European markets declined Monday after Standard & Poor’s reduced its long-term outlook for US credit from “stable” to “negataive” although it reiterated its current AAA credit rating, while markets were also hurt by a statement from the International Monetary Fund that called Greece’s debt unsustainable. The FTSE 100 dropped 2.1 percent to 5,870.08, with just [...]

European equities markets were lower Monday ahead of the start of US quarterly corporate results, scheduled to begin later in the day. The FTSE 100 was down 0.04 percent to 6,053.44 in London, while the FTSE 250 dropped 0.31 percent to 11,689.7 as house builders were lower, while some banks were up on recommendations from [...]

Equities markets in Europe and the US were mostly lower after a new, powerful aftershock hit the region of Japan already affected by the 11 march earthquake and tsunami, but at 11:30 p.m., the magnitude-7.1 quake hit too late to affect Thursday trade in the Asia-Pacific region. Earlier in the session, most European markets were [...]

European equities markets were mostly higher despite some declines on continuing worries about debt problems in the region. The FTSE 100 added 0.19 percent to 5,943.34 in London, while the FTSE 250 was up 0.31 percent to 11,672.6, with retailers lower, miners and banks mixed, and the energy, insurance and utilities sectors mostly higher on [...]

Most European equities markets saw gains Monday, helped by new data from the United States, where the Commerce Department said that consumer spending rose 0.7 percent last month, more than expected, while the National Association of Realtors said that pending sales of existing homes added 2.1 percent. Additionally, several officials of the US Federal Reserve [...]

Most European equities markets saw gains Friday on a US Commerce Department report revising last year’s fourth quarter growth up, with the new data showing that the US economy grew by 3.1 percent in the quarter rather than its earlier estimate of 2.8 percent growth. The FTSE 100 added 0.34 percent to 5,900.76 in London, [...]

Equities markets were lower again in Europe on Wednesday on concerns that conditions at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant are worsening, especially after the European Union’s Energy Commissioner said that the facility is “out of control”, while a downgrade of Portugal’s debt rating to A3 by Moody’s Investors service and disappointing reports on new home [...]

Wall Street was up right after the Federal Reserve announced on Wednesday that it was cutting its main interest rate by half a percentage point to 3 percent, but the markets ended the session lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.3 percent to 12.442.83 while the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.38 percent to 2,349 [...]

Asia-Pacific equities markets headed lower on Monday as investors worried that not only the US economy but also the Japanese economy are headed for recession. In India, the Sensex ended the session 1.14 percent lower at 18,152.78. Taiwan’s Taiex index fell 3.28 percent to 7,845.79 while the FTSE Straits Times Index was down 3.75 percent [...]

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index saw its biggest one-day gain in a decade and its largest points gain in history on Wednesday when it added 2,332 points, or 10.72 percent, to 24,090.17 on the heels of Tuesday’s surprise interest rate cut from the US Federal Reserve. The big gains came after the index had dropped [...]