Wall Street stocks retreated early Wednesday after President Donald Trump suggested he could shut down the U.S. government if Congress did not fund a border wall with Mexico.

The pullback came after U.S. stocks staged a solid rally Tuesday, in part due to optimism that Trump-related controversies were receding and that long-awaited tax reform could take center stage.

Qatar has approved a law limiting domestic staff to a maximum of 10 hours' work a day, the first such protection for thousands of household maids, nannies and cooks in the emirate.

Brazil's government is eying the privatization of giant power utility Eletrobras in a bid to balance a yawning budget deficit, the energy ministry said, sparking a surge in share prices Tuesday.

"This is a move of fundamental importance for developing the Brazilian electricity sector," Mining and Energy Minister Fernando Coelho Filho told a press conference in Brasilia.

Confidence among German investors plunged in August, a monthly survey showed Tuesday, as fears for growth prospects in Europe's largest economy made themselves felt.

South Korea and the U.S. reached no agreement on  renegotiating their free trade pact -- decried by President Donald Trump as a "horrible deal" -- a top Seoul official said Tuesday after meeting U.S. counterparts. 

European stock markets rebounded Tuesday, with traders brushing off a slump in German investor confidence, although concerns lingered over U.S. President Donald Trump's economic agenda and geopolitical crises.

The French government will begin Tuesday a final round of talks with trade unions and employer groups on liberalizing the country's strict labor laws, taking President Emmanuel Macron a step closer to implementing one of his signature reforms.

French oil giant Total said Monday that it would buy Maersk Oil, a unit of Danish shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk, for $7.45 billion (6.35 billion euros).

Insolvent German airline Air Berlin hopes to complete its sale by September, the group's chief executive said, as government officials fended off accusations of favouring Lufthansa in the bankruptcy process.

US business economists worry about the prospects for President Donald Trump's policy agenda, and the potential damage to the economy from his trade and immigration policies, according to a survey released Monday.