Business and Finance news

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 U.S. current-account deficit narrowed in the second quarter to $98.8 billion, the least since 2001, reflecting a smaller shortfall in trade of goods as imports and exports both decreased.
The gap, the broadest measure of trade because it includes transfer payments and investment income, was more than forecast and followed a revised $104.5 […]

European Investment Bank President Philippe Maystadt said the EIB’s lending target may be lower in 2010 than this year’s estimate of 70 billion euros ($102 billion) if the economy recovers.
“We expect this year’s target to be met,” Maystadt said today in an interview in Brussels. “As for 2010, we still have to discuss […]

A revival in India’s monsoon rains is helping ease dry weather that’s caused drought in more than a third of the country, aiding crops in the world’s second-biggest producer of rice, wheat and sugar, a weather official said.
Rainfall this year may be 15-to-20 percent less than the 50-year average, making it the weakest […]

One of the St. Louis region’s highest-profile roof leaks is about to be plugged.
Leaders at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport said the roof covering the three busiest Main Terminal concourses — A, B and C — will be replaced at a cost of about $2 million in the first half of 2010.
"We’ve […]

The number of workers filing new claims for jobless benefits fell last week, but the prior period’s figure was revised up, according to a government report on Thursday that highlighted the fragility of the labor market.
Initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits fell 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 570,000 in the week ended Aug. […]

Malaysia’s industrial production fell by the least in seven months in June as a nine-month slump in exports eased.
Production at factories, utilities and mines dropped 9.6 percent from a year earlier, after decreasing a revised 11.3 percent in May, the Putrajaya-based Statistics Department said today. That compares with the median forecast for a […]

The U.S. government’s $1 billion “cash for clunkers” program to spur new car sales ran through the money six days after it began, Senator Debbie Stabenow said.
Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat, and other lawmakers called for an infusion of taxpayer money to subsidize more new-vehicle purchases in the effort to revive dealerships and automakers […]

Japanese demand for banks loans fell over the past three months as companies turned to an improving credit market for funding and households cut spending amid the worst recession since World War II.
An index of demand for loans by businesses declined to minus 14 in July from 13 in April, the Bank of […]