By Tom Westbrook SINGAPORE (Reuters) – World stocks headed for their worst week since markets’ pandemic meltdown in March 2020, as interest rate hikes in the United States and Britain and a surprise one in Switzerland set investors on edge about future economic growth. The Bank of Japan was the only outlier in a week…
GENEVA (AP) — After all-night talks, members of the World Trade Organization early Friday reached a string of deals and commitments aimed at protecting stocks of ocean fish, broadening production of COVID-19 vaccines in the developing world, improving food security and reforming a 27-year-old trade body that has been back on its heels in recent…
By Rocky Swift TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s yen is at its weakest in decades and inflicting high costs of imported food and fuel on households and businesses, but also proving to be an unexpected tailwind for multinationals such as pharmaceutical giant Takeda. As the Bank of Japan reiterated its commitment to loose monetary policy on…
MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s Santander is set to appoint insider Hector Grisi as its chief executive officer, replacing long-time executive Jose Antonio Alvarez, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. Grisi, 55, is expected to take over fully in early 2023 following a transition period, according to people familiar with the move cited by Bloomberg who asked…
By Emma Farge and Philip Blenkinsop GENEVA (Reuters) – The World Trade Organization’s 164 members approved a series of trade agreements early on Friday that included commitments on fish and pledges on health and food security after more than five gruelling days of negotiations. The deals were ground out over five days of bargaining at…
By Leika Kihara and Daniel Leussink TOKYO (Reuters) -The Bank of Japan maintained ultra-low interest rates on Friday and its guidance to keep borrowing costs at “present or lower” levels, signaling its resolve to focus on supporting the economy’s tepid recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. However, in a nod to the hit that the yen’s…
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Workers at a Mexican plant of ArcelorMittal have called off a brief strike after reaching an agreement with the world’s largest steelmaker over profit-sharing, the mining union said on Thursday. The union, which went on strike at noon on Wednesday, said in a statement the Luxembourg-based firm had agreed to pay…
TOKYO (Reuters) – The Bank of Japan maintained its massive stimulus on Friday and its guidance to keep borrowing costs at “present or lower” levels, signaling its resolve to focus on supporting the economy’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The central bank also said it would offer to buy unlimited amounts of 10-year Japanese government…
By Tetsushi Kajimoto TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan has reappointed Masato Kanda as vice finance minister for international affairs, the country’s top currency diplomat, as part of a mid-year personnel reshuffle, the Ministry of Finance said on Friday. The government wants to stabilise financial markets as the yen hits 24-year lows – beyond 135 to the dollar…
By Leika Kihara TOKYO (Reuters) -The Bank of Japan is likely to maintain ultra-low interest rates on Friday and stress its resolve to support a fragile economy with massive stimulus, a move that may spark a renewed yen fall by highlighting a policy divergence with the rest of the world. While a modest, technical tweak…
