In response to the 2008 financial crisis, major central banks adopted extraordinary measures to stabilize the global system and revive growth. These measures included the maintenance of near-zero interest rates by the Federal Reserve for seven years, and a quintupling of its balance sheet over that period through bond purchases. This process, known as quantitative easing, was also a key ...

DUBAI / Reuters Qatar’s stock index edged up on Wednesday as foreign ministers of four Arab states prepared to meet to consider sanctions against Doha. A deadline for Qatar to comply with a list of demands made by the states expired overnight. Doha has submitted replies to mediator Kuwait that have not been disclosed. Doha has shown no sign of ...

Bloomberg It’s not just emerging-market stocks that have shed their umbi- lical link to oil and commodities. Bonds and currencies are also breaking free. Stocks in the developing world posted the best start to a year since 2009 even as oil capped its worst first half in 19 years. That’s partly because the weight of energy companies in the benchmark ...