* Sales rose by 0.7 percent in volume terms * Market operators had expected a 0.1 percent rise OTTAWA, May 22 (Reuters) - The value of Canadian retail sales in March was unchanged from February, due largely to the drag caused by lower gas prices, Statistics Canada said on Wednesday. Analysts had expected retail sales to grow 0.1 percent from February. Statscan trimmed February's month-on-month growth to 0.7 percent from an initial 0.8 percent....More

By Christiaan Hetzner FRANKFURT, May 22 (Reuters) - How many Mercedes staff does it take to sell a car? The answer, in the luxury carmaker's German showrooms, is more than it takes to shift an Audi - just part of the cost gap Daimler wants to close with its premium rivals. Among the top three, Mercedes depends on its unprofitable company-owned dealerships for a bigger share of domestic sales than either Volkswagen's Audi or BMW, which rely more on franchises....More

ISTANBUL, May 22 (Reuters) - Here are news, reports and events that may affect Turkish financial markets on Wednesday. The lira stood at 1.8430 against the dollar at 0530 GMT, stronger than 1.8489 late on Tuesday. The yield on Turkey's two-year benchmark bond rose to 5.01 percent on Tuesday from 4.94 percent at the opening. The main share index rose 1.14 percent to 91,190.82 points on Tuesday. GLOBAL MARKETS...More

PARIS, May 22 (Reuters) - PSA Peugeot Citroen plans to close a research and administrative site near Paris and transfer its 660 workers to other plants as part of the French carmaker's cost-cutting plans, according to an internal document seen by Reuters. The group also plans to put the building at Meudon, on the outskirts of Paris, up for sale, according to the document. PSA said earlier this year that it expected to make additional property disposals worth 200 million euros ($257 million), in additional to 2 billion of sales last year....More