A roundup of news in finance, economics and business from around the world:
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
WASHINGTON – With just two weeks to avert debt default, US senators worked on a bipartisan compromise as the White House’s Republicans foes set up symbolic votes on an austerity plan.
WASHINGTON – Foreign demand for US securities weakened in May as the country hit its borrowing limit, but China increased its holdings for the second month in a row, the Treasury said.
LISBON – Portugal’s borrowing costs continued rising, with the interest on short-term debt passing the 20-per-cent mark for the first time.
MADRID – Spanish banks’ bad loans, a major source of concern to the financial markets, surged to the highest level for 16 years in May, the Bank of Spain said.
LONDON – Prime Minister David Cameron called for an emergency session of Parliament on the phone hacking and police bribery scandal as the spreading crisis forced two of Britain’s top police officers to resign in less than 24 hours.
LONDON – James Murdoch scaled the rungs of the global media empire that his father built. Now scandal taints the heir apparent, threatening to derail the expected succession and shaking the assumption that the Murdoch dynasty would preserve its tight grip over the multibillion-dollar business.
LONDON – China is under-reporting its annual steel production by more than six per cent as manufacturers try to cash in on high demand, Britain’s Financial Times reports.
LONDON – The price of gold soared above $US1,600 for the first time as investors bought the safe-haven metal amid deepening debt worries in the eurozone and the United States.
FRANKFURT – The European Central Bank made no use of its program to buy government bonds last week despite market speculation that it had weighed in to support Italian and Spanish bonds.
NEW YORK – Crude prices slumped, pulled down by concerns over Europe’s debt crisis and the debt-ceiling impasse in Washington.
NEW YORK – US stocks took a beating as the debt-ceiling battle in Washington and the broadening debt crisis in Europe weighed on investor confidence.
NEW YORK – Gold marched to a record above $1,600, stretching its rally to an unprecedented eleventh day on fears that US lawmakers could fail to raise the debt ceiling to avert a default.
NEW YORK/LONDON – London copper ended up for a second straight day, recouping earlier losses and maintaining its positive momentum despite a host of discouraging macro-economic developments.
LONDON – European stock markets closed sharply lower, with London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index of top shares falling 1.55 per cent to 5,752.81 points.
LOCAL NEWS
SYDNEY – The Australian dollar fell below 106 US cents to open weaker on Tuesday morning.
