Argentine President Cristina Fernandez on Thursday fired the country’s central bank president, who had rejected her calls to step down for refusing to use Argentina’s foreign currency reserves to pay debt. Fernandez issued a presidential decree removing Martin Redrado from office, citing misconduct and dereliction of duties. He was replaced by Central Bank Vice President […]

Iceland will “honour its obligations” over the more than $5bn owed to Britain and the Netherlands that was lost in failed savings banks, President Olafur Grimsson told reporters. The Icelandic parliament had approved a deeply unpopular bill to cover compensation already paid out by the British and Dutch governments to holders of “Icesave” accounts after […]

European shares hit a new 15-month peak in early trading on Wednesday, led higher by financials and miners, with investors waiting for more macro-economic data later in the session for clearer market direction. At 0811 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.4 percent to 1,064.25 points, the highest since October […]

Japanese Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii left financial markets guessing on Tuesday on whether he will remain in the post, saying he was still waiting for test results after being hospitalised last week suffering from exhaustion. The 77-year-old fiscal veteran said the medical results may be available shortly, and a decision on whether he should stay […]

Financial markets kicked off 2010 on an upbeat note on Monday with world stocks close to 15-month highs on hopes for a sustainable economic recovery. The dollar was slightly weaker against a basket of major currencies while government bonds sold off. MSCI’s all-country world stock index was up nearly half a percent, slightly below 2009 […]

Investors who kept faith in Asia as the world teetered on the brink of financial meltdown a year ago have been richly rewarded – the region’s markets rode out the storm in spectacular style and posted stunning gains. The economic outlook for 2010 appears far sunnier. But with frothy markets betting on a smooth return […]

US President Barack Obama has expressed confidence a climate deal can be clinched as dozens of world leaders gather on Wednesday to try to break a deadlock at UN climate talks. “The president believes that we can get an operational agreement that makes sense in Copenhagen,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told a briefing in […]

Plans from Wells Fargo & Co and Citigroup to repay taxpayer funds will put the US government on track to reduce its bailout investments in banks by more than 75 percent, while earning a healthy profit for the US, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Monday. “With the recent announcements on repayments, we are now […]

Malaysia’s government will offer “credible” cuts in its emissions of carbon dioxide at the Copenhagen climate change summit in a bid to halt global warming, Prime Minister Najib Razak told Reuters on Sunday. Najib will be among more than 110 world leaders who will meet in Copenhagen next week to attend a summit to try […]

Bolivia’s President Evo Morales wants to launch state-run paper and cement ventures and develop lithium, petrochemical and iron projects in his second term but a lack of foreign investment and know-how could hamper his ambitious plans. Leftist Morales won 63 percent of the vote in an election on Sunday to run the energy-rich but economically […]

OPEC is expected to hold output steady when it meets in Luanda at the end of this month, rounding off a year of stable production policy and of robust oil prices. Oil inventories are brimming and any recovery in demand is expected to be slow, but international benchmark U.S. crude futures have more than doubled […]

Lamborghini expects to post a roughly 35 percent slide in 2009 sales as the global economic downturn slams the brakes on spending from even the super-rich, with growth likely to pick up again only in 2011. Next year will remain challenging for the maker of supercars graced by a charging bull logo, a unit of […]

Dubai nationals were alarmed by the fallout from the emirate’s debt standstill, but many hope the crisis may stem the torrent of foreigners into the conservative Gulf Arab city, where locals are outnumbered ten to one. The freewheeling emirate, one of seven that form the United Arab Emirates, sent jitters through global markets last week […]

Spain’s registered jobless rose for the fourth consecutive month in November official data showed on Wednesday, and was seen edging higher as the recession weighs and a multi-billion euro stimulus package loses steam. The Spanish economy is not expected to emerge from recession until next year as it reels from the collapse of a decade-long […]

Hopes China’s Tengzhong will complete the deal to buy General Motor’s Hummer brand as early as this week appear unlikely to be fulfilled, with the regulator tasked with assessing the deal yet to receive a formal application, according to a regulatory source. Nearly two months have passed since GM signed a deal to sell its […]