Banks lifted Britain's top shares on Thursday, with Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group top performers on reports that a new bid vehicle will seek to buy British banking assets.
The FTSE 100 .FTSE index was up 90.63 points, or 1.8 percent, at 5,105.45, rising for a third consecutive day. It closed up 49.82 points, or 1 percent, on Wednesday.
The Obama administration headed to court on Thursday to fight for the moratorium on deepwater drilling it imposed in response to the BP oil spill, while the British oil giant sought to dampen talk it could stop its gushing well this month.
The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee kept interest rates at a record low 0.5 percent on Thursday, in an almost universally expected decision that likely reflects policymakers' concerns about the growth outlook.
World stocks rose on Thursday while the euro hit a two-month peak against the low-yielding dollar on rising expectations the forthcoming earnings season would show strong corporate performance.
The International Monetary Fund upgraded its 2010 global growth forecast on Thursday, citing robust expansion in Asia and renewed U.S. private demand, but warned the euro area's debt crisis posed a big risk to recovery.
BP dampened hopes that it could plug its leaking Gulf of Mexico well sooner than forecast on Thursday, while a battle between the U.S. government and the oil industry over a deepwater drilling ban heads to court.
The International Monetary Fund upgraded its 2010 global growth forecast on Thursday, citing robust expansion in Asia and renewed U.S. private demand, but warned the euro area's debt crisis posed a big risk to recovery.
BP does not expect to plug its leaking Gulf of Mexico well until August, a spokeswoman for the company told Reuters on Thursday, following press speculation that it could happen earlier.
No. 1 U.S. warehouse club operator Costco Wholesale Corp saw June sales at stores open at least a year rise 4 percent, marginally missing market expectations, as it was hurt by the Memorial Day holiday shift.
China bought a record $7.9 billion in short-term Japanese debt in May, a surge widely viewed as temporary while sovereign debt concerns buffet the euro, rather than a shift in China's long-term investment stance.
The International Monetary Fund upgraded its 2010 global growth forecast on Thursday on the back of robust expansion in Asia and renewed U.S. private demand, but warned the euro area's debt crisis posed a big risk to recovery.
BP boss Tony Hayward met with an Abu Dhabi state investment fund on Wednesday, part of a quest for cash to ward off takeovers and help pay for the worst oil spill in U.S. history.
Besieged energy giant BP Plc aims to fix its leaking Gulf oil well by July 27, ahead of its earlier target of mid-August, to show investors it has limited its burgeoning oil spill liabilities, the Wall Street Journal said, citing company officials.
BP boss Tony Hayward met with an Abu Dhabi state investment fund on Wednesday, part of a quest for cash to ward off takeovers and help pay for the worst oil spill in U.S. history.
Traders were content to play the ranges between 0.8470 and 0.8510 during yesterday's domestic session in light of the sharp rally above US85 cents the previous day.
Stress tests on European banks need to mark down the value of Greek government debt by about 16 percent, sources said, as regulators haggled over how much detail to reveal about the health checks.
World Bank studies the business environment for FDI in various nations
European regulators haggled over how much detail to reveal about health checks on the region's lenders in a fight that may undermine the exercise's aim of restoring confidence.
Millions of gallons/liters of oil have spewed into the Gulf of Mexico since an April 20 explosion on a drilling rig triggered the worst spill in U.S. history.
Emails stolen from one of the world's leading climate change research centers contained no evidence to undermine the case for manmade global warming, a report found on Wednesday.
European regulators were debating how much detail to reveal about health checks of the region's banks on Wednesday, in a fight that may threaten to undermine the purpose of the exercise.
The stress tests for European banks will not include a haircut on German sovereign bonds, two banking sources in Germany told Reuters on Wednesday.
