Most Asian shares extended gains on Friday as key U.S. earnings reports beat expectations, fueling hopes that the global recession is receding, but deadly explosions at two Jakarta hotels weighed on Indonesia stocks and the rupiah. The yen gained broadly and oil and gold edged down. The blasts at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and the Marriott
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Men and women handle their personal finances much differently, research shows, with men more likely to keep a close eye on their spending and investments and to pay their bills on time. The gender gap emerged in the results of financial planning questionnaires filled out by some 3,500 U.S. workers nationwide for Financial Finesse Inc.,
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Europeans hunting for bargains on clothes and consumer electronics would have found the lowest prices in Britain last year, but drinking alcohol there could have left them short of cash, a study showed on Thursday. The report comparing consumer prices across the 27-nation European Union in 2008 found Denmark to be the bloc's most expensive
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Britain's economy will shrink sharply in 2009 before edging into growth in 2010, and the government should make clear plans to reduce borrowing when recovery comes, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday. In its annual health-check on the British economy, the IMF said the country had succeeded in averting financial meltdown, but now needed
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The global economic crisis took a heavy toll on travel to and from Britain last year, figures released on Thursday showed, while the first quarter of 2009 was also gloomy for the tourism industry. Visits to Britain fell to 31.9 million, down 2.7 percent from 2007 and the first fall since 2001, when the 9/11
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Washington signalled on Thursday it will keep pushing for global efforts to boost economies out of recession after China announced a rebound in growth, feeding hopes it might lead the way to recovery. China's surprisingly strong growth of 7.9 percent in the second quarter, fuelled by state spending and bank lending, makes it the best-performing
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Major UK institutional investors boadly welcomed David Walker's report on improving corporate governance in banks, but baulked at the idea of the financial regulator monitoring fund managers' compliance on engagment. In a widely anticipated report, Walker said on Thursday bank governance should be overhauled and institutional shareholders should be made formally accountable for the first
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The total registrations of motor vehicles during the first six months of 2009 decreased by 22,2% to 27.389 from 35.226 vehicles in the same period of 2008. According to a report entitled ''Registration of Motor Vehicles'' for the period January-June 2009, issued today by the Statistical Service, the registration of private saloon cars decreased to
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U.S. home foreclosure activity galloped to a record in the first half of the year, overwhelming broad efforts to remedy failing loans while job losses escalated. Foreclosure filings jumped to a record 1.9 million on more than 1.5 million properties in the first six months of the year, RealtyTrac said on Thursday. The number of
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JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) posted a higher quarterly profit on Thursday, topping Wall Street estimates, as strength in its core consumer and investment banking businesses offset a jump in credit losses. Second-quarter net income rose to $2.72 billion from $2 billion a year earlier, while net revenue jumped 41 percent to $27.71 billion. Profit
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