Category: World

NEW YORK, October 7, 2008 (AFP) – Stocks plunged for a second day running on Wall Street on Tuesday, while those in Europe were mixed, on persistent anxiety over the health of the banking sector — and despite central bank initiatives to shore up confidence. Wall Street opened with solid gains, bolstering both spirits and […]

NASHVILLE, October 8, 2008 (AFP) – Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama and his Republican rival John McCain Tuesday agreed that one of the world’s richest men, Warren Buffett, would make a good treasury secretary. The two were asked at the beginning of their second presidential debate who would be a good replacement for current […]

NASHVILLE, October 8, 2008 (AFP) – John McCain hammered away at unruffled front-runner Barack Obama in Tuesday’s second presidential debate but failed to land the cutting blow likely to revive his sliding poll numbers. Gallup’s daily tracking poll Tuesday reflected the high stakes for McCain, giving Obama a nine point lead nationally, while the Democratic […]

KUWAIT CITY, October 8, 2008 (AFP) – Gulf stock markets tumbled for the fourth day running on Wednesday amid growing fears that policymakers may be powerless to stop the worst financial shock since the Great Depression. The plunge slashed many more billions from the combined value of regional markets to add to enormous losses chalked […]

REYKJAVIK, October 8, 2008 (AFP) – Iceland’s central bank said Wednesday it was abandoning efforts to shore up the krona, saying there was “insufficient support” for the exchange rate it had locked in at 131 kronur to the euro a day earlier. “For the past two days, the central bank of Iceland has carried out […]

WASHINGTON, October 6, 2008 (AFP) – The Federal Reserve and the US Treasury, armed with new emergency powers, announced measures Monday to tackle a rapidly escalating financial crisis as panicked investors fled stock markets. The central bank and Treasury said they were studying the possibility of making unsecured loans in an effort to keep credit […]

SINGAPORE, October 7, 2008 (AFP) – Crude oil prices remained below 90 dollars a barrel in Asia on Tuesday as deepening global financial turmoil and plunging stock markets raised fears about slowing demand for energy, dealers said. New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for November delivery, rose 71 cents to 88.52 dollars after a […]

SYDNEY, October 7, 2008 (AFP) – Australia’s central bank slashed interest rates by one percent Tuesday amid fears of a global slowdown sparked by the US-based financial crisis.The Reserve Bank of Australia reduced its official cash rate to 6.0 percent, just a month after a 25 basis point cut marked the first downward movement in […]

SEOUL, October 7, 2008 (AFP) – South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak called for calm Tuesday as the won plunged, saying the nation does not face a repeat of the 1997/98 financial crisis. “The current crisis facing the nation is wholly different from the foreign exchange crisis of 1997,” he told a cabinet meeting. “Excessive optimism […]

LONDON, October 7, 2008 (AFP) – Royal Bank of Scotland shares dived by a third on Tuesday, accelerating its losses as Britain’s second biggest bank was hit by fresh concerns about the global financial crisis, dealers said.RBS shares sank to 99 pence in morning trade, showing a steep loss of 33.15 percent from the closing […]

KUWAIT CITY, October 7, 2008 (AFP) – Shares plunged across the Arab world on Tuesday as panic over the global financial crisis gripped investors, with the market in oil powerhouse Saudi Arabia sinking by more than seven percent. The biggest loss was reported in Egypt, where the key index plummeted by more than 16 percent […]

GANDHINAGAR, October 7, 2008 (AFP) – India’s Tata Motors signed an agreement on Tuesday to secure a new home for its troubled Nano cheap car project in the business-friendly state of Gujarat. The move came after Ratan Tata, the group’s chairman, decided to abandon a nearly completed factory in communist-run West Bengal due to violent […]