U.S. consumer prices were unchanged in April as expected, but recorded their largest 12-month drop since 1955, government data showed on Friday, as sluggish consumer demand limited companies' pricing power. The Labor Department said its closely watched Consumer Price Index was flat after falling 0.1 percent in March. Compared to the same period last year,
More
Capital Intelligence, the international credit rating agency, has downgraded the foreign currency long and short-term ratings for The International Banking Corporation (TIBC) in Bahrain to ‘D’ (default) from ‘BBB’ and ‘A3’ long-term and short-term respectively. The rating action follows TIBC’s default on its financial obligations to other banks including syndicated debt. The financial strength rating
More
The U.S. oil price fell towards $58 on Friday, pressured by weak demand and as the U.S. dollar firmed against the euro. U.S. crude for June delivery fell 48 cents to $58.14 a barrel at 1038 GMT. London Brent for July delivery fell 59 cents to $58.00 in its first session of trade as the
More
Stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Friday ahead of consumer price data, while some financial shares rose on news that four insurers can tap government bailout money. But investors unloaded riskier assets, like stocks, after weak euro zone gross domestic product data fanned concerns about the depth of the global recession. Data
More
Cypriot politicians from both communities of Cyprus gathered in Bratislava to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the bi-communal meetings between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot political parties, which meet regularly at the Ledra Palace hotel, in the UN buffer zone in Nicosia, under the auspices of the Embassy of Slovakia. Slovakia has prepared in Bratislava
More
The index of industrial production is provisionally estimated to have reached 94.4 (base 2005=100) in February 2009, recording a decrease of 8.4% over February 2008. For manufacturing, the index decreased by 7.8% compared with February 2008. For the period January – February 2009, the index recorded a decrease of 8.8% compared with the same period
More
The Cyprus economy narrowly escaped contraction in the first quarter of 2009, with a seasonally adjusted growth rate of 0.01% over the previous quarter, according to the “flash estimate” released on Friday. Nevertheless, this was considerably weaker than the 0.5% recorded in the fourth quarter. Moreover, the year on year growth rate of 1.6% (seasonally
More
Europe sank deeper into recession in the first quarter of this year, official GDP readouts showed on Friday, as tumbling German exports and business investment plus another drop in French economic output accelerated the pace of a year-old contraction in the region. Governments and investors hope the worst of the first global recession since World
More
Britain's leading share index ticked up early on Friday as Barclays led banks higher on reports it was in talks to sell its asset management business BGI, but oil producers and drugmakers slipped. By 0737 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 8.01 points, or 0.2 percent at 4,370.59, after rising 0.7 percent on Thursday to
More
Slumping exports pushed German gross domestic product (GDP) down 3.8 percent in the first quarter of 2009, a far steeper drop than economists had forecast and the economy's worst performance since reunification in 1990. The Federal Statistics Office said the quarter-on-quarter contraction, based on preliminary data, was led by a sharp decline in exports and
More