Oxstones Investment Club™Take a look at economic developments and activity in major stock markets around the world Wednesday:
By The Associated Press– Wed Sep 22, 12:59 pm ET
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BRUSSELS — The European Union Parliament approved creation of new financial oversight institutions aimed at preventing another financial crisis like the one that led to massive bank bailouts at taxpayer expense.
The parliament overwhelmingly backed the plan to set up watchdog boards for the financial markets, banking and insurance sectors in addition to a European board to make sure the EU can avoid new crises.
The institutions should become active at the beginning of next year.
Parliamentary approval in Strasbourg, France, was the last hurdle for the plans, which were hailed as a major step forward in EU-wide financial management. The EU member states had already approved them earlier this month.
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LONDON — Pursuit of “the fast buck” is undermining Britain’s economy, a government minister said as he announced a review of corporate governance, executive pay and takeovers.
Vince Cable, who heads the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, spoke at the annual conference of the Liberal Democrats, the junior partner in Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative-led coalition government.
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LONDON — The euro hit a five-month high above $1.34, while European shares fell after the Federal Reserve hinted that it was ready to provide more assistance to the weak U.S. economy, the world’s largest.
The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed down 0.4 percent, Germany’s DAX fell 1.1 percent and the CAC-40 in France was 1.3 percent lower.
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TOKYO — Earlier in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average closed down 0.4 percent as the yen strengthened. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.2 percent. Markets were closed for holidays in South Korea, mainland China and Taiwan.
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LISBON, Portugal — Portugal raised euro750 million ($1 billion) in a debt auction that drew strong investor interest, but its borrowing cost was the highest since it joined the euro, underlining market worries about the country’s financial health.
The Portuguese sale follows solid bond auctions Tuesday in other indebted countries: Ireland, Spain and Greece. The ability of those governments to raise money relieved some short-term market pressure.
However, the high interest rates from the Portuguese auction deepened worries about how the country will service its debt in the long term amid anemic growth.
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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A senior Dubai finance official predicts the UAE economy will top $272 billion this year, suggesting a strong recovery for the Arab world’s second-biggest economy.
He said the rise came from increased liquidity and growth in important sectors such as trade, transport and finance.
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BERLIN — Shares of Deutsche Bank AG dropped sharply after the bank said it expected to post a third-quarter net loss because it plans to absorb a big charge related to an acquisition.
Deutsche Bank expects a euro2.3 billion ($3.1 billion) charge stemming from its planned takeover of retail lender Deutsche Postbank AG to result in the loss for the quarter.
It said that, even before the charge, it expected a profit “significantly below” the level of last year’s third quarter — “consistent with its earlier expectations and the poorer market conditions during the summer months.”
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ATHENS, Greece — Protesting truck drivers blocked traffic on Greece’s two busiest highways and clashed with police in front of parliament as lawmakers approved a shake-up of labor market rules as part of an agreement for international rescue loans.
The drivers, protesting for a 10th day, sealed off the highways outside Athens minutes after parliament voted in favor of legislation to scrap restricted licensing rules for trucks.
Greece has promised to reform its labor market as part of austerity measures agreed in return for euro110 billion ($144 billion) in rescue loans from European countries and the International Monetary Fund.
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BUCHAREST, Romania — Romania needs to borrow almost 6 billion euro ($7.9 billion) next year to cover its budget deficit and plans to sign a new deal with the International Monetary Fund in 2011 to shore up the ailing economy, the president said.
Meanwhile, at least 10,000 people protested in Bucharest against wage cuts and other austerity measures, authorities said. Angry protesters were demanding the government increases salaries to the 2009 level and stop layoffs of public workers.
Authorities slashed public sector wages and hiked sales tax to reduce the budget deficit, as the IMF had requested. President Traian Basescu said the country still needed help with its finances, and said that spending cuts would continue.
Source: news.yahoo.com
Tags: around the world, economic developments, stock markets