ECB's Trichet warns of speculative debt trading

2010-03-19T04:15:07Z

<div id="subtitle">European Central Bank chief warns of speculative misuse of credit default swap</div><div><p>The European Central Bank's chief warned Friday that credit default swaps "should not be misused in a speculative manner," backing European leaders eager to curb market pressure on government debt.</p><p>France,

Eurozone inflation drop to 0.9% confirmed

2010-03-16T04:16:02Z

<div><p>Annual inflation fell slightly in the 16-nation eurozone to 0.9 percent in February, the first drop since last summer, official figures confirmed Tuesday.</p><p>The small drop from the 1.0 percent inflation rate recorded by the EU's Eurostat data agency in January was confirmed by the EU's Eurostat statistics bureau, following a flash estimate early in the...

ECB to examine European IMF plan: Trichet

2010-03-10T15:15:39Z

<div><p>The European Central Bank will consider a proposed emergency fund for eurozone economies in distress, ECB chief Jean-Claude Trichet said on Wednesday.</p><p>"We don't reject the idea at this stage. We have to look at it and look at the details," Trichet told reporters on th...

Economic growth on 'positive' path: central bankers

2010-03-08T07:17:22Z

<div><p>Leading central bankers believe economic growth is advancing on a "very positive" path, allowing them to unwind stimulus measures, European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet said after they met on Monday.</p><p>"At the global level, the sentiment is that growth continues to be very positive, and with a number of corre...

ECB chief hails Greek austerity measures, sees limited IMF role

2010-03-04T11:19:07Z

<div><p>European Central Bank head Jean-Claude Trichet praised new Greek austerity measures Thursday but gave short shrift to a possible bid for IMF help that Athens said it had to consider.</p><p>"We appreciate enormously what has been decided because we judge it appro...

ECB holds key rate at one percent

2010-03-04T11:19:04Z

<div><p>The European Central Bank held its key interest rate steady at 1.0 percent on Thursday while markets focused on pending changes to the bank's special loan policies and the Greek debt crisis.</p><p>The ECB's benchmark lending rate is tipped to remain at its present record low level possibly into 2011, owing to a wobbly economic recovery and financing issues for FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Central Bank took a small step toward unwinding its extraordinary support for the euro zone economy Thursday, but it forecast a fragile recovery and left much of its cash buffer for banks in place.</p&g...

ECB holds rates, withdrawing some crisis measures

2010-03-04T08:15:43Z

<div id="subtitle">European Central Bank leaves key rate at 1 pct; BoE also stays unchanged</div><div><p>The European Central Bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 1 percent Thursday and confirmed that it will continue to scale back special lending measures it introduced during the financial crisis, even though the economy in the 16 countries that use Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou confronted more anti-austerity protests Thursday and tested international support for his battle against debt with a new multi-billion-euro bond.</p><p>Three hundred communist union members invaded the finance ministry ahead of another major rally in Athens against the socialist government's campaign...

BC EU europe Interest Rates

2010-03-04T07:17:50Z

FILE - In this Sept. 2, 2009 file picture the Euro sculpture is see in front of the European Central Bank ECB in Frankfurt, central Germany. The European Central Bank has left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 1 percent as markets wait to see if it will scale ...

Bank of England expected to keep rates at record low

2010-03-04T05:17:02Z

<div><p>The Bank of England is set to keep its key lending rate at a record low 0.50 percent when it meets on Thursday despite Britain emerging from a record recession stronger than expected, analysts said.</p><p>The BoE is also unlikely to revisit just yet its radical policy of pumping out massive amounts of new money after official data showed Britai...

European stocks drop before rate calls

2010-03-04T04:46:50Z

<div><p>Europe's main stock market dropped on Thursday as investors awaited monetary policy updates from the European Central Bank and Bank of England and developments surrounding Greece's debt and bond issue.</p><p>In morning trading, The euro fell against the dollar on Thursday as markets awaited a monetary policy update from the European Central Bank and digested drastic action by Greece aimed at slashing its debt.</p><p>Traders were also awaiting an interest rat...

Markets look to ECB to end easy money policies

2010-03-04T00:17:25Z

<div><p>Markets will focus on "exit strategies" from exceptional loan policies when European Central Bank leaders meet here on Thursday, with the Greek debt crisis a second centre of interest.</p><p>Fresh forecasts for eurozone growth and inflation will also be on the menu.</p><p>"The key issue to watch will be the promised announcements ...

Blaming the weather for high unemployment

2010-02-28T16:00:17Z

<div><p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Snowstorms have repeatedly battered parts of the United States this winter, making it more difficult to discern returning weakness in the economy from</p><p>seasonal distortions.</p><p>That means key U.S. data on jobs and manufacturing for February, which hold big implications for global financial markets, c...

Eurozone lending falls, money supply rises: ECB

2010-02-25T03:16:02Z

<div><p>Eurozone lending contracted further in January even as the overall amount of money in the 16-nation bloc edged higher, the European Central Bank said Thursday, underscoring concern over the strength of a European recovery.</p><p>Loans to the private sector declined by 0.6 percent, increasing the pace of a 0.1 percent decrease seen in December...

Clashes mar Greek austerity protests

2010-02-24T12:16:44Z

<div><p>Greek police on Wednesday fired tear gas and clashed with youths on the sidelines of a protest of several thousands in Athens against government austerity measures to tame a public debt crisis.</p><p>The clash began after a group of 50 young demonstrators were seen trying to approach a row of luxury hotels on central Syntagma Square.</p>...

General strike shuts down Greece

2010-02-24T05:15:59Z

<div><p>Greece ground to a halt on Wednesday as unions staged a one-day general strike and thousands of demonstrators took to the streets to protest austerity measures designed to tame a public debt crisis.</p><p>Schools, government offices and courthouses were all closed while there was also major disruption to public transport, banks, hospitals and state-owned companies.</p><p>The main Greek archaeological sites an...

ECB, Fed 'will march to different monetary rhythms'

2010-02-22T08:19:53Z

&lt;div&gt;&lt;p&gt;The European Central Bank has already begun to undo exceptional measures taken amidst the global financial crisis but will go more slowly than the US Federal Reserve owing to the eurozone's fragile state, analysts say.&lt;/p&gt;&amp...

U.S. firm sues ECB over anti-counterfeit technology

2010-02-22T08:23:59Z

&lt;div&gt;&lt;p&gt;FRANKFURT (Reuters) - A small U.S. technology firm is suing the European Central Bank, claiming unauthorized use of its anti-counterfeiting technology on euro banknotes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;

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