Stocks fell for a third day and hit their lowest level in two weeks on Wednesday as widespread risk aversion sent commodity prices tumbling, drove the euro to its lowest in a year and forced Italy to pay a euro-era high to sell debt.
The bottom dropped out of gold prices Friday as technical supports collapsed, hedge fund managers turned holdings into cash and a surging dollar killed any vestige of physical demand.
A bankruptcy judge approved on Wednesday a deal to allow collapsed broker MF Global Holdings Ltd to finance the rest of its bankruptcy with about $21 million in cash pledged as collateral to JPMorgan Chase & Co, one of its primary lenders.
Best Buy Co Inc is the first of many retailers that will report falling margins as merchants reluctantly cling to steep discounts to draw consumers in this holiday season.
Stocks fell for a third day and hit their lowest level in two weeks on Wednesday as widespread risk aversion sank commodity prices, drove the euro to its lowest in a year, and pushed Italian bond yields to a record high.
Spain's Telefonica SA trimmed its planned 2012 dividend on Wednesday in a move to keep its debt under control as the telecoms group battles sluggish economic growth in its home market and uncertainty in Europe.
An eight-year growth spurt for the U.S. aerospace industry appears set to end in 2012, the industry's chief trade group said Wednesday.
Stocks fell on Wednesday as weak commodity prices sparked a selloff in the energy and materials sectors and as a falling euro and high Italian bond yields kept Europe's debt crisis in focus.
Stocks declined Wednesday as a fall in commodity prices sparked a selloff in the energy and materials sectors and as a falling euro and high Italian bond yields kept Europe's debt crisis in focus.
The Japanese government has delayed a formal announcement on its choice of a next-generation fighter jet until December 20, according to two sources familiar with the process, but Lockheed Martin Corp's radar-evading F-35 is still expected to get the order.
Goldman Sachs resumed coverage on the U.S. Internet sector, saying it presented an attractive investment idea as revenue growth at some Web-based companies would likely outpace consensus expectations.
U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday with traders focused on a sliding euro and rising Italian bond yields as market anxiety over Europe persisted.
Fire River Gold Corp said it resumed operations at its Nixon Fork mine in Alaska on Tuesday night, three days after it suspended operations at the mine and mill as bad weather prevented fuel-carrying aircraft from landing at the site.
Online gaming firm Nexon Co slipped on its trading debut on Wednesday following a $1.2 billion IPO, Japan's biggest this year, and may signal a bumpy ride for U.S.-based rival Zynga, which debuts on Nasdaq later this week.
Gold and silver assets were plunging dramatically Wednesday, with prices for bullion falling below their 200-day moving average for the first time since 2009 and shares of precious metals miners dropping hard.
Germany's chancellor and central banker urged Europe to stick to stricter budget discipline and forget about one-shot solutions after financial markets judged that another EU summit had failed to resolve the euro zone's debt crisis.
The sovereign debt crisis crippling the euro zone still threatens other developed economies, leaving Britain and Japan teetering on the edge of recession but with the United States seen several paces away from a slump, a Reuters poll found.
Pressure mounted on Wednesday for the European Central Bank to intervene more decisively after financial markets judged that yet another EU summit had failed to resolve the euro zone's debt crisis.
China's plan for a new $300 billion sovereign wealth fund is as much a warning to Washington as it is a body blow to Brussels.
South Africa's trade union Solidarity said on Wednesday it has reached a two-year wage agreement with platinum miner Lonmin that will see its members get pay rises of up to 8 percent.
Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. and its Indonesian union signed a pay deal on Wednesday to end a three-month strike that had paralysed output at the world's second-biggest copper mine, a union official and the company said.
Europe's no pain no gain attitude to solving its sovereign crisis risks exacerbating the bloc's problems, choking off the very growth needed to raise the money to pay down the debt.
Rajesh Exports, the world's biggest jewellery maker, expects to raise gold imports by 17 percent next year to power its renewed thrust in the competitive and fragmented local jewellery market as a cushion against a volatile export market.
Stock index futures fell in light Wednesday trading, pressured by a decline in the euro and by rising Italian bond yields as market anxiety over Europe persisted.
India's Rajesh Exports, the world's biggest jewellery maker, expects to raise gold imports 17 percent next year to power its renewed thrust in the competitive and fragmented local jewellery market as a cushion against a volatile export market, its chairman said on Wednesday.
Italian government bond yields eased on Wednesday after the country sold 3 billion euros of five-year debt in the first longer-term auction since the European Union took steps towards greater fiscal integration last week.
Italy paid a euro era record yield of 6.47 percent to sell five-year paper at its first auction of longer-term debt after the EU moved towards greater fiscal integration at last week's summit, but failed to convince markets it can solve the debt crisis.
Gold prices fell for a third consecutive day Wednesday -- extending a weeklong plunge to more than 6 percent -- after the U.S. central bank warned that slowing global growth threatens the nation's weak recovery.
China pledged to guarantee growth in the face of an extremely grim outlook for the global economy in 2012, rounding off its annual policy-setting conference on Wednesday with a series of commitments to deliver economic stability.
The looming new year may well bring as much financial turbulence as tumultuous 2011 but global investors reckon panic is no longer an option and just protecting your money will require taking on at least some risk.
