Consumer confidence rose to its highest since March 2008, data showed on Tuesday, defying for now the growing fears about European debt market turmoil and threats to global growth. Improving sentiment about the battered labor market was key to consumers recovering their nerve, as the Conference Board's report said fewer of those surveyed found jobs
More
Single-family home prices were unchanged in March from February, but fell in the first quarter under renewed pressure before federal aid for buyers faded away, Standard & Poor's/Case Shiller home price indexes showed on Tuesday. Prices have rebounded from lows hit during the crisis, yet the end of tax incentives for home buyers, combined with
More
Stocks tumbled about 2 percent on Tuesday, tracking a sell-off in global equities, on worries over Europe's banking sector and as short-term funding costs soared. European markets were on edge after three-month dollar Libor rates rose to their highest level since July as banks became more wary of lending to European institutions after the Spanish
More
Oil fell to near $68 a barrel on Tuesday as investors fled from riskier assets to dollar safety on growing concerns that the European debt crisis could worsen and damage the still fragile global economic recovery. The U.S. dollar index rose 1.2 percent as investors diverted money away from commodities into the greenback. A slide
More
World stocks slid to their lowest since Sept 2009, the euro eyed four-year lows and U.S. stock futures pointed to sharp falls on Wall Street on Tuesday, on euro zone banking worries and geopolitical risk in Korea. The central bank takeover of a small Spanish lender at the weekend reminded investors that the world is
More
Alpha Bank, Greece's third-largest lender, was expected to report a 49 percent drop in first-quarter net profit, hurt by the recession and the country's debt crisis, a Reuters poll found. Net profit was forecast at 43.5 million euros ($53 million), with net interest income seen up 10 percent to 443 million. A deepening recession in Greece,
More
The European Union sent Greece a letter to remind it to stick to the terms of a 110-billion euro ($134.6 billion) bail-out deal, officials said ahead of talks this week on Athens' pension reform plans. The comments came after Greece's Labour Minister said on Monday that the EU and IMF were asking the debt-choked country
More
Britain's top shares shouldered steep losses by midday on Tuesday with investor sentiment hit by euro zone debt contagion fears and rising tensions in Korea, which knocked demand for commodity and banking stocks. By 1124 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 143.88 points or 2.8 percent at 4,925.73, having touched an eight-and-a-half month low at
More
World and emerging stocks slid to their lowest since Sept 2009 and the euro and oil fell on Tuesday on worries over the euro zone banking sector and concerns over tensions on the Korean peninsula. The central bank takeover of a small Spanish lender at the weekend reminded investors that the world is only just
More
Britain's economy grew slightly faster than initially estimated in the first three months of this year after a strong rebound in industrial production and business services, official data showed on Tuesday. The Office for National Statistics said Britain's economy grew by 0.3 percent in the first quarter, up from an initial estimate of 0.2 percent,
More