Audiences have given Hollywood a big present in advance of Christmas — U.S. and Canadian movie ticket sales for 2009 were expected to cross the annual $10 billion mark on Tuesday night for the first time. Already, ticket sales have topped 2008's $9.63 billion as moviegoers flocked to "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," the year's
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Indian and Australian shares led Asian stock markets higher on Wednesday, while oil and gold came under pressure as the dollar held firm thanks to optimism about the U.S. economy. Leading European stock market indexes were expected to open slightly higher, extending a sharp two-day winning run, according to financial spreadbetters, while U.S. equity stock
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World stocks rose for a second day running on Tuesday and the dollar clung onto gains despite data showing the U.S. economy grew in the third quarter at a slower pace than initially thought. The euro and European stocks held firm after Moody's delivered a widely anticipated downgrade to Greece's sovereign rating. The cut was
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The Bank of England's unprecedented quantitative easing programme has helped Britain stave off a Japanese-style depression though the balance of risks to growth and inflation remains to the downside, policymaker Adam Posen said. The central bank launched a 200 billion pound asset purchase scheme in March to haul Britain out of its deepest downturn in
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The U.S. economy grew at a much slower pace than initially thought in the third quarter, restrained by weak business investment and a slightly more aggressive liquidation of inventories, according to data on Tuesday. The Commerce Department's final estimate showed gross domestic product grew at a 2.2 percent annual rate instead of the 2.8 percent
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Oil slipped to around $73 per barrel on Tuesday after OPEC agreed to roll over its production targets and ahead of data expected to show a fall in crude and distillate inventories in the United States. OPEC oil ministers, content with oil prices, agreed to leave output unchanged and meet again on March 17. The
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Stock index futures were higher on Tuesday, extending gains from the previous session, as investors awaited a final reading on third-quarter economic growth and existing home sales data. Existing home sales are expected to post their third straight monthly increase in November, a sign that the troubled housing market could be stabilizing. Gross domestic product
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China has issued new Internet regulations, including what appears to be an effort to create a "whitelist" of approved websites that could potentially place much of the Internet off-limits to Chinese readers. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology ordered domain management institutions and internet service providers to tighten control over domain name registration, in
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U.S. Senate Democrats cleared the second of three 60-vote hurdles on President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul on Tuesday, moving the landmark legislation one step closer to passage by Christmas. For the second consecutive day, Democrats mustered 60 party-line votes to cut off debate on the healthcare reform bill and move toward final passage over unanimous
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Revenue from tourism continued to decline in November, falling by 15.7% over the same month of the previous year to EUR 61.0 mln in November, from EUR 72.4 mln in November 2008. Tourism arrivals in the same month fell by 8.4%. For the period January – November 2009 revenue from tourism is estimated at EUR
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