The outlook for South Africa's banking system remains negative, Moody's Investors Service said in a new report but that the banks' resilient core earnings-generating capacity and ample capital buffers partly offset the negative drivers. The rating agency said the outlook reflects the sluggish operating environment which will weaken asset quality and increase provisioning needs; the

Asian shares climbed to a two-week high on Monday, and the Australian dollar and copper gained, as China said its manufacturing expanded in August at the fastest pace in more than a year. A delay in potential U.S. military action against Syria, as U.S. President Barack Obama sought Congressional support, also helped boost short-term risk

Greece dismissed a proposal by euro zone officials to hand over the management of its real estate assets to a holding company based overseas, saying the country would stay in charge of its privatisation programme. The euro zone's bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), proposed that some Greek real estate assets be transferred to

The United States made clear on Friday that it would punish Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for the "brutal and flagrant" chemical weapons attack that it says killed more than 1,400 people in Damascus last week. "We cannot accept a world where women and children and innocent civilians are gassed on a terrible scale," President Barack

European shares hit a six-week closing low on Friday as reduced chances of an immediate military strike on Syria weighed on energy equities due to weakened oil prices, although longer-term market outlook stayed bright. Oil majors Royal Dutch Shell, Total, BP and BG Group, down 1.0 to 1.4%, were among the companies that took the

Greece's third-largest bank Alpha swung to a net profit in the first half, helped by lower funding costs and rising income from lending. The bank earned a net 2.73 bln euros ($3.6 bln) compared with a loss of 460 mln a year before, a result which topped an average 2.64 bln forecast in a Reuters