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 […]

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 […]

PARIS, October 7, 2008 (AFP) – The EU moved to increase support for big banks as the international finance chaos deepened Tuesday, with Russia setting up a huge rescue package for its banks and markets again panicking. Russia was also to negotiate a four billion euro (5.4 billion dollar) emergency loan to Iceland, which is […]

LONDON, October 7, 2008 (AFP) – British customers with accounts in the online arm of faltering Iceland’s second-biggest bank voiced alarm after it halted transactions. Icesave stopped British customers withdrawing or depositing money, it announced, as Icelandic authorities said they had taken control of the bank and the island’s financial sector teetered on the brink […]

WASHINGTON, October 6, 2008 (AFP) – Troubled lender Wachovia Corp. appeared determined Sunday to plow ahead with a planned union with Wells Fargo & Co., despite an order from a New York State Supreme Court in favor of jilted suitor Citigroup. Citigroup was blindsided last week in its bid to complete a tie-up after Wachovia, […]

LONDON, October 6, 2008 (AFP) – British finance minister Alistair Darling is considering giving banks billions of pounds in return for shares to shore them up in the face of the global credit crunch, media reports said Monday. The plan is a middle way between full nationalisation, as with Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley […]