The pace of decline in the euro zone private sector eased unexpectedly in December, but the global toll of the region's sovereign debt crisis became clearer on Thursday with news of falling investment and factory activity in China.
Major Southeast Asian stock markets fell on Thursday for the third day, led by banks and commodities as a decline in Chinese factory output added to worries about the global economy and Europe's debt crisis.
China has fired a warning shot with its decision to impose tariffs on imports of sport-utility vehicles and other large cars from the United States as both countries gear up for increased trade friction next year.
For tycoon Cheng Yu-Tung, 86, listing his jewellery retailer Chow Tai Fook, the world's largest, on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange paves the way for his younger generation to strengthen its position in China's glittering market.
Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.3 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.5 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.5 percent at 0906 GMT.
The Pakistan Senate has unanimously passed two bills, on Dec. 12, which awards strict punishments to those accused of throwing acid on women.
Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.3 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.5 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.5 percent at 0906 GMT.
Two of Hong Kong's biggest recent initial public offerings slumped in their trading debuts on Thursday, falling victim to weak investor demand that has pressured new listings in the once booming global IPO powerhouse.
China's economic growth could be slowing further as data on Thursday showed the first year-on-year drop in foreign direct investment in 28 months and a fresh fall in new orders signaled a further contraction in factory activity.
The euro steadied just off new 11-month lows on Thursday, with eyes fixed on a Swiss National Bank meeting to consider its campaign of currency intervention while a Spanish bond auction will offer more signs on the depth of Europe's debt crisis.
Spot gold weakened further on Thursday after dropping 3.5 percent in the previous session, as investors remained nervous about the eurozone debt crisis amid the year-end rush to liquidate positions.
Foreign direct investment growth in China fell year-on-year for the first time in 28 months, with November's $8.8 billion of commitments down 9.8 percent and hurt by a sharp drop in inflows from the United States, Commerce Ministry data showed Thursday.
Economic growth across the world will slow in 2012 due to the problematic combination of private-sector deleveraging, public-sector austerity and the lack of confidence in political leaders' ability to navigate these situations according to IHS, a leading macro-economic consultancy.
Asian shares fell into bear market territory for the year and commodities and the euro nursed stinging losses Thursday, after fears that Europe's debt crisis is still worsening prompted investors to dump riskier assets and huddle in the safety of the dollar and Treasuries.
China's exporters will face very severe conditions in the first quarter of 2012, the Commerce Ministry said on Thursday, with Europe's debt crisis dragging on and dampening demand.
Sixteen top technology leaders – including the founders of Google, Netscape, Yahoo and eBay – published full-page advertisements Wednesday opposing the pending Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in Congress.
Morgan Stanley has returned $700 million to investors after its main real estate fund performed weaker than expected, reported the Wall Street Journal.
On a quiet stretch of the waterfront here, about a mile from Boston's main tourist sites, a Gillette factory hums along 24 hours a day making an unlikely commodity: top-of-the-line razors.
The U.S. attorney's office said dinnerware belonging to Saddam Hussein and the former royal family of Iraq was illegally imported into the U.S. and bought on eBay by an arts organization for an exhibition at a Manhattan restaurant.
Anger with the selling of their land to real estate developers without their consent, compounded by the death of one of their appointed mediators, thousands of Chinese villagers in the southern China village of Wukan found themselves in a locked stand-off with authorities Wednesday.
China will impose anti-subsidy and anti-dumping duties on imported cars made in the United States, China's Commerce Ministry said on Wednesday, the latest in a series of trade disputes between the world's two largest economies.
Foreign companies in China are concerned that a new social security tax on expatriate workers will raise business and living costs and leave payers unable to claim benefits, a survey by the American Chamber of Commerce showed on Wednesday.
