The dollar hit a 2-1/2 month low against the euro and held close to a 13-year low versus the yen on Thursday, pressured by the Federal Reserve's aggressive rate cut this week, while European stocks ticked higher. Oil hit a four-year low below $40 a barrel, having fallen eight percent on Wednesday, as further evidence
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Greece's current political unrest highlights the fragility of the country's institutions, which underpins its comparatively low sovereign rating, with Malta the lowest among euro area sovereigns, Moody's Investors Service said in a special comment. Moreover, the global financial and economic crisis is eroding the country's fiscal margin for manoeuvre. "The Greek governments is constrained by
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Motorola, Inc. has announced additional actions to further reduce costs amid continuing global economic challenges. These measures include changes to employee compensation and benefit programs as well as changes to executive compensation. As part of the overall cost reduction program, Motorola is revising its employee compensation and benefit programs across the company. Effective March 1,
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The fundamental credit outlook for the Slovenian banking system is negative, reflecting the expected slowdown in the domestic economy over the coming months and the ongoing liquidity squeeze in international funding markets, Moody's Investors Service said in its latest 'Banking System Outlook' report for Slovenia. "Moody's ratings for Slovenian banks reflect their generally robust franchises,
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The fundamental credit outlook for the Pakistani financial institutions is negative, reflecting the expected challenges in the economic and credit environment and the deteriorated sovereign position in recent months, Moody's Investors Service said in its new Banking System Outlook on Pakistan. "Pakistani rated banks have relatively significant sovereign and public sector exposures," explained Nondas Nicolaides,
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Moody's Investors Service has changed the outlook on the ratings of four Israeli banks to negative from stable: Bank Leumi, First International Bank of Israel, Israel Discount Bank and Mizrahi Tefahot Bank. The outlook changes have been prompted by Moody's growing concerns over the banks' intrinsic financial strength due to a number of factors, including:
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The General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAEC) of the European Union adopted its annual conclusions on December 9 regarding the Enlargement Policy. In these conclusions which insist on the “fair and rigorous conditionality” and on the “reference criteria” taking into consideration the “essential issues relating to the Rule of law and good governance”, a
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Venezuela President Hugo Chavez said on Wednesday a "fair" price of a barrel of oil would be between $70 and $90 per barrel, as OPEC ministers met to slash global oil supply. "We think it should stabilize at $70, $80, $90. That would be fair," Chavez told Reuters on the sidelines of a summit of
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The Federal Reserve's radical step of cutting interest rates to between zero and 0.25 percent quickly prompted rate cuts elsewhere on Wednesday and threw the focus firmly forward to a Bank of Japan (BOJ) meeting. Hong Kong followed the Fed with a full point rate cut to a record low of 0.5 percent and Kuwait's
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European stocks failed on Wednesday to extend strong gains Asia on Wall Street as initial optimism from the Federal Reserve's aggressive rate cut faded, while the dollar hit a 2-1/2 month low versus the euro. In a surprise move, the Fed cut its target for the benchmark rate to zero to 0.25 percent from 1
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