Hollande is predicted to win the second round of voting against Sarkozy, which will take place on May 6.
Italy's consumer confidence took a nose dive in April according to the country's official statistics office Istat, as Prime Minister Mario Monti's ongoing austerity efforts push the nation into a deeper recession.
The fragile French economy, which has an unemployment rate of 12 percent, was clearly the dominant issue among voters; although Le Pen’s impressive finish suggests immigration was also a key concern.
China’s manufacturing activity improved in April compared to March but continued to contract for the sixth straight month, according to the preliminary HSBC flash Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) released Monday.
French voters head to the polling booths Sunday to vote in the first round of the presidential election amid ongoing eurozone crisis and rising levels of unemployment. Nine other candidates, including Socialist Francois Hollande, vie against incumbent Nicholas Sarkozy in the presidential race.
Francois Hollande is France's Socialist candidate for the 2012 French presidential campaign.
The Federal Open Market Committee meeting on April 24-25, Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke's comments during the post-meeting press conference, and an advance reading on U.S. gross domestic product in the first quarter will dominate the economic calendar next week.
Balancing the ticket with a Hispanic running mate would do little to alter Romney's weak standing among Latinos, according to a new Public Policy Polling analysis.
The two candidates with the highest vote totals in the first round will face each other in the deciding second round.
As the U.S. Supreme Court ponders the fate of healthcare reform in the current election year, a study released on Thursday shows that one in four working-age Americans went without insurance at some point in 2011, often as a result of unemployment and other job changes.
In a seeming effort to profit from the latest European disaster, large investors are causing some unusual movements in the U.S. securities markets.
Asian stock markets were mostly lower Friday as weak US economic data and fears over European debt crisis weighed on the sentiment.
German business sentiment unexpectedly rose for the sixth month in a row in April in a sign that Europe's largest economy continues to outpace peers and shrug off persistent worries about the euro zone debt crisis.
The business confidence in Germany increased in April, indicating that the country's economy is continuing to withstand the pressures of looming debt crisis in Eurozone.
Asian stock markets declined Friday as batch of disappointing economic readings from the US signaled that the recovery was slowing in the world's biggest economy.
This 4/20 music mix is a totally unofficial and hole-fileld list of the best songs about the herb to listen to on Friday. It's mostly hip hop, though there's a reggae mix to die for thrown in for fun. But if you just put them on and take a sunny afternoon drive or lay back on your bed and let the chunes in, you'll be 'laxing in an ear-tickled haze by 4:21 p.m. (or a.m., if you get down like that.)
Asian shares slipped Friday as disappointing U.S. economic data stirred doubts about the strength of recovery, while the yen weakened after the Bank of Japan flagged the prospect of further monetary easing to support the struggling economy.
The number of Americans claiming unemployment benefits for the first time fell only slightly last week, suggesting that job growth in April will not improve much after March's disappointing performance.
The index of U.S. leading economic indicators rose 0.3 percent in March, extending its upward trend for a sixth month. Thursday's data points to a more positive outlook despite subdued consumer expectations and weakness in manufacturing new orders.
Stocks were set to open little changed on Thursday as investors grappled with euro zone uncertainty, a raft of corporate earnings and softer-than-expected data on the domestic labor market.
More Americans than expected filed for jobless benefits last week, which also happens to coincide with the April payroll employment survey week, echoing the International Monetary Fund's view that job creation this year and next will be modest at best.
New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits fell less than expected last week, according to a government report on Thursday that could dampen hopes of a pick-up in job creation in April after March's slowdown.
