Global stocks advanced on Friday, anticipating an improvement in all-important U.S. monthly jobs data, while the dollar fell from a four-month high against the yen after Japan's new finance minister backed off his call for a weaker currency. Crude oil prices dipped, extending losses the previous day on worries about tighter Chinese monetary policy. Safe-haven
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European equities were set to edge higher on Friday, reversing the previous session's dip and tracking gains in Asia, while investors braced for the all-important U.S. monthly jobs data, seeking clues on the health of the world's biggest economy. Financial spreadbetters expected Britain's FTSE 100 to open 17 to 18 points higher, or as much
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Total sales of petroleum products recorded a decrease of 8.3% compared with the previous month in November 2009. The Statistical Service said that a significant decline was recorded in the sales of Gasoil for Marine use, aviation kerosene, heavy fuel oil and unleaded motor gasoline, while a considerable increase was recorded in the sales of
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Figures on registered unemployment show that construction workers felt the brunt of the recession in Cyprus in 2009, with total unemployment rising almost threefold from 902 registrations on average in 2008 to 2,598 in 2009. Total unemployment in 2009 rose by 51.7% to 17,505, from 11,541. The second largest increase in unemployment was wholesale and
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The number of U.S. workers filing new applications for unemployment insurance rose less than expected last week and a measure of underlying trends hit a nearly 16-month low, underscoring the improving labor market tone. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose only 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 434,000 in the week ended Jan. 2, the
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European stocks were down 0.5 percent around midday on Thursday, in their first broad retreat this year, as investors booked recent lofty gains ahead of Friday's U.S. jobs data. Stocks didn't react after the Bank of England kept the scale of its asset purchase programme unchanged at 200 billion pounds ($319 billion) and left interest
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Britain's top share index fell in midday trade on Thursday, pressured by index heavyweight Vodafone and mining stocks as investors digested the Bank of England's decision to leave interest rates unchanged. At 1221 GMT, the FTSE 100 index was down 10.55 points, or 0.2 percent, at 5,519.49, slipping back after closing 0.1 percent higher on
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The labor market in the United States is improving and the economy is close to the point when the unemployment rate will start to fall, a top U.S. Federal Reserve official said on Thursday. James Bullard, president of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, also said that U.S. housing prices were stabilizing and that housing
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The Bank of England kept the scale of its asset purchase program unchanged at 200 billion pounds ($319 billion) and left UK interest rates at 0.5 percent in a widely expected move on Thursday. Policymakers had indicated they were likely to stay on hold until at least February when they will get new growth and
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U.S. stock index futures pointed to a lower opening on Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones industrial average and Nasdaq 100 down 0.4 to 0.5 percent. At 8.30 a.m. EST the Labor Department will release first-time claims numbers for jobless benefits for the week ended January 2. Economists
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