical economist’s ideas are approvingly mentioned by Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol? What currency does Santa Claus' nearest cash machine dispense? 

These are just some of the questions in this year's Bank of England Christmas quiz. Why not try your luck?, external

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Odebrecht, one of Brazil's biggest construction companies, has admitted in a US court to paying bribes to officials to secure contracts. 

The company and a Brazilian petrochemical firm, Braskem, have agreed to pay "at least" $3.5bn to the authorities in Brazil, the US and Switzerland to settle charges of breaching foreign bribery laws. 

The crimes took place over more than a decade, beginning as early as 2001, in which time Odebrecht paid about $788m to government officials and political parties to win business. 

According to a statement from US prosecutors: "The criminal conduct was directed by the highest levels of the company, with the bribes paid through a complex network of shell companies, off-book transactions and off-shore bank accounts."

Odebrecht is also at the centre of a major corruption scandal involving Brazil's state-run oil company, Petrobras. 

Clamping of cars for non-payment of vehicle tax has soared since the paper tax disc was scrapped two years ago.

Figures obtained by BBC News through a Freedom of Information request show an 80% rise to more than 9,000 clampings a month.

The DVLA says it has stepped up enforcement to send a message to drivers that they have to pay.

But some people complain they forgot to renew because they didn't have a disc on the windscreen to remind them.

Read more.

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London's benchmark index closed down on Wednesday, despite touching a fresh two-month high in early trade. 

The index ended the day 0.04%, or 2.54 points, lower at 7041.42 points after mining stocks struggled and UK borrowing figures underwhelmed.

The worst performers included brokers Hargreaves Lansdown, which was down 2.98%, Hikma Pharmaceuticals which slipped 1.37%, and Merlin Entertainmanets, down 1.24%.

Equipment rental firm Ashtead was the best performer, up 1.35%, followed by Rolls Royce Group, which climbed 1.33%.

Here are Forbes' top 15 countries for business this year. Do you think they are fair? Get in touch and let us know: bizlivepage@bbc.co.uk

1. Sweden
2. New Zealand
3. Hong Kong
4. Ireland
5. United Kingdom
6. Denmark
7. Netherlands
8. Finland
9. Norway
10. Canada
11. Australia
12. Singapore
13. Estonia
14. Luxembourg
15. Lithuania

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Sweden has topped Forbes' list of the best countries for business, external for the first time. It pushed Denmark out of pole position, jumping from fifth place in 2015 to first this year. 

It determined the rankings based on 11 different factors: property rights, innovation, taxes, technology, corruption, freedom (personal, trade and monetary), red tape, investor protection and stock market performance.

Elsewhere in the list the UK climbed from 10th position to fifth, while the US slipped from 22nd to 23rd.

Central African country Chad ranked last for the second straight year.

Montei dei Paschi's shares dropped as much as 17% earlier, however they were down by about 12% at the closing bell. 

The bank revealed earlier that it could run out of funds within four months - and a private sector bailout is looking increasingly likely to fail. 

This means Italy's third largest lender will probably have to seek a state rescue, which analysts warn could cost retail investors (many of them via pension funds) dearly.