Asian shares fell and the euro slipped on Thursday as short covering rallies ran out of steam, but some analysts said global markets may have finally found support after a heavy selloff in May. European shares were expected to eke out small gains, with financial spreadbetters calling London's FTSE 100 to open up 0.2 percent.
More
A top Moody's analyst on Tuesday defended the international ratings agency's decision, a day earlier, to downgrade Greek government bonds by an eyebrow-raising four notches, Ba1 from A3. Asked to justify the downgrade when its own report stated that the possibility of a Greek default is less likely, Sarah Carlson, Moody’s lead sovereign analyst for
More
Cyprus said it planned to temporarily increase corporate tax by one percentage point to 11 percent, as the island struggles to contain a widening public deficit. "This will be for two years. It is a temporary measure to improve the budget position," Cypriot finance minister Charilaos Stavrakis told Reuters. The plan would require ratification by
More
The outlook on the banking system of the United Arab Emirates remains negative as a result of the country's weak operating environment and the significant challenges facing the emirate of Dubai in particular, Moody's Investors Service said in a new Banking System outlook on the UAE. "UAE banks faced significant asset quality problems in 2009,
More
Gains in banks and commodity stocks helped push Britain's top share index higher in early trade on Wednesday, as cautious optimism on the outlook for euro zone debt saw investors buy riskier assets. By 0813 GMT the FTSE 100 was up 24.74 points at 5,242.56, pushing the recent rally into a sixth straight session after
More
World stocks hit a one-month high on Wednesday and the euro briefly hit a two-week peak as strong gains on Wall Street and the relative success of this week's European debt auctions encouraged fresh risk-taking. In a sign of improving risk appetite, the S&P 500 index turned positive for the year and rose above its
More
Britain can eliminate all its carbon emissions by 2030 by overhauling its power supply, national diet and transport, a report by the UK's Centre for Alternative Technology said on Wednesday. The blueprint to fight climate change did not require a "hair shirt, survivalist rejection of modernity," said author Rob Hopkins, founder of Britain's Transition Towns
More
The European Commission on Wednesday denied a report that the European Union, the IMF and the U.S. Treasury were drawing up a liquidity plan for Spain including a credit line of up to 250 billion euros ($335 billion). Amadeu Altafaj, a spokesman for the EU executive, said the report in the newspaper El Economista was
More
Credit rating agency Fitch sees a break-up of the euro zone as a "remote risk" and not one of its most likely scenarios, a Fitch director said on Wednesday. "It's not our central view, it's still a remote risk," Brian Coulton, managing director and head of EMEA sovereigns and global economics, told a conference in
More
New British finance minister George Osborne looks set to announce on Wednesday sweeping new powers for the Bank of England to police the financial sector and prevent another credit crisis. In his first "Mansion House" speech to the City of London's finance elite since taking office last month, the Chancellor of the Exchequer is expected
More