European Union finance ministers backed on Tuesday proposals to reform the world's top financial fora and end market self-regulation that critics say caused the worst financial crisis since the 1930s Great Depression. The proposals, drafted by current EU president France, signal a reversal of the Anglo-Saxon light-touch regulatory approach that has dominated financial markets since
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Falling metals demand will push Congo's 2009 economic growth below 10 percent and force cutbacks in mining projects just as a conflict risks boosting unplanned spending and inflation, the central bank chief said on Tuesday. Slowing global growth had undermined demand for metals, said Governor Jean-Claude Masangu, whose country has huge reserves of cobalt, copper,
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New orders received by U.S. factories tumbled for a second straight month in September, underscoring the grim economy awaiting the winner of Tuesday's presidential election. Overall factory orders dropped 2.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted $432 billion, according to a Commerce Department report. Economists were expecting a more modest 0.8 percent decline and the sharp
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Oil jumped nearly 8 percent Tuesday on signs Saudi Arabia had made substantial cuts in its crude supply and as global markets rallied. Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, has reduced exports by around 900,000 barrels per day from a peak in August, one source estimated. U.S. crude rose $5.01 to $68.92 a barrel
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Stocks climbed further on Tuesday as the presidential election got under way, while investors picked up shares trading around five-year lows amid further signs of easing in credit markets. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 299.40 points, or 3.21 percent, to 9,619.23. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 37.58 points, or 3.89 percent, to
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European shares closed sharply higher on Tuesday as commodities stocks jumped, tracking a surge in crude and metals prices and banks rose on hopes the financial sector jitters may ease. Expectations that the European Central Bank and the Bank of England might cut interest rates this week after Australia's move on Tuesday to sharply lower
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Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain faced the verdict of U.S. voters on Tuesday after a long and bitter struggle for the White House, with Obama holding a decisive edge in national opinion polls. At least 130 million Americans were expected to cast votes on a successor to unpopular Republican President George W. Bush
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Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Tuesday he would start talks with the political opposition to secure broad support for holding a referendum on joining the single euro currency. A staunch European Union supporter, Rasmussen said Denmark was paying hefty political and economic price for being outside the euro zone during the global
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Marks & Spencer Plc, Britain's biggest clothing retailer, posted a smaller-than-expected fall in profit and reassured investors on its dividend, as it warned trading will be tough next year. The first-half profit outcome, a maintained half-year dividend and comments that there were no plans to cut the full-year payout sent shares in the 124-year-old company
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By Jonathan Lynn (Reuters) This year's sharp fall in sea freight costs is a mixed blessing for developing countries, making it cheaper to ship their exports but signalling waning demand for their goods, a United Nations agency said on Tuesday. And the fall in demand for shipping from recent record levels spells trouble to countries
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