Gold fell, capping the longest slump since October 2009, and silver tumbled to a three-month low as Europe’s deepening debt crisis drove commodities and stocks lower. The euro dropped to an 11-month low against the dollar as lending to financial institutions sent the European Central Bank’s balance sheet to a record high. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI index of 24 raw materials and the MSCI World Index of equities were poised for the biggest declines in two weeks. Platinum approached the lowest sinc

Dec. 29, 2011

Tourism industry pushes U.S. to allow more foreign visitors, move could help economyLAS VEGAS (AP) ― Agustina Ocampo is the kind of foreign traveler businesses salivate over.The 22-year-old Argentine recently dropped more than $5,000 on food, hotels and clothes in Las Vegas during a trip that also took her to Seattle’s Space Needle, Disneyland and the San Diego Zoo. But she doubts she will return soon.“It is a little bit of a headache,” said Ocampo, a student who waited months to find out whethe

Dec. 29, 2011

Japan agreed to make $15 billion available to India in a currency swap arrangement as Europe’s deepening debt crisis threatens to curtail developing Asia’s access to dollar funding. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda renewed a bilateral swap agreement with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi Wednesday. The two nations had signed a $3 billion accord in June 2008 that has since expired. The agreement may help India battle this year’s more- than 16 percent decline in the rupee as

Dec. 29, 2011

NEW YORK (AP) ― After a disastrous holiday shopping season, the parent company of Sears and Kmart will close at least 100 stores to raise cash ― a move that sparked speculation about whether the 125-year-old retailer can avoid a death spiral fed by declining sales and deteriorating stores.Sears Holdings Corp., a pillar of American retailing that famously began with a mail-order catalog in the 1880s, declared Tuesday that it would no longer prop up “marginally performing” locations. The company p

Dec. 28, 2011

Italian retailers had the worst Christmas in 10 years, consumer group Codacons said, as austerity measures to combat the sovereign debt crisis prompted households to cut spending. Italians spent 48 euros ($62.75) less per person this holiday season than the average of the past five years, Rome- based Codacons said in a statement on its website. The shoe and clothing sector was hit the most, with sales dropping 30 percent from previous years, it said, adding retailers won’t recover the decline du

Dec. 28, 2011

Industrial output slumps 2.6 percent on Thailand floodsJapan’s rebound from the March earthquake and tsunami sputtered in November as production and retail sales tumbled, deepening the nation’s return to the deflation that first took hold a decade ago. Industrial output slumped 2.6 percent from October, more than all the forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey of 29 economists, a government report showed Wednesday in Tokyo. Retail sales slid 2.1 percent. Consumer prices excluding fresh food fell 0.

Dec. 28, 2011

In the past decade, mutual funds poured almost $70 billion into Brazil, Russia, India and China, stocks more than quadrupled gains in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and the economies grew four times faster than America’s. Now Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which coined the term BRIC, says the best is over for the largest emerging markets. BRIC funds recorded $15 billion of outflows this year as the MSCI BRIC Index sank 24 percent, EPFR Global data show. The gauge, which beat the S&P 500 by 390 perce

Dec. 28, 2011

Toyota Motor Corp. , Asia’s largest automaker, will begin selling its smallest hybrid car in Japan Monday to compete with Honda Motor Co. for younger consumers seeking an entry-level fuel-efficient vehicle. The Aqua compact hybrid, to be marketed as the Prius C in the U.S., will cost from 1.69 million yen ($21,700), the Toyota City, Japan-based carmaker said Monday in a statement. The company aims to sell 12,000 Aquas a month in its home market. Toyota is counting on gasoline-electric models, le

Dec. 27, 2011

MADRID (AP) ― Spain will slide back into recession early next year with the current quarter and the first of 2012 both registering negative growth, new Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said Monday.De Guindos said he expects the economy ― the eurozone’s fourth largest ― to contract by between 0.2 percent and 0.3 percent on the previous quarter in the final three months of this year and again in the first quarter of next year. He said the outlook for next year was poor.If the Spanish economy were

Dec. 27, 2011

  Britain loses spot as sixth-largest economy to Brazil, Mantega saysBrazil will remain one of the fastest-growing nations in the coming years after overtaking the U.K. this year to become the world’s sixth-largest economy, the country’s Finance Minister Guido Mantega said. “The countries that will grow the most are the emerging markets such as Brazil, China, India and Russia,” Mantega said in a statement published on the finance ministry’s website, referring to findings by the London-based Cent

Dec. 27, 2011

PARIS (AFP) ― Europe’s market in carbon emissions is hoping for outside help after a year in which prices slumped to record lows, savaging claims that trading in CO2 brakes the rise of dangerous greenhouse gases.Launched in 2005 and accounting for 97 percent of global carbon commerce, the European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme is the big daddy of initiatives which harness the power of the market against carbon dioxide.Under it, some 12,000 plants have been given CO2 quotas.If firms get below

Dec. 26, 2011

China should reduce its reliance on overseas rating companies by encouraging large financial institutions to strengthen their research and make their own judgments, central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said. The nation is also considering establishing credit-rating companies backed by the government, Zhou said at a financial forum in Beijing Sunday. A copy of his speech transcript was posted on financial news portal hexun.com. Zhou’s remarks reflect China’s desire to seek alternatives to the top

Dec. 26, 2011

It’s that time for caroling, eggnog, holiday cheer ― and for some, a frantic dash to the mall. Last-minute shoppers hit stores on Christmas Eve in a surge that retailers hope will top off a strong holiday shopping season. Among them was Len Boswell. He started his shopping at 6 a.m. at Starbucks. Later in the morning he was at a CVS drugstore in Decatur, Georgia, picking up candy and a neck pillow for his wife. “I should have done this a couple of weeks ago,” acknowledges Boswell, 68, a director

Dec. 25, 2011