The European Central Bank cut its bond purchases last week more sharply than expected, to 6.651 bln euros, further scaling back its intervention after its renewed foray into debt markets helped stabilise Italian and Spanish yields. ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet highlighted the bank's discomfort with intervening in debt markets in comments he made to European
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Asian stocks rose on Tuesday and European shares looked set to extend gains as strong U.S. consumer spending data soothed some fears that the economy was slipping back into a recession. However, low volume and the inability to sustain early gains suggested a general lack of conviction among investors over how long the rebound will
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New Yorkers faced a hellish commute on Monday and millions of Americans throughout the northeastern U.S. were left in the dark and flooded after Hurricane Irene battered the region before moving into Canada. Downgraded to a tropical and then a post-tropical storm, Irene pelted eastern Canada with rain and 80-kph winds after killing 20 people
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Brent crude steadied around $111 on Monday as the dollar weakened and after a hurricane swept up the U.S. east coast, with no reports so far of serious damage to refiners and terminals. Brent crude was down 28 cents at $111.08 a barrel as of 0900 GMT, after slipping as low as $110.53. U.S. crude
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Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda was chosen on Monday to become Japan's sixth prime minister in five years, but needs to overcome a divided parliament and deep rifts in the ruling party if he is to make more of a mark than his recent predecessors. Noda appears to be a safe pair of hands to lead
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Need some motivation to hit the gym? Perhaps some free merchandise will do the trick. At least this is the premise that Nexercise is built upon, a free iPhone app that tracks activities ranging from running and weightlifting to fencing and polo and rewards users with free and discounted merchandise in the hopes that users
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The daughters of an Alabama woman who died in 2010 sued the funeral home on Tuesday that handled her burial, saying it lost the body and couldn't find it even after digging up several graves The three daughters of Jimmie Lee Scott said in their lawsuit filed in the Circuit Court of Montgomery County that
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Astronomers have spotted an exotic planet that seems to be made of diamond racing around a tiny star in our galactic backyard. The new planet is far denser than any other known so far and consists largely of carbon. Because it is so dense, scientists calculate the carbon must be crystalline, so a large part
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Greece's EFG Eurobank and Alpha Bank will swap shares and seek a 1.75 bln euro ($2.5 bln) capital boost in a merger deal to be announced on Monday, bank officials said, in a move to be stronger to face the sovereign debt crisis. The friendly merger, if approved by shareholders, will help the country's second
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Asian stocks rose on Monday morning, after the recent sell-off, while the dollar struggled after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke left the door open for further action to stimulate the economy and fight high unemployment. Gains in equities were also supported by firmer U.S. stock futures after Hurricane Irene, downgraded to tropical storm status,
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