Dollar strengthens against major peers on Fed talk

The dollar strengthened against its major peers on Thursday as fresh signs emerged that the US Federal Reserve could raise key interest rates as early as next month.Recent statements by several Fed members have boosted expectations the bank may start to take a more bullish approach than signalled last week, when it held interest rates steady."You get another strong jobs report, it looks like labour markets are improving, you could probably make a case for moving in April," said James Bullard, pr

March 24, 2016

Brussels attacks weigh on European markets

The deadly attacks at Brussels airport and at a subway station at the heart of the city have weighed on European stock markets Tuesday though the scale of the retreat has been fairly muted.Keeping Score: In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 0.6 percent at 6,149 while Germany's DAX fell 0.5 percent to 9,898. The CAC-40 in France was 0.8 percent lower at 4,392. Belgium's BEL 20 index was down 0.4 percent at 3,404. Wall Street was poised for modest losses at the open wit

March 22, 2016

Global stocks fall after blasts in Brussels airport, subway

Global shares were mostly lower Tuesday, with European shares all in the red in early trading after explosions ripped through the departure hall at Brussels airport and a subway station. Keeping Score: Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.9 percent to 6,127.59.  France's CAC 40 was down 0.8 percent to 4,391.05. Germany's DAX fell 0.9 percent to 9,859.45. Wall Street looked set for a weak start, with Dow futures down 0.4 percent at 17,451.00 while S&P futures fell 0.6 percent at 2,029.90. Brussel Explosions

March 22, 2016

Oil above $41 as OPEC predicts 'moderate' rebound

SINGAPORE (AFP) - Oil prices dipped slightly in Asia Tuesday but stayed above $41 a barrel as OPEC raised hopes of a moderate rebound from a meeting of key producers in Qatar in April.At around 0400 GMT, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in May, a new contract, was five cents down at $41.47. Brent for May dropped seven cents to $41.47. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries secretary-general Abdalla El-Badri said in Vienna on Monday that about 15 or 16 nation

March 22, 2016

Growth-focused China signals it hasn’t forgotten leverage

Chinese policy makers underscored their concern about a surge in leverage in the world’s second-largest economy, days after the conclusion of a gathering of the national legislature that showed their top priority is securing at least 6.5 percent annual growth for years to come.The comments from People’s Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan and Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli suggest China’s leaders are trying to avoid a repeat of what happened under their predecessors, when unbridled stimulus created

March 21, 2016

Japan reports biggest trade surplus in over 4 years in Feb.

Japan posted its biggest trade surplus in over four years in February, thanks to a strengthening in the yen and weak oil prices, though both imports and exports fell, suggesting persisting slack demand both in Japan and overseas. Preliminary data reported Thursday showed exports fell 4 percent from a year earlier to 5.7 trillion yen ($50.5 billion) in February and imports dropped 14 percent to 5.46 trillion yen ($48.4 billion). The resulting 242.8 billion yen ($2.2 billion) surplus compares with

March 17, 2016

Asia stocks, oil rally after Fed lowers rate hike forecasts

Stocks, emerging market currencies and oil all rallied in Asia on Thursday after Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen lowered her expectations for U.S. interest rate hikes this year.In a statement following the Fed's latest policy meeting, Yellen cited concerns about the impact on the U.S. economy of recent turmoil in global markets, weakness in China and Europe, and the plunge in crude prices.Her comments came after the central bank cut its outlook for U.S. growth for this year and painted a pict

March 17, 2016

ECB surprises with broad stimulus action

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) -- European Central Bank launched an unexpectedly broad array of stimulus measures Thursday aimed at boosting a modest economic recovery in the 19 countries that use the euro and nudging up dangerously low inflation. The steps, which ranged from interest rate cuts to cheap loans to banks, included several measures many analysts hadn’t anticipated, such as expanding its monthly bond-buying stimulus program to include corporate bonds.The ECB, the monetary authority for the

March 11, 2016

Asian stocks post first advance this week on stimulus outlook

Asian stocks climbed for the first day this week amid speculation central banks will provide additional stimulus to bolster global economic growth.The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.5 percent to 125.57 as of 8:01 p.m. in Hong Kong, halting three days of losses. U.S. shares rebounded with crude oil on Wednesday ahead of Thursday’s European Central Bank meeting that may provide more insight on the potential for further steps to loosen policy and the trajectory of interest rates. The Reserve Bank

March 10, 2016

ECB cuts main interest rate to zero percent

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) – The European Central Bank has cut all its main interest rates including a surprise reduction in the main refinancing rate to zero percent from 0.05 percent.It also reduced the interest rate on deposits held by banks at the central bank to minus 0.4 percent from minus 0.3 percent.And it expanded its monthly bond-buying program to 80 billion euros ($85 billion) a month from the previous 60 billion.

March 10, 2016

Asia markets rally as ECB meeting comes into focus

HONG KONG (AFP) -- Asian investors turned positive again Thursday, extending a global advance, as they turn their attention to a European Central Bank policy meeting later in the day that is expected to see another stimulus push.But while most regional markets are in the ascendancy, Shanghai -- which analysts say has been supported in the past few days by state-backed buying -- was in retreat despite a strong Chinese inflation reading.Confidence across trading floors is broadly upbeat this month

March 10, 2016

China consumer inflation jumps in February

BEIJING (AFP) -- China's consumer inflation jumped to 2.3 percent in February, its highest in nearly two years, official data showed Thursday, in a positive sign for demand in the world’s second-largest economy.Food prices surged during the annual Lunar New Year holiday, with pork prices jumping 25.4 percent year-on-year, and vegetables up a hefty 30.6 percent.The rise in the consumer price index released by the National Bureau of Statistics was the largest since July 2014, and came in ahead of

March 10, 2016

US likely to report another month of solid hiring for Feb.

U.S. workers have been largely insulated from a global slowdown. Job growth remains steady and wages are finally picking up _ trends that will be put to the test in Friday's employment report for February.  Economists have forecast that employers added a solid 195,000 jobs last month, up from the 151,000 added in January, according to data firm FactSet. And the unemployment rate is expected to remain at a low 4.9 percent. Hiring by construction companies, retailers and health care providers have

March 4, 2016

Moody's cuts China's rating outlook to 'negative'

Moody's Investors Service on Wednesday downgraded the credit-rating outlook of China to "negative" from "stable," citing rising government debts, declining foreign-currency reserves and uncertainty about Beijing's reform drive. Weakening trade and manufacturing have fueled concerns about the Chinese economy, which has been struggling with stock market routs and mounting local government debt."China's foreign exchange reserves have fallen markedly over the last 18 months, to US$3.2 trillion in Ja

March 2, 2016

London Developers Finding Costliest Apartments Harder to Sell

Derwent London Plc has shelved plans to turn an office building on Savile Row in London’s Mayfair district into 29 luxury apartments after demand was damped when the government raised the sales tax on the most expensive properties.Soaring prices for luxury homes encouraged developers to seek to turn office space into 16,600 new homes in greater London in the two years through May 2015. The higher sales tax has made it more difficult for developers to sell the costliest apartments and is causing

Feb. 29, 2016

G20 nations pledge all tools to lift growth

SHANGHAI (AFP) -- The world‘s 20 top economies will use all policy tools available to lift sluggish global growth, they said Saturday, despite German disquiet over fiscal and monetary stimulus.The global recovery was continuing but “remains uneven and falls short of our ambition for strong, sustainable and balanced growth”, the G20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs said in a communique in Shanghai.They met amid fears driven by slowing growth in host nation China, steep falls in world fin

Feb. 28, 2016

Russia, Saudis tentatively offer to freeze oil output levels

DUBAI (AP) -- Oil powerhouses Russia and Saudi Arabia joined Qatar and Venezuela in pledging Tuesday to cap their crude output if other producers do the same, aiming to halt a slide that has pushed oil prices to their lowest point in more than a decade. The decision followed an unexpected closed-door meeting involving the four countries in the Qatari capital, Doha, and reflects growing concern among big producers about the effects the slump poses to their domestic economies. Russian Energy Minis

Feb. 17, 2016

Japan overnight call rate falls to zero as BOJ policy kicks in

As the Bank of Japan began charging interest Tuesday on some deposits it holds, rates in the nation’s overnight interbank market are hovering around zero while banks try to catch up in setting negative interest rates on their systems.The unsecured overnight call rate fell to zero from the weighted average overnight call rate of 0.074 percent on Monday, according to Central Tanshi Co. “Trading in the unsecured overnight call market is centered around 0.001 percent with some at zero percent,” said

Feb. 16, 2016

Soaring Tokyo leads Asia rebound, Shanghai down on return

HONG KONG (AFP) -- Japanese investors shrugged off an economic contraction to propel stocks more than 5 percent Monday, leading an Asia recovery after last week's horror show.But Shanghai tumbled on its first day back from the Lunar New Year holiday and after data showed another fall in Chinese exports and imports last month, yet another sign of trouble in the world’s No. 2 economy.The broad gains across the region came after a surge in New York and Europe on Friday fuelled by a rally in oil pri

Feb. 15, 2016

Japan economy shrinks during Q4

Japan economy shrinks during Q4TOKYO (AFP) -- Japan’s economy contracted in the last quarter of 2015, official data showed Monday, dealing another blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s faltering bid to kick-start the world’s No. 3 economy.Weak consumer spending weighed on the vast economy, which shrank 0.4 percent in the October-December quarter -- or an annualized 1.4 percent drop.That was Japan’s second quarterly contraction in 2015, although gross domestic product ticked up a tepid 0.4 percent

Feb. 15, 2016