Britain's leading share index was up 0.2 percent approaching midday on Friday with a rally by banks offsetting weakness in oil majors in thin trade as investors await the key U.S. October jobs report. At 1136 GMT, the FTSE 100 was 10.63 points higher at 5,136.27, on track for around a 1.6 percent increase on
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The Group of 20 leading nations will agree this weekend it is too early to pull the plug on emergency support for the global economy and launch a new system of checks to help rebalance world growth and prevent future crises. British finance minister Alistair Darling is hosting the third meeting of G20 finance ministers
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A record number of people in England and Wales succumbed to bad debts in the third quarter of this year but the pace at which companies went bust slowed, official figures showed on Friday. The Insolvency Service said company liquidations rose 14.6 percent on a year ago to 4,716 in the three months to September,
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British firms' raw materials costs posted their first annual rise in 8 months in October, propelled by rising oil prices and the weak pound which made imported goods dearer, official data showed on Friday. The Office for National Statistics said producer input prices rose 0.1 percent on the year last month, climbing from a 6.2
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American International Group Inc (AIG.N), the insurer bailed out by the U.S. government, posted its second straight quarterly profit on Friday, helped by recovery in the value of its investments. Net profit was $455 million, or 68 cents a share, compared with a loss of $24.47 billion, or $181.02 a share, in the year-earlier quarter.
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U.S. stock index futures were slightly higher on Friday as investors awaited monthly payrolls data and the unemployment rate, key indicators to determine the strength of the economic recovery. * With the data due at 8:30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT), a Reuters survey of 76 economists forecast U.S. non-farm employers cut 175,000 workers from their
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Britain's top share index rose early on Friday, as gains in banks offset a retreat by energy stocks, ahead of key U.S. monthly jobs data which could give clues as to the outlook for the world's biggest economy. At 0909 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 12.28 points, or 0.2 percent, at 5,137.92. The index
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Global stocks and commodities gained on Friday, buoyed by firm U.S. data the previous session, lifting risk appetite ahead of hotly anticipated jobs data which will give more evidence on the state of the global economy. Investors were reluctant to take big positions ahead of U.S. non-farm payrolls data due at 1330 GMT. The U.S.
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Europe shares rose in early trading on Friday, ahead of a key U.S. employment report, with banks and miners gaining. At 0813 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.3 percent at 993.48 points. The European benchmark is up more than 53 percent from its lifetime low of March 9, as
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G20 policymakers are agreed that it is too early to pull the plug on economic life-support packages as the global recovery is still fragile, British finance minister Alistair Darling told Reuters in an interview. Darling is hosting the third meeting of Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers this year in St Andrews, Scotland
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