ECONOMY & MARKETS

Asian shares made cautious gains on Thursday as investors scented a possible slowdown in the pace of U.S. rate hikes, lowering bond yields and restraining the dollar.

World shares consolidated a 6-week high on Thursday as investors scented a possible slowdown in the pace of U.S.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) on Thursday raised its base rate charged through the overnight discount window by 75 basis points to 2.75%, hours after the U.S.

Most Gulf central banks lifted their main interest rates by three quarters of a percentage point on Wednesday, moving with the U.S.

BTRS Holdings Inc, the owner of business payments vendor Billtrust, is exploring options that include a potential sale, according to people familiar with the matter.

China needs to rethink its zero-COVID policy to avoid more harm to the economy, as well as come up with a long-term solution to the crisis in the real estate sector, a senior International Monetary Fund (IMF) official said in an interview.

Asia-focused lenders HSBC, Standard Chartered and their Southeast Asian peers such as DBS are set to report an improvement in second-quarter net interest income, a key source of revenue, benefiting from higher interest rates.

Consumer-focused firms are seeing no shortage of demand despite the soaring cost-of-living, prompting several to upgrade sales forecasts for the current year, though questions remain about how long that will last.

Europe's largest consumer-focused firms are seeing no shortage of demand despite a cost-of-living crisis, prompting several to upgrade sales forecasts for the current year.

Microsoft Corp and Alphabet Inc results sparked a relief rally on Wednesday in heavyweight technology and growth shares as investors expressed confidence in Big Tech's ability to navigate a recession.

U.S. stocks rallied on Wednesday and the Nasdaq posted its biggest daily percentage gain since April 2020 as the Federal Reserve raised interest rates as expected and comments by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell reassured investors.

Major U.S. stock indexes held strong gains on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark overnight interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq surged nearly 3% on Wednesday, leading Wall Street's main indexes higher, as upbeat quarterly reports from Microsoft and Alphabet lifted sentiment ahead of a key U.S.

European banks this week offered flashes of surprisingly good news on profits, but some executives spoke of a bleak outlook for the rest of the year amid raging inflation, war and energy shortages.

The European Central Bank seems almost certain to face a test of its resolve to rein in excessive bond yields in coming weeks as the euro zone's biggest debtor, Italy, heads for elections that a rightist bloc with a eurosceptic past is expected to win.

European shares scaled near seven-week highs on Wednesday following strong results from Britain's Reckitt Benckiser and Russia-exposed lender UniCredit, while investors awaited a U.S.

Russia delivered less gas to Europe on Wednesday in a further escalation of an energy stand-off between Moscow and the European Union that will make it harder, and costlier, for the bloc to fill up storage ahead of the winter heating season.

Not convinced by central banks' pledge to stamp on inflation, many investors are on the hunt for assets that will protect their portfolios from years of decline in the value of money.

The Federal Reserve said on Wednesday it would not flinch in its battle against the most intense breakout of inflation in the United States since the 1980s even if that means a "sustained period" of economic weakness and a slowing jobs market.

The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark overnight interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point on Wednesday in an effort to cool the most intense breakout of inflation since the 1980s, and U.S.

The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark overnight interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point on Wednesday in an effort to cool the most intense breakout of inflation since the 1980s, with "ongoing increases" in borrowing costs still ahead despite evidence of a slowing economy.

With the Federal Reserve expected to hike its key interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point on Wednesday to battle high inflation, focus will shift to how deeply signs of an economic slowdown have registered with its policymakers.

As investors await another jumbo-sized rate increase from the Federal Reserve, they are taking the temperature of a weeks-long U.S.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Wednesday it would discuss with Bangladesh its loan request after the country became the third in South Asia to seek such support after Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Bangladesh has asked to start talks on a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) but will take it only if conditions are favourable, the finance minister said on Wednesday, adding its macroeconomic conditions were fine.

El Salvador's president announced on Tuesday a plan for a voluntary repurchase offer to holders of bonds maturing between 2023 and 2025.

Argentina's new economy minister told a gathering of investors in the United States on Tuesday she had begun an adjustment to government spending supported by all ruling party factions, one participant told Reuters.

Wall Street shares gained ground on Wednesday after reassuring earnings reports and guidance from big U.S.

Better-than-expected earnings from a raft of U.S. and European companies helped steady global stock markets on Wednesday, cutting through gloom caused by rising interest rates and the threat of an energy crunch due to Russian gas supply cuts.