Stocks

  Hong Kong / AFP Asian markets retreated on Wednesday on fears about an expected US interest rate rise this year, while the pound recovered after suffering a series of losses fuelled by worries over Britain’s EU exit. Samsung Electronics suffered another bout of selling in the morning after announcing on Tuesday it would scrap the troubled flagship Galaxy Note …

  Bloomberg Emerging-market stocks and currencies fell toward a three-week low as surging domestic risks from Thailand to South Africa worsened sentiment impaired by a fractious U.S. election campaign and bets for December policy tightening by the Federal Reserve. Thai equities and baht led losses amid concern for the health of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The rand headed for a one-month …

  London / AFP Shares in Samsung Electronics tumbled Tuesday after the company junked its Note 7 smartphone, while the anaemic pound helped push Britain’s stock market to a record high. The weak pound, flailing in the wake of Britain’s June vote to quit the European Union, helped push London’s FTSE 100 index of top blue-chip companies to 7,129.83 points, …

  SARAJEVO / Reuters Bosnia’s Sarajevo Stock Exchange (SASE) and Gulf-owned Bosna Bank International (BBI) launched the Balkans’ first index of listed firms compliant with Islamic investment principles on Monday in a bid to attract more investors in local equities. The index has 25 constituents: companies with the highest market capitalisation and revenues, including the country’s second-largest telecoms firm BH …

  London / AFP European stock markets held firm on Monday as traders digested last week’s volatile performance and eyed rising eurozone investor sentiment, dealers said. London added 0.2 percent in value, as investors paused for breath after sterling’s Brexit-fuelled “flash crash” to 31-year dollar lows late last week. The weak pound lifts exporters. Frankfurt won 0.6 percent despite ongoing …

Bloomberg U.S. stock market investors have put Dec. 14 firmly in their crosshairs. Amid a range of reports showing the U.S. economy can withstand an interest-rate increase, investors are punishing industries likely to suffer with tighter monetary policy and shifting cash into groups that benefit from higher borrowing costs and economic growth. The S&P 500 Index tumbled 0.7 percent to …

  London / AFP Oil prices in New York rose above $50 a barrel on Thursday for the first time since June, helping provide some support for broader markets ahead of key US jobs data. Near 1330 GMT, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in November was trading up 37 cents at $50.20 a barrel, while the London benchmark …

  Tokyo / AFP Tokyo shares closed higher for a fourth straight session Thursday as a weaker yen boosted exporters while Fujitsu soared on reports it is considering merging its money-losing PC unit with China’s Lenovo. The dollar rallied as investors viewed strong US data on the key services sector as more evidence the world’s top economy is back on …

London / AFP European stock markets retreated on Wednesday on speculation that the ECB is mulling plans to taper its vast economic stimulus that aims to prop up the eurozone economy. The European Central Bank has rebutted a Bloomberg report on Tuesday of an “informal consensus” among ECB policymakers that the guardian of the euro should gradually scale back its …

  Bloomberg U.S. stocks rose as a rally in crude oil boosted energy producers, overshadowing concerns that central banks could begin to tighten monetary policy. The S&P 500 Index rose 0.3 percent to 2,157.02 at 9:33 a.m. in New York, after two days of losses following hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials. Equity markets have seen a revival of volatility …