Economy News Headlines

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's biggest-listed clothes retailer Truworths reported a 14 percent increase in first-half profit, lifted by higher prices and new stores. Truworths, which runs fashion stores of the same name across the country, said diluted headline earnings per share totalled 272.3 cents in the six …

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar strengthened back through parity against the U.S. dollar on Thursday as better-than-expected German data eased concerns about a bleak euro zone economic outlook and a rally in oil prices fueled commodity currencies. However, markets remained wary about the negative impact of higher …

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission wants euro zone leaders to agree to a bigger rescue fund to nudge the IMF into backing debt-stricken European economies, despite German resistance to boosting it, the EU's top economic official said on Thursday. Investors and many EU officials want euro zone leaders to agree …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Could history repeat itself? That is a question uppermost in the minds of many Americans as they warily watch gasoline prices at the pump rise week after week. After all, a spike in gasoline prices early last year helped nearly knock the economy back into recession. The answer, economists say, is …

LONDON (Reuters) - Rising oil prices and forecasts showing the euro zone economy shrinking this year weakened European stock markets on Thursday and pulled the single currency back from 10-week highs. More upbeat data from Germany had given shares a boost in early trade and U.S. stock futures still pointed to a firmer open, …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. central bank officials have good reason to be skeptical about the strength of the economy: excessive optimism has caught them flat-footed before. Despite stronger employment data and hints of firmer inflation, Federal Reserve policymakers are not ruling out another round of monetary easing in …

LONDON/PARIS (Reuters) - Greece's debt problems drove a slew of heavy losses across the European banking sector on Thursday, and bosses warned the euro zone crisis would continue to threaten earnings. From France to Germany, Britain to Belgium, some of the region's biggest banks lined up to reveal billions of euros lost …

The 17-nation eurozone economy will suffer a modest recession this year despite recent signs of stabilization, particularly in financial markets, the European Union's executive branch said Thursday.

European stock markets diverged and the euro rose against the dollar on Thursday as traders reacted to mixed earnings from the region's biggest banks and varied eurozone economic data.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The euro zone's economy is heading into its second recession in just three years, while the wider European Union will stagnate, the EU's executive said on Thursday, warning that the currency area has yet to break its vicious cycle of debt. However, the EU's top economics official said that recent surveys …

German business confidence has risen for the fourth consecutive month as Europe's biggest economy continues to outperform much of the rest of the debt-hobbled continent, a closely watched survey showed Thursday.

World stock markets rose Thursday as fears receded over the viability of a deal reached by European leaders to save Greece from financial collapse and preserve its place among nations that use the euro.

CAIRO (Reuters) - Landline monopoly Telecom Egypt expects its revenues to be little changed in 2012 and aims to maintain profitability at a level similar to last year as it continues a cost-cutting programme, its finance chief said. The company earlier reported a 6.8 percent decline in net profit and a 3.2 percent drop …

CAIRO (Reuters) - Landline monopoly Telecom Egypt expects its revenues to be little changed in 2012 and aims to maintain profitability at a level similar to last year as it continues a cost-cutting programme, its finance chief said. The company earlier reported a 6.8 percent decline in net profit and a 3.2 percent drop …

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's top two lenders said on Thursday they expected profits to rise by around 20 percent, the latest sign banks in Africa's largest economy are back on the road to recovery after a 2009 recession suppressed credit demand. Standard Bank Group Ltd, Africa's biggest lender by assets, said …

China could face an economic crisis if it does not implement major reforms in the next 20 years, the Wall Street Journal said Thursday, citing a report by the World Bank and Chinese government researchers.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Spot gold edged lower on Thursday, taking a breather after hitting a three-month high in the previous session, while sentiment remains supported on hopes of further monetary easing after sluggish economic data from the euro zone and China. Data showed unexpectedly weak activity in the euro zone, while …

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Brent crude held steady on Thursday, near a nine-month high of about $123, as supply worries caused by heightened tension between Iran and the West offset concern that a slowdown in the global economy could curb oil demand. U.N. inspectors sent to visit the country's nuclear installations declared …

CAIRO (Reuters) - Commercial International Bank (CIB), Egypt's biggest private bank by assets, said on Wednesday its consolidated net profit fell 20.1 pct in 2011 as the economy slowed in the wake of Egypt's popular uprising. The decline in full-year profit was "primarily driven by much higher provisions" taken "as a pre-emptive …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Years of economic setbacks have taken their toll on the nation's youngest residents, with another 1.6 million children living in high-poverty neighborhoods, according to one study that shows nearly 8 million children residing in poor areas in 2010. In 2000, 6.3 million children lived in high poverty …

British utility group Centrica said Thursday that its net profits plunged 78 percent last year, hit by a large one-off charge, weak economic conditions, mild weather and higher wholesale gas prices.

In 2008, White House Economic Adviser Christina Romer wrote a memo outlining a stimulus package as large as $1.8 trillion, only to have it buried by Chief Economic Adviser Larry Summers. Could it have saved the economy?

Of all economic indicators, this is the one that best illustrates to little kids just how "great" the Great Recession was. According to the Original Tooth Fairy Poll, run by the Delta Dental Plans Association, the fetching price of a child's tooth fell by 42 cents, to $2.10 from $2.52, between 2010 and 2011. The drop is …