The number of property sale contracts in April fell 54.9% Year-on-Year according to the Cyprus Land Registry Department. This follows the 64.7% reduction in the number of property sale contracts in the first quarter of 2009. Sales in Paphos, Larnaca and free areas of Famagusta were affected the most due to their dependence on sales
More
President of the Republic of Cyprus Demetris Christofias concludes Thursday his official visit to Qatar heading a multi-member delegation. President Christofias accompanied by his spouse and the members of the Cypriot delegation will pay a visit to the under construction artificial island of Qatar, bearing the name ''Pearl''. President and delegation will be welcomed at
More
The Bank of England left interest rates at a record low 0.5 percent for a second month running on Thursday and said it would increase the size of its asset purchase programme by 50 billion pounds. The announcement raises its quantitative easing programme to 125 billion pounds. The central bank has cut interest rates by
More
The European Central Bank was set to cut interest rates to a record low of 1.0 percent on Thursday, giving shares another reason to rise after the U.S. treasury secretary indicated the downturn was bottoming out. Results of U.S. government-inspired health checks or "stress tests" on 19 leading U.S. banks due later in the day
More
New car sales in Britain fell an annual 24 percent in April, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said on Thursday, but it expressed optimism that a brighter future lay ahead. Registrations in the first four months of this year were 28.5 percent lower, highlighting the impact of the recession that has put the
More
World stocks rose more than one percent on Thursday to their highest levels of 2009 as investors bet on a stabilisation of the ailing world banking system, battered emerging markets and the global economy at large. The U.S. Treasury is due to release the results of "stress tests" of its major banks at 2100 GMT.
More
Oil rose towards $58 a barrel on Thursday as a surge in global stock markets raised expectations of economic recovery and of increased demand for oil products. U.S. light crude for June delivery rose $1.54 cents a barrel to $57.88 by 0821 GMT, adding to $2.50 gains on Wednesday when it settled at $56.34, its
More
European shares rose early on Thursday, extending a winning streak to seven days, with banks taking the lead as investors awaited Bank of England and ECB interest rate and policy decisions. By 0711 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was up 1.2 percent at 868.87 points. At 1100 GMT the BoE is
More
The Bank of England looks set to leave interest rates at a record low on Thursday and may give little away about the future of its asset purchase scheme ahead of new growth and inflation forecasts next week. The central bank cut interest rates to 0.5 percent in March and indicated they were unlikely to
More
Part-nationalised British lender Lloyds Banking Group said bad debts on corporate loans were rising significantly as the economy deteriorates and it reiterated it expected to make a loss in 2009. Lloyds, which has suffered billions of pounds of losses from the portfolio of HBOS, the troubled lender it bought earlier this year, said on Thursday
More