ECONOMY & MARKETS

Ghana's parliament approved a new 1.5% tax on electronic payments, known as the "e-levy," on Tuesday after the opposition walked out in protest.

France and Germany saw bigger than expected drops in consumer confidence this month as government steps to help with rising fuel costs and other inflation gave little relief following the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, surveys showed on Tuesday.

Japanese policymakers escalated their warning against sharp yen falls, with the country's top currency diplomat saying Tokyo and Washington agreed to "communicate closely" on currencies as the world's third-biggest economy struggled to regain its footing.

World share markets surged and global borrowing costs climbed on Tuesday, as the first face-to-face talks between warring Russia and Ukraine in nearly three weeks yielded signs of progress.

The Bank of Japan on Tuesday kept up its relentless quest to defend a key yield cap by offering to buy unlimited amounts of 10-year government bonds, putting even more downward pressure on the yen and testing its resolve to keep policy ultra-loose.

Australia's government is hoping to use budget goodies to offset cost of living pressures for disgruntled voters ahead of an election expected in May, but the consumer mood may already be too dark for the ploy to gain much traction.

Japan and the United States agreed to communicate closely on currency issues, Japan's top currency diplomat said on Tuesday in his strongest statement yet since the yen's decline to six-year lows against the dollar.

Japan will carefully watch foreign exchange market moves to avoid "bad yen weakening", Minister of Finance Shunichi Suzuki said on Tuesday, as Tokyo tries to navigate the economic impact of the rapidly rising cost of imports from a weakening currency.

The euro rose on Tuesday in cautious trading as Ukrainian and Russian negotiators met in Turkey for the first direct talks in more than two weeks.

The euro edged higher on Tuesday in cautious trading as Ukrainian and Russian negotiators prepared to meet in Turkey for the first direct talks in more than two weeks.

The yen fought for a footing on Tuesday, following its worst session in 16 months, as the Bank of Japan pins down bond yields at a time when they are rising sharply in the rest of the world.

Bank of Japan policymakers stressed the need to keep monetary policy ultra-loose, even as some of them saw signs of growing inflationary pressure from the Ukraine crisis, a summary of opinions at their March meeting showed on Tuesday.

Oil prices closed down $2 on Tuesday, as talks progressed between Russia and Ukraine to end their weeks-long conflict, though Moscow negotiators said a promise to scale down some military operations did not represent a ceasefire.

More than 7,000 finance jobs have moved from London to the European Union as a result of Brexit, down 400 from the total anticipated in December, consultants EY said on Tuesday.

Two new funds that let investors place bets on stock market gyrations are expected to launch this week, potentially filling the void left by the implosion of similar products four years ago.

U.S. trade officials on Monday said they will launch an investigation that could result in tariffs on solar panels imported from four Southeast Asian nations, a blow to clean energy project developers that rely on cheap imports to keep costs down.

U.S. trade officials on Monday said they will launch an investigation that could result in tariffs on solar panels imported from four Southeast Asian nations, a blow to clean energy project developers that rely on cheap imports to keep costs down.

The White House on Monday proposed imposing a minimum tax on the nation's richest people to challenge the "indefensibly low tax rates" the wealthy can engineer as Democrats take another swing at a so-called billionaire's tax.

The U.S. Treasury on Monday proposed a new mechanism to comply with and enforce a 15% global corporate minimum tax agreed to last year by 136 countries, partly by denying deductions for taxes paid in jurisdictions with lower rates.

OPEC+ will likely stick to plans for a modest increase in oil output in May, several sources close to the group said, despite a surge in prices due to the Ukraine crisis and calls from the United States and other consumers for more supply.

Companies affected by sanctions imposed on Russia and soaring energy costs are unlikely to get trillions of euros in state aid that businesses hit by the COVID-19 pandemic received because the impact is smaller, EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager said on Monday.

The U.S. trade deficit in goods narrowed in February, but the fall reversed only a fraction of the surge to a record high in January, suggesting that trade would again weigh on economic growth in the first quarter.

The U.S. trade deficit in goods narrowed in February after setting a record high in the prior month as exports rebounded, but any lift to economic growth this quarter could be offset by businesses slowing their pace of inventory accumulation.

Spain announced 16 billion euros ($17.5 billion) in direct aid and soft loans on Monday to help companies and households weather sky-high energy prices that are pushing up inflation and stoking social discontent.

The S&P 500 rose for a third day on Monday, as a sharp climb in shares of Tesla overshadowed weakness in energy and bank stocks, while Russia and Ukraine were poised to hold their first face-to-face peace talks in more than two weeks.

Thailand's economy could grow 3.0%-3.5% this year, less than an earlier forecast due to soaring oil prices driven by the Russia-Ukraine war, and the key interest rate should remain low to underpin recovery, the finance minister said on Monday.

The Japanese yen crashed to a six-year low versus the dollar on Monday, and headed for its biggest daily loss since March 2020 after the Bank of Japan moved to contain rising bond yields, even as U.S.

U.S. Treasury yields paused their ascent on Monday as oil prices skidded by more than $8 over fears of weaker Chinese demand, while the yen suffered its biggest daily fall since 2020 as Japan's central bank stood in the way of higher yields.

U.S. Treasury yields paused their ascent on Monday as oil prices fell on fears of weaker Chinese demand, while the yen at one point suffered its biggest daily fall since 2020 after Japan's central bank vowed to defend its low-rate policy.