Business and Finance news

German unemployment rose in September, posing a challenge for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s incoming coalition even as signs mount that the worst of the economic crisis is over.
The number of people out of work rose 10,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis, before statistical changes are taken into account, the Nuremberg-based Federal Labor Agency said […]

German Chancellor Angela Merkel reined in Free Democratic Party leader Guido Westerwelle’s expectations of rapid tax cuts as they began negotiations to form Germany’s next government.
Merkel, in an interview last night on ARD television after inviting Westerwelle for talks at the Chancellery in Berlin, said Germany’s soaring budget deficit limits the scope for […]

An Australian court has ruled that local governments can pursue financial claims against collapsed U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers in Australia and elsewhere, a firm that is funding the litigation said on Monday.
IMF (Australia) Ltd said the Federal Court ruled on Friday in favor of town councils and others which had lost money in […]

Chinese President Hu Jintao said countries with currencies that are held as reserves by other nations must consider the implications of their monetary policies for the rest of the world.
“Major reserve-currency issuing countries should take into account and balance the implications of their monetary policies for both their own economies and the world […]

The Federal Reserve signaled that the U.S. economy’s return to growth is insufficient to withdraw stimulus as officials seek to reduce the highest unemployment rate in a quarter century.
While the economy has “picked up,” the central bank’s planned asset purchases will help ensure a “gradual return to higher levels of resource utilization,” the […]

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn called on leaders from the Group of 20 nations to maintain efforts to pull the world economy out of recession, and predicted China will play a larger role in shaping a sustainable recovery.
“Suddenly, we’re in a better position to have this kind of cooperation and economic […]

The Federal Reserve Board has rejected a request by U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner for a public review of the central bank’s structure and governance, three people familiar with the matter said.
The Obama administration proposed on June 17 a financial- regulatory overhaul including a “comprehensive review” of the Fed’s “ability to accomplish its […]

Senior management at Cazenove and JP Morgan are thought to be close to agreeing a price for Cazenove’s share of their JPMorgan Cazenove joint venture before the end of the year, the Independent on Sunday newspaper said.
Cazenove and JP Morgan Chase & Co created the joint venture in 2005 and under the terms of […]

German producer prices rose for the first time in 11 months in August as energy costs increased.
Prices gained 0.5 percent from a month earlier after falling 1.5 percent in July, the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said today. Economists forecast a 0.2 percent increase, according to the median of 24 estimates in a […]

Hong Kong’s central bank warned lenders in the city that their “intense price competition” on mortgages isn’t sustainable and may erode industry profit margins and increase risks.
Banks have cut home loan rates “to such an extent that they might not have given due regard to the reputation risk, interest rate risk and liquidity […]