Portugal's long-term budget austerity plan encompasses spending cuts via reducing tax breaks and containing public sector wages, but entails no Greece-style wage cuts or tax hikes, local media said on Sunday.
Prudential Plc CEO Tidjane Thiam will attempt to charm leading shareholders on Monday, moving to quell disquiet over the British insurer's $35.5 billion bid for AIA, the Asian arm of American International Group , the Financial Times reported on its website.
Commercial banks will come to resemble hedge funds over time unless new rules are introduced setting limits on proprietary trading, White House economic adviser Paul Volcker said on Saturday.
Icelandic voters overwhelmingly rejected a $5 billion deal on Saturday to repay debts to Britain and the Netherlands, according to partial official results.
Portugal's Socialist government approved guidelines of a long-term budget austerity plan on Saturday, but will release details sought by markets demanding commitment to deficit and debt cuts, only next week.
Deutsche Bank on Saturday denied a magazine report that its financing of a Greek trade deal seven years ago was questionable.
Icelanders voted in a referendum on Saturday on a $5 billion deal to repay Anglo-Dutch loans, with an expected resounding No set to delay foreign aid, hopes for economic recovery and possibly EU aspirations.
The crisis in Greece affects the whole of Europe and requires a political solution, which could even include a role for the International Monetary Fund , Italy's Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti said on Saturday.
Icelanders vote in a referendum on Saturday on a $5 billion deal to repay Anglo-Dutch loans, with an expected resounding No set to further delay foreign aid and hopes for economic recovery.
China is pushing for the yuan to be added to the basket of currencies that comprise the IMF's special drawing rights, aiming for its inclusion in 2015, Japanese daily Sankei Shimbun said on Saturday.
U.S. bank regulators closed four banks in as many states on Friday, bringing the number of failures so far this year to 26 as deteriorating loans continued taking a toll on financial institutions.
China's central bank pledged on Saturday to keep the yuan's exchange rate basically stable in 2010 and said it will enhance coordination with its foreign counterparts on major policy issues.
Barclays Capital Real Estate sought a summary judgment against hedge fund D.E. Shaw, saying it was owed $15 million stemming from a loan default, according to court documents seen on Friday.
Maurice Hank Greenberg, the former chief executive of American International Group Inc , believes he no longer faces possible criminal charges over a sham transaction involving the insurer and a unit of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc .
Total U.S. consumer credit rose $4.96 billion in January, its first rise in a year and the largest for any month since mid-2008, Federal Reserve data showed on Friday.
Bulls may get more room to run next week on the anniversary of the March 2009 lows -- if U.S. stock investors see more signs of stability after Friday's rally on smaller-than-expected job losses.
Four Democratic senators entered into the clean energy vs. jobs fray, charging that too much federal stimulus money for wind energy projects is going to foreign suppliers and creating jobs abroad instead of in the U.S. The administration and the domestic wind energy industry immediately rejected the lawmakers' charges, as the political pressure to reduce unemployment continued to fuel the economic debate in Washington.
The European Commission added to its economic stimulus program with the largest-ever package of grants to energy infrastructure, including support for the Nabucco pipeline project that will help Europe diversify its sources of natural gas. The package of 2.3 billion euros ($3.1 billion) for 43 projects will attract 22 billion euros ($30 billion) of private sector energy investment, largely for pipelines and electricity interconnectors.
Jobs data indicating that U.S. economic recovery might be picking up steam finally pushed crude oil futures decisively over the stubborn $80 a barrel threshold. Nymex's benchmark West Texas Intermediate settled Friday at $81.50 a barrel, a seven-week high, after topping $82 in intraday trading. An unchanged unemployment rate of 9.7% and a smaller-than-expected drop in payrolls propelled both stocks and commodities higher on Friday. Earlier in the week, industry job data also came out better than...
Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, announced plans on Friday to deploy an army of mothers worldwide as part of an Internet-based network to connect women in need with people ready to help.
Senator Christopher Dodd, chief negotiator for the Democrats in Senate talks on financial regulation reform, said on Friday he was uncertain whether bipartisan support for a compromise bill could be achieved.
U.S. stocks finished the week strong as three unemployment reports this week offered no nasty surprises to market participants.
U.S. employers cut fewer jobs than expected during snow-battered February and the unemployment rate held steady at 9.7 percent, bolstering views the economy was on the brink of creating jobs.
U.S. corporate borrowers amassed the most cash relative to debt on record through the fourth quarter and will likely preserve cash levels this year, supporting corporate bonds, Morgan Stanley said on Friday.
Stocks jumped and the Nasdaq hit an 18-month closing high on Friday as U.S. employers cut fewer jobs than expected last month and consumers showed signs of shedding their penny-pinching ways.
Giving by U.S. companies endured the worst recession in decades with mixed results as some pared back philanthropy in the face of tough times, others increased budgets and most predicted a steady 2010.
White House advisor Christina Romer, considered a top candidate for the job of Federal Reserve Vice Chairman, said on Friday she wants to stay in her current role.
The dollar soared against the yen on Friday after a government report showed U.S. employers cut fewer jobs than expected last month, boosting hopes a U.S. economic recovery was on track. The renewed optimism also encouraged investors to buy stocks and high-yield currencies such as the Australian and New Zealand dollars, while the euro rose as concern about Greece's debt crisis ebbed after Thursday's successful debt auction.
Shares of General Growth Properties rose on Friday, their first day back on the New York Stock Exchange, even as the U.S. mall owner operates under bankruptcy protection.
The S&P 500 Index gapped higher on Friday and extended gains in the morning trade session as investors continue to cheer the U.S. employment situation report.
