Portugal plans biggest spending cuts for 50 years

The Portuguese government is planning the country's largest expendeture cuts in 50 years, a move its finance minister described as "unprecedented".

Vitor Gaspar said the centre-right Social Democratic administration would reduce public spending from the current 44.2% of Portugal's annual economic output or GDP to 43.5% by 2015.

The government is planing to meet its budget deficit reduction targets.

These were agreed when Portugal required a bailout in May.

The country is now continuing to get a total 78bn euros ($112bn; £70bn) from the European Union and International Monetary Fund.

Like neighbouring Spain, Portugal has faced a number of public protests against government spending cuts.

Mr Gaspar plans for higher tax rates for the highest-earning companies and individuals.

Italy drops proposed tax on high earners

Italian Prime Minister has said, the Italian government has dropped plans to introduce a tax on high earners,

The "solidarity tax" on those earning more than 90,000 euros (£79,000) was one of several new measures announced earlier this month as the government aims to balance Italy's budget by 2013.
This announcement came after senior ministers met Mr Berlusconi on Monday.
The Bank of Italy has warned reduction in the austerity plan is not possible.
The government said it would instead step up measures to fight tax evasion.
In a statement issued after several hours of talks, the prime minister's office said it would also exclude years spent at university and military service from retirement age calculations, delaying retirement for some people.
There are also plans to spare the governments of small towns from cuts.
The plan is also reported to have caused tensions within the centre-right coalition government.
The Bank of Italy has warned that the government must still save a combination of 45.5bn euros ($65.5bn; £40.2bn) in higher taxes and lower spending.

Markets rally back on hopes of end to Libya conflict

Share markets in Europe have rebounded, led by shares in energy firms, on hopes that fighting in Libya may soon end.

At close on Monday London's FTSE 100 raised  1.08% and the Cac 40 in Paris by 1.14%.Its a good sign for investors.

The rally follows a 5% to 10% slump on most markets on Thursday and Friday on recession fears in the US and Europe.

Oil prices initially down on hopes that Libyan crude would soon come back on tap, before rising again on greater optimism about the global economy.

US will never default, Vice-President Biden tells China

On visit of China United States Vice-President Joe Biden has said US would never default on its debt.

On his last day visit, he said, he reiterated that China's large holdings of dollar assets were safe.

His trip comes amid mounting tension between the two over America's debt.

Chinese officials are against the political row in the US over raising its borrowing ceiling, and expressed concern over the recent downgrade of the country's credit rating.

"You're safe," Mr Biden told university students in the south-western town of Chengdua, in answer to a question about Washington's ability to repay its debt.

"We have an overarching interest in protecting the investment, while the United States has never defaulted and never will default."

China is the American government's biggest foreign creditor - holding $1tn (£608bn) of US debt - and has called on the country to do more to reduce its budget deficit.

Earlier this month, the US suffered a historic credit downgrade by rating agency Standard & Poor's.

Analysts say China is clearly worried about its holding, and about criticism at home for having so much of the country's savings in US investments.

In Sunday's speech, Mr Biden also called the increase of China as a global power a positive development for the US and the world as a whole.

And in a reference to human rights, he remarked that Beijing should cherish an exchange between citizens, students and their government.

His five day visit was overshadowed by a brawl at an exhibition basketball game between a US and a Chinese team.

Stock markets end turbulent week with more losses

Major European stock share markets closed down on Friday, ending another turbulent week.

Continued threat about a slowdown in the global economy and high levels of debt burden in the eurozone had driven indexes down for much of the day.

At one point, European markets were rapidly lower, with down of more than 3% for some leading indexes.

At the end, London's FTSE 100 was lower 1%, Paris's Cac was lower 1.9% and Frankfurt's Dax was fall 2.2%.

The losses leave the 100 index down 13% on the month, with the French and German markets worse hit, losing 18.3% and 24% respectively.

In New York, share market was down 0.2%. Alan Brown, Schroders' group chief investment officer, said: "It is the end of a really torrid week."

Investors are worried global growth is slowing, and that major economies may be heading back into recession.

In addition, the Greek finance minister tried to reassure investors that his country's new bailout deal was not in doubt.

Evangelos Venizelos' comments came after four countries demanded collateral in exchange for their contributions to the 109bn-euro (£95bn) loan, after Finland deal with the Greek government.

Austria, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Slovakia have all said they want to do the same, which could complicate efforts to finalise the rescue deal.

European markets swing higher in mid-morning trade

European stocks markets have moved upward trend as the latest move to restore market order - a ban on short-selling of some financial shares - takes effect. Ban on short selling reduce selling pressure in stock market.

Overnight, four eurozone countries - France, Italy, Spain and Belgium - banned short-selling of some stocks in an attempt to stabilise markets.

After initial selling pressure, London's FTSE 100 and Paris's Cac indexes were gained about 2%. Frankfurt's Dax was up almost 3%.

Earlier, Asian stocks were mixed as global trading remains nervy.

Short-selling involves investors selling stocks they do not own in the expectation they will drop in price before buying them back and pocketing the difference.

The last time major Western countries made a similar move was in 2008 after the collapse of Lehman.

Both countries' market authorities said they had no plans to introduce another ban.

Share markets rise in volatile trading

US and European shares have both close in upward trend, but there is fear continue over eurozone debt.

Wall Street's main Dow Jones index was risen 3.3% in early afternoon trading on Wall Street, helped by data showing a fall in the unemployment claimants.

In Europe, indexes closed positive after French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said they would meet to discuss eurozone financial governance.

The UK's FTSE 100 closed positive 3.1%.

Germany's Dax added 3.3% and France's Cac also close positive 2.5%.

A statement from President Sarkozy's office said he and Ms Merkel would also discuss "other international issues".

French banking sector shares had started Thursday among the higest gainers, with Societe Generale shares up 8%. The bank's shares then plunged as far as 8% down on the day, before recovering to finish positive 3% higher.

It comes a day after Societe Generale denied negative speculation about its financial health.

The US unemployment data showed that the weekly number of people claiming benefits had fallen to 395,000, the first time it had dropped below 400,000 since April.

This also lifted the two other main US share indexes, with the Nasdaq up 3.8% and the S&P's 500 adding 3.6%.

'Irrational fears' Mr Sarkozy held emergency talks with senior ministers on Wednesday when France became the centre of market turbulence on rumours that the country was about to lose its AAA credit rating, and the concern about

Hong Kong share trading hit by hackers

Trading in seven stocks listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange was stopped on Wednesday after a hacking attack.

The attack was aimed at a website run by the exchange used to tell traders about company announcements.

The site was shut and trading in seven firms due to make announcements via the website was stopped for half a day.

Shares in HSBC, Cathay Pacific, China Power International and the Hong Kong exchange itself were among those stopped for trading.

"Our current assessment (is) that this is a result of a malicious attack by outside hacking," said Charles Li, head of Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing (HKEC), in a statement. HKEC runs the Hang Seng exchange.

Mr Li said the company was looking into the motive for the attack and what hackers sought to gain from it. The incident has been reported to the police as well as the Securities and Futures Commission.

The attack on the site made it temporarily unavailable. It is not yet clear whether the attack overwhelmed the site with data, making it unreachable, or whether hackers gained unauthorised access to it.

HKEC was investigating the attack and said if the site remained unstable on Thursday, announcements would be made via the Hang Seng's bulletin board. Additionally, the suspension of the seven shares would be lifted.

Price sensitive information due to be announced included HSBC announcing the sale of its US credit card arm and Cathy Pacific unveiling half year results.

None of the other systems operated by Hong Kong Exchanges was  attacked and its securities and derivatives markets ran as normal.

The Hong Kong exchange is one of many stock markets that have been attack by hackers. The Zimbabwe stock exchange was attacked in early August and in February, the US Nasdaq revealed that cyber criminals had planted malicious code on its "Directors Desk" web application.

European share markets reverse earlier gains

European stock markets have lost earlier gains amid continuing fears over the eurozone debt crisis and the health of Europeans banks.

After opening with gains of around 2%, London's FTSE index, Germany's Dax index and France's Cac 40 lose the rises to trade flat.

French banking sector shares had been among the biggest gainers, with Societe Generale shares up 8% in morning trade.

But in volatile trading, the bank's shares were down 8% by lunchtime.

Threat about the financial stability of France and its banks had been a key trigger for Wednesday's steep falls.

Rumours had swept the stock market that France was about to lose its AAA credit rating and that Societe Generale was in line for a government bailout.

Denials came from both the French Treasury and Societe Generale, whose chief executive, Frederic Oudea, said the rumours were "absolutely rubbish" in an interview with CNBC television after the stock market closed.

Mr Oudea also spoke to France Info radio. "People are scared," he said, "so the tiniest information touches off irrational threat. To our clients, we have to tell them that these rumours are not true and that they can have confidence in Societe Generale."

The bank has asked the French Market Authorities to investigate the source of the rumours, which left its shares 23% lower at one point during Wednesday's trading.

European stocks up after US Fed puts rates on hold

European shares markets have going upward trend after the US central bank said it was likely to hold interest rates until 2013.

Leading stock markets are seeing a second day of gains, with London's 100 share index up 1.4% and Frankfurt's leading Dax index more than 2% higher.

The interest rate announcement helped stem one of the biggest sell-offs in recent years.

US stock market had their best day for two years, closing up 4% after Tuesday' announcement from Federal Reserve.

Asian stock markets also gain index between 1-2%, helping Europe to its firmer start to the trading day.

China's inflation rate quickens in July as prices rise

Inflation in China was going to higher than expected in July, despite a series of efforts by the government to rein in prices.

Consumer prices of goods in July rose 6.5% compared with the same month last year, the National Bureau of Statistics said.
The rise comes even as China's central bank has increased interest rates five times since October 2010 in a bid to control prices.
Rising consumer prices have become a hot political issue in China.
"There is no doubt inflation is not getting better, given the month-on-month numbers," said Wei Yao of Societe Generale.

Fukushima plant owner Tepco reports $7.4bn loss

Tokyo Japan Electric Power (Tepco), the owner of the Fukushima nuclear plant damaged in March's earthquake and tsunami, has reported a quarterly loss of 571.8bn yen ($7.4bn; £4.5bn)

The loss includes 400bn yen put aside by Tepco to covere victims of the disaster, which forced 80,000 people to be evacuated from the area around the Fukushima plant.

The company said there was too much uncertainty over the ongoing crisis.

The disaster has had a severe effect on local industries, including farm produce including vegetables, dairy products, fish, mushrooms and green tea.

Meat shipments were banned after cattle were found to have eaten contaminated rice straw.

Tepco may have to pay $130bn compensation.

Last week, Japan's parliament sanction plan - including financial contributions from taxpayers and other utilities - to help the company compensate victims of the disaster at the plant.

Tepco has said it aims to start accepting claims in September and making payments in October.

European shares plunge as sell-off continues

European share values are Continue to fall rapidly, following similar sell-offs in the US and Asia.

London's FTSE 100 index lose 4.1%, Germany's Dax is also drop 5.7% and France's Cac has fallen by 2.4%.

Invester remain on edge after a severe loss of confidence caused by a downgrading of US debt and further strife in the eurozone.

Banking sector share dropped adversely like RBS down 10%, Barclays falling 7.5% and HSBC 6.9% lower.

On the other way the bond markets, the yield on both Spanish and Italian government bonds fell further.

The European Central Bank (ECB) is intervening in the markets to try to keep the cost of borrowing down for the two countries, which are struggling to avoid a Greece-style bail-out by the authorities.

Worries about the level of US debt caused its credit rating to be downgraded from the top triple A grade - a move that lead to severe falls on Monday of between 3%-5% for European share markets and a 5.6% fall for the US Dow Jones index - its biggest in three years, with bank shares leading the way down.

Bank of America closed down 20% in US trading, banking sector hits adversely.

On Tuesday, Asian markets suffered their second day of steep falls, although Asian Markets  had recovered around half of their overnight losses by the close.

The Nikkei finished fall 1.7%, South Korea's Kospi dropped 3.64%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng down 2.8%.

Fear grips global markets again

World stock markets have continuously suffering heavy losses last week in the first day of trading since rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded the US late on Friday.

The main Wall Street index, the Dow, was down 2.5% due to weak US economy.The UK's FTSE was 2.9% dowm, and Germany's Dax had fall 4.3%.
But yields on Spanish and Italian bonds fell sharply after intervention by the European Central Bank (ECB).
The ECB said it intended to buy up eurozone government bonds to address concerns that the eurozone debt crisis was spreading to those two countries.
The yield on Spanish 10-year bonds is announced - it indicate of the risk cocerned with lending Spain money down from more than 6% to about 5.2%. Yields on Italian bonds fell by a similar amount.
Tobias Blattner, a former economist at the European Central Bank, said the ECB's intervention had done little to help the crisis of confidence boosting up the share markets.
"This reflects the fundamentals that growth is in a very bad situation on both sides of the Atlantic and this is why the ECB's interventions will not alter anything.
"We can't get much positive momentum out of it, but for the bond markets it was a good sign."
Earlier, Asian  stock shares had lose due to the US downgrade.

Japan's Nikkei and Hong Kong's Hang Seng indexes fall 2.2%, while South Korea's Kospi fell 3.8%.

These added to the significant falls seen last week when trillions of dollars were wiped from the value of global markets, with the Dax losing about 13% of its value, the FTSE 100 falling almost 10% and the Dow ending the week 5.8% lower.

Emergency talks called to calm global markets turmoil

The European Central Bank is  emergency break to talk on eurozone debt crises whether to start buying Italian debt to contain spreading turmoil on financial markets.

Growing worries over debt in the eurozone and the US caused sharp falls on world stock markets last week.

Finance ministers from the G7 major economic powers are also to hold emergency talks on how to coll the markets.

The governing council of the ECB, which includes the central bank governors of all 17 eurozone countries, will hold a telephone conference on Sunday afternoon.

According to an ECB source cited by Reuters news agency, the bank's president Jean-Claude Trichet desire  a final decision on whether to buy Italian debt to be made at the meeting.

Meanwhile, Middle East markets, which are open for trading on Sunday, lost ground, with Israel's main exchange losing index by about 7% and Egypt's by about 4%.

There are threat that unless leaders can announce a decisive plan of action before Asian and European markets open on Monday, global shares could open positive mode.

Monday will also be the first day major markets are open following the decision by credit rating agency Standard & Poor's to downgrade US government debt.

Stocks Bounce Around After U.S. Jobs Report

U.S. stocks down again Friday after a morning of up-and-down trading.

Major market indexes were falling as traders threatened on fears that European leaders will not able to contain a spreading financial crisis. Many fear that officials lack the tools to rescue Italy or Spain if one of those countries defaults before a larger bailout fund is in place.

Shares was going up early Friday after the government said hiring picked up slightly in July. The rally started  less than half an hour.

Shortly after noon, the Dow was down 191 points, or 1.7 percent, at 11,191. The S&P 500 was down 26 points, or 2.3 percent, at 1,172. The Nasdaq composite was down 83, or 3.2 percent, at 2,475.

The Dow fell 512 points Thursday, its worst day since 2008.

European leaders are calling emergency meetings and seeking to reassure markets that a large nation such as Italy or Spain won't become the latest country in the region to need a financial backstop.

A U.S. government report that  improved in July sent stocks sharply higher just after the market opened. The Dow Jones industrial average raised as many as 171 points but gave up those losses by midmorning. An hour after the opening bell, the Dow was down 7 points.

The economy added 117,000 new jobs in July, and hiring in May and June were not as bad as reported previously, the Labor Department reported. The unemployment rate inched down to 9.1 percent from 9.2 percent, partly because some unemployed workers stopped looking for work. Health care providers and manufacturers added jobs in US Economy.

The  report failed to lift the spirits of traders a day after the Dow plunged 513 points. It was the worst day for the Dow since the financial crisis of 2008.

In late-morning trading the Dow was fall 42 points, or 0.37 percent, at 11,341. The S&P 500 was down 5 points, or 0.5 percent, at 1,194. The Nasdaq composite was down 21 or 0.8 %, at 2,535.

Overseas markets also fell. Tokyo, Hong Kong and China, India, Pakistan all closed down 4 percent. Taiwan lost 6 percent. In Europe, shares recovered some of their losses after plunging to their lowest levels in more than a year. Germany's DAX fell 1.4 percent. Other indexes showed smaller losses.

Turmoil on stock markets persists

continuous fall in stock markets due to instability of weak US economic condition and eurozone debt crises, despite better-than-expected US jobs figures.

There have been sharp falls in the past 24 hours amid a crisis of confidence due to the eurozone debt crisis and concerns about weak economic recovery in the US and Europe.
A fall in the US jobless rate caused the US markets to open higher and gave temporary relief to European indexes.
But London's FTSE and Frankfurt's Dax were still down about 2% again.
European markets had been fell as much as 4% in the morning, before recovering, and then lurching back down again by mid-afternoon.
In London, the FTSE 100 closed down 2.7%, with banking shares such as Lloyds, RBS and Barclays suffering falls as large as 7%.In UK Barklays bank and HSBC start downsizing globally.
In Germany the Dax closed down 2.7%, while the French Cac 40 ended just over 1% down.

Global markets dive after Wall Street sell-off

Today is bad day for global stock markets. Stock markets in Asia and Europe recorded sharp declines Friday, today Wall Street had its worst day since the 2008 financial crisis.

Japan's Nikkei and South Korea's Kospi both closed down 3.72% and 3.70% respectively. Australia's All Ordinaries closed fall more than 4%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng was fall more than 4% in afternoon trading, while China's Shanghai SE Composite Index was fall 2.2%.

The UK FTSE 100 Index and Germany's Dax index were both around 2.5% down.

The falls came after the Dow tumbled 512 points Thursday -- its ninth deepest point drop ever -- as fear about the global economy spooked investors. Investor are fear due to eurozonr debt crises and US economy.

Europe shares fall as global share sell-off continues

Eurozone stock markets have continued the steep share sell-off, with investors are worried about both the eurozone debt crisis and the weak US economy. Asian stock markets are also effected with this fear.

In volatile trade, the UK's benchmark FTSE 100 index and Germany's Dax index were both shred down more than 2%.
This is happening due to "fear" affecting investments and dissatisfaction about lack of government action.
But European Commissioner Olli Rehn said he thought the movements were "unjustified" and "incomprehensible".
Mr Rehn, who is Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner, tried to assure markets by saying "the political will to defend the euro should not be underestimated".
He stressed that measures to improve the scope and effectiveness of the 440bn-euros rescue fund, the European Financial Stability Facility, agreed last month, these funds should be in place by September.

Global stock markets slump on eurozone debt fears

Globally shares have dropped sharply for the second day as fears about the eurozone debt crisis intensified.

New York's Dow Jones index was trading more than 3% down, while Frankfurt's Dax and London's FTSE 100 indexes closed almost 3.5% lower.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso's warning that the sovereign debt crisis is spreading spooked the markets.

On the side, the price of gold hit a new record in history high of $1,677 an ounce.

More weak jobs data from the US also raised concerns about the strength of the economic recovery there.

Banks were hit particularly hard, with Lloyds Banking Group down 9.9% and Royal Bank of Scotland falling 7% in London, Societe Generale losing 6.9% in Paris and Commerzbank dropping 6.8% in Frankfurt.

Miners also suffered, with Vedanta Resources slumping 9.5% and Xstrata and Eurasian Natural Resources falling more than 8% in London.

The oil price also dowm on fears that a weaker global recovery would hit demand. US light crude reduced by more than $4 a barrel, or almost 5%, to $87.63. London Brent fell by almost $5 a barrel to $108.85.

Global stockmarkets continue to slide

European and US shares have fallen sharply as concerns grow about eurozone debt levels and the general health of the global economy.

The main share index in Frankfurt was down 3.5%, on the other side indexes in London and Paris reduced by about 2.5%.

In New York, stocks drop 1.2% after the release of disappointing US service sector data.

Meanwhile, the price of gold, it is safe investment in times of economic uncertainty, hit a new record high in history.

The precious metal touched $1,669 an ounce in early trading.

The Swiss National Bank also lowered its target for inter-bank lending in an attempt to lower demand for the Swiss franc, which is safe investment and has risen sharply in recent weeks.

Fall in US consumer spending fuels economic worries

US consumers reduce their spending in June for the first time in almost two years.

They are also facing slow grow in income pace for nine months, fuelling further concerns about economic growth.

The US Department of Commerce said spending reduce 0.2% in June, while incomes increase 0.1%.

Paul Dales, of Capital Economics, said it was a further sign that any economic rebound "will be more modest than previously looked likely".

Figures released last week showed that the US economy grew at a modest annual rate of 1.3% in the second quarter of the year.

Higher energy prices and unemployment have reduced household budgets.

The economy added just 18,000 net jobs in June, the miner rise in nine months. Meanwhile, unemployment in June jumped up to 9.2%, the highest rate so far this year.

Barclays profits fall by a third

Barclays this year pre-tax profits is £2.6bn for the first six months which is  down 33% from last year.

The bank also said it aimed to downsize at least 1,400 more jobs in 2011, having cut 1,400 posts already this year.

The decline in half-year profits was partly caused by a £1bn provision for settling claims of mis-selling of payment protection insurance (PPI).

However the bank reported a recover of bad debts and said it was on course to meet targets for UK business lending.