The G20 will promise this weekend to keep economic support packages in place until recovery is certain and seek to reassure financial markets they have credible plans to withdraw the stimulus when appropriate. Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 developed and emerging nations are meeting in London to discuss the economic

Bloated inventories and the risk of a price slide will trouble OPEC ministers when they meet in Vienna next week, but oil at close to $70 a barrel is expected to convince the group to hold output steady for now. Confidence across financial markets the global economy will return to growth has driven an oil

European Union president Sweden called on Friday for an extra informal summit meeting on Sept. 17 in Brussels to coordinate the EU's position ahead of the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh. Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said in a statement the G20 Summit would discuss the overall economic situation, compensation and bonuses in the financial sector

Oil ticked up above $68 a barrel on Friday in relatively thin dealing as investors awaited jobs data from the United States to provide some insight into the health of the world's top economy. By 0825 GMT, U.S. crude <CLc1> was up 40 cents at $68.36 a barrel. London Brent crude <LCOc1> rose 28 cents

In a new report on the global reinsurance sector, Moody's Investors Service concludes that restrained demand, overcapacity and fragile market confidence point to a higher chance that credit support will weaken rather than improve over the next 12 to 18 months. As a result, Moody's has changed the industry outlook to ‘negative’ from ‘stable’. By

Britain's leading share index rose 1 percent in early trade on Friday, snapping a three-day losing run as banks and miners led gainers ahead of U.S. jobs data. By 0741 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 48.61 points at 4.845.36. The UK benchmark is up 14 percent this quarter, on track for its best quarterly

World equities climbed higher on Friday, although investors were cautious about U.S. jobs data due later in the day, while the dollar slipped against a basket of major currencies. MSCI's all-country world stock index was up about 0.4 percent, but still looked set to end the week lower. If it does, it will be the

G20 policymakers will this weekend promise to keep economic support packages in place until recovery is certain and seek to reassure financial markets they have credible plans to withdraw the stimulus when appropriate. Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 developed and emerging nations are meeting in London on Friday and Saturday

Asian stock markets mostly edged higher on Friday, underpinned by encouraging U.S. retail sales but cautious ahead of a U.S. payrolls report, while the Aussie dollar was supported by a spike in gold prices. Chinese shares wobbled, but by midafternoon had extended gains from Thursday's near 5 percent surge, which came after reassuring remarks from

Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher on Thursday said the United States should have a "good snap-back" from recession in the final months of 2009, but that future growth could be a "slow crawl". "You could have a stout third-quarter (GDP) number," Fisher told reporters after a speech at the University of California in Santa