Business confidence among major Japanese manufacturers has improved for the first time in two-and-a-half years, the central bank’s quarterly Tankan survey has shown.
The sentiment index rose to minus 48 in June from a record low of minus 58 in March. Market forecasts had been for a figure of about minus 43.
The increase was the biggest [...]
By MADLEN READ
AP Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) – A surprise jump in durable goods orders is giving stocks a boost before the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates.
The Commerce Department said orders for big-ticket items rose 1.8 percent in May. The market was anticipating a decline.
In the first minutes of trading, the Dow Jones industrial [...]
By ALAN ZIBEL
AP Real Estate Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) – New U.S. home sales fell slightly last month, another sign that the housing market’s recovery is likely to be gradual and prolonged.
The Commerce Department said Wednesday that sales dropped 0.6 percent in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 342,000, from a downwardly revised April rate [...]
By JEANNINE AVERSA
AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) – With signs the U.S. economy is improving but still fragile, Federal Reserve policymakers are considering whether some programs intended to drive down rates on mortgages and other consumer debt should be slowed down.
Most economists predict Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues won’t launch any bold new efforts [...]
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER
AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) – Orders to U.S. factories for manufactured goods from computers to aircraft surged in May for a second straight month. And a gauge of business investment rose last month by the most in nearly five years.
Together, the data Wednesday signal that the recession could be at or near a [...]
SHANGHAI (AP) – Chinese shares rebounded to an 11-month high Wednesday on optimism about the economy after a government official issued a forecast of strong second quarter growth.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index jumped 29.6 points, or 1 percent, to close at 2922.3, the highest since July 17. The Shenzhen Composite Index for China’s smaller second [...]
By MADLEN READ
AP Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) – Lowered expectations for the global economy aregiving investors more to be wary about.
Stock futures retreated early Monday as the World Bank added to the market’s growing economic worries. The Washington-basedmultilateral lender predicted the world economy will shrink 2.9percent in 2009. That estimate was worse than its previous [...]
LONDON (AP) – The cost of three-month dollar loans between banks held steady Monday for the fifth day running amid concerns about the speed of a potential recovery in the U.S. economy.
The British Bankers’ Association said the rate on three-month loans in dollars – known as the London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor – was [...]
SHANGHAI (AP) – Chinese shares rebounded Monday, led by banks, after the premier reaffirmed the country’s fiscal and monetary policies will continue to support economic growth.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index jumped 45.79 points, or 1.7 percent, to close at 2,789.55. The Shenzhen Composite Index for China’s second exchange edged up 1.4 percent to 916.5.
Buying sentiment [...]
LONDON (AP) – The cost of three-month dollar loans between banks fell Monday to a new low after some cautiously optimistic comments from the finance ministers of the world’s eight leading industrial nations.
At their weekend meeting in Lecce, Italy, the G-8 finance ministers acknowledged “signs of stabilization in our economies” but added that it was [...]
