U.S. stock indexes turned negative on Tuesday as a gauge of September consumer confidence fell short of Wall Street's expectations, sparking some caution about the strength of the economic recovery. * The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) was down 20.25 points, or 0.21 percent, at 9,769.11. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) was down
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Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis on Tuesday promised tough economic measures to deal with Greece's ballooning debt, saying he was confident voters would opt for his difficult path in Oct. 4 elections. Karamanlis, whose New Democracy party has been trailing the opposition socialists in opinion polls, told Reuters in an interview he will speed up
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HSBC is close to selling a trio of landmark offices in London, New York and Paris to boost its balance sheet by around $2 billion by end-2009, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. Europe's biggest bank has been mulling offers to sell its premises on New York's Fifth Avenue, the Champs Elysees in
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The Bank of England does not plan any imminent change to its monetary framework by altering the interest rate it pays on commercial banks' reserves, say economists who attended a meeting with the BoE on Tuesday. The meeting, hosted by BoE Deputy Governor Charles Bean, Chief Economist Spencer Dale and Executive Director for Markets Paul
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BNP Paribas announced a 4.3 billion euro ($6.3 billion) capital raising on Tuesday as France's biggest bank joined the ranks of top European lenders seeking to escape from state support. Many banks that took billions of euros of government funds to bail them out of the global financial crisis are looking to raise money to
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Italy staked its claim on Tuesday to the European Central Bank presidency after Jean-Claude Trichet's mandate expires in October 2011, setting the stage for a fight with EU powerhouse Germany. Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said on local television Italy would be "honoured" if Bank of Italy Governor Mario Draghi were named ECB head, reviving
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Unravelling high public debt and fiscal shortfalls will slow recovery for the European Union's eastern economies and present laggard Hungary is poised to shine in 2011 after being the first to tackle painful reforms. Policymakers said this week that the worst was probably over for a region hit by the collapse in western consumer demand
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Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma will visit Cyprus from 30 September to 2 October 2009 on the occasion of a Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting to be held in Limassol on 1-2 October. According to a press release issued by the Commonwealth Secretariat, in the sidelines of the visit, the Secretary-General will also be received by the
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The global financial crisis will be the focal point of the discussions among the Finance Ministers from the Commonwealth countries who will meet in the southern coastal town of Limassol, between 30 September to 2 October 2009. According to a press release issued by the Commonwealth Secretariat, at the Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting (CFMM), Ministers
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Britain's leading share index was 0.4 percent weaker in mid-session trade on Tuesday, with weakness in commodity stocks outweighing gains in financials as investors booked profit after recent gains. By 1146 GMT the FTSE 100 was 20.91 points lower at 5144.79, after closing 83.50 points higher on Monday at 5,165.70. However the FTSE was still
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