Bloomberg The euro extended gains and Spanish assets held their advance as the country’s government maintained a hard line on Catalonia’s independence bid. The dollar weakened as investors awaited minutes from the last Federal Reserve meeting. “Fed minutes could show a discussion on inflation, which the market is likely to take as dovish,” said Mark McCormick, North American head of …

Reuters Insurance stocks helped to drag down Saudi Arabia’s market on Wednesday because of fears of a shakeout in the industry, while bourses in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar rose, helped by a bullish global trend in equities. The main Saudi index sank 2.2 percent to 6,890 points, closing significantly below the 200-day moving average, now at 7,042 points, …

Bloomberg Bank of England (BOE) Governor Mark Carney is ready to raise interest rates from a position of economic weakness rather than strength. The fastest inflation in four years has left the UK central bank preparing to hike next month for the first time in more than a decade, yet it’s not an accelerating economy fanning those price pressures. Instead, …