Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 0.5 percent on Friday and logged its first four-week losing streak in over a year, with Sony sliding after its new growth strategy failed to reassure investors. Helping to temper the Nikkei's decline were gains in banking stocks, battered recently by concerns about fundraising after top lender Mitsubishi UFJ Financial

European Union leaders awarded two of its top jobs to politicians relatively unknown on the international stage, after almost a decade of wrangling over how to project Europe’s global presence. At a Brussels summit the EU picked consensus builders rather than star names, choosing Herman Van Rompuy, Belgium’s centre-right prime minister, over Tony Blair as

The White House on Thursday voiced its backing for U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner after he endured a grilling before Congress over the costly bailout of insurer AIG, and one lawmaker urged him to resign. "Secretary Geithner has helped steer the American economy back from the brink, and is now leading the effort on financial

Financial markets saw a rare breakdown in correlations on Friday with world stocks eking out modest gains after the previous sessions losses but the dollar strengthening. In recent months, the U.S. currency and equities have worked almost in reverse tandem, with the former getting hit every time risk appetite bolsters the latter. Investors are heading

The outlook for the global pharmaceutical industry is negative, reflecting the increasing exposure to patent expiries and downward trends in pipeline quality, Moody's Investors Service said in a new report. "Unlike that of most other industries with negative sector outlooks, Moody's view on pharmaceutical companies is not predominantly tied to the broader economic climate; rather,

The dollar pushed further away from 15-month lows on Thursday, forcing gold prices lower while global equities fell from the top of their recent range and Wall Street looked set to open lower. The risk correlation between assets — where the dollar falls when investors buy riskier assets and vice versa — remained in place.

Britain's top share index was down 0.6 percent mid-session on Thursday, dragged lower by heavyweight commodity and banking stocks, which offset gains made by defensive stocks as risk appetite waned. At 1208 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 29.78 points at 5312.35, after closing 0.1 percent lower on Wednesday. Miners were the biggest drag on

European shares were lower in early trade on Thursday for the third consecutive session, with food producers leading the losers after Danone cut its sales growth target. By 0814 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was down 0.2 percent at 1,025.94 points. "We are seeing the run down towards … the holidays.

China said it will tighten regulations in its rapidly growing online games sector, requiring game operators to enhance socialist values in their games and hire specialized staff to monitor content. China's Ministry of Culture said in a circular that game operators must re-examine their game offerings for obscene and violent content and limit the number

Federal Reserve officials on Thursday downplayed the consequences of the falling U.S. dollar, underscoring that deflation is still a threat, especially with commercial real estate prices falling. Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher said in an interview with Market News International that the weakening dollar, which hit a 15-month low against major currencies on Monday, is