High unemployment and reluctant consumers will likely make an incipient U.S. economic recovery weak and erratic, top Federal Reserve officials said in a string of speeches across the country on Tuesday. That means interest rates, currently at historic lows close to zero, should remain near that floor for the foreseeable future, the policymakers said. "The
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The number of Britons claiming jobless benefit in October rose by its smallest amount in 18 months, while the number of people in work rose for the first time in over a year, official data showed on Wednesday. The Office for National Statistics said on Wednesday claimant count unemployment rose by 12,900 last month, well
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The world's two largest cellphone makers, Nokia and Samsung Electronics, unveiled on Tuesday their latest rivals to the iPhone as Apple became the top profit generator in the handset industry. Apple Inc overtook Nokia in the September quarter as the cellphone maker generating the highest total operating profit in the industry, research firm Strategy Analytics
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Britain's top share index gained 0.8 percent early on Wednesday, as optimism on the prospects for demand was lifted by data showing a surge in China's factory output, pushing metal prices higher and boosting miners. By 0859 GMT the FTSE 100 was 39.43 points higher at 5,269.68, hitting a two-week high, after it closed 0.1
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Global issuance of sukuk or Islamic bonds has surged in recent months in a marked turnaround from earlier in the global credit crisis, according to Moody's Investors Service. Amid current economic and capital market conditions, sukuk issuance is starting to become dominated by sovereigns and government-related entities, a development that Moody's believes will foster a
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Capital Intelligence has reduced the long-term foreign currency ratings of Emirates Bank International (EBI) and National Bank of Dubai (NBD) to A+, one notch below that of the sovereign, to reflect the deterioration in asset quality and tight liquidity. However, the international credit rating agency said the likelihood of support from the sovereign in case
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Moody's Investors Service has issued a negative outlook on the ratings of three Ukraine banks, ranging from ‘uncertain’ to a downright downgrade. Moody’s is maintaining its rating review of Rodovid Bank. However, the direction of the review has been changed to uncertain, from a possible downgrade. On March 20, Rodovid Bank's deposit ratings were downgraded
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The sale of AspisÃŽ? Bank majority stake is on track as this week the final talks will be held with the four parties interested in the bank. The CSE listed Aspis Holdings (ASP) which passed a resolution changing its name to Advantage Capital has a 41% stake in Aspis Bank. Reliable sources told the Financial
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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has published a positive assessment report on the stability of the Cyprus financial system, pointing out at the same time that “challenges remain”. According to an official announcement, the report followed the visit of the IMF mission team to Cyprus during the period September-October 2008, on the basis of the
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SAO PAULO, (Reuters)- A major electricity outage left tens of millions of people in Brazil's two largest cities of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro without power on Tuesday night due to problems at the Itaipu dam. The Brazilian director of the Itaipu dam on the border of Brazil and Paraguay — the world's largest
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