January 3, 2012
Iran’s rial slides against US dollar on fresh sanctions
Iran's currency has continued to slide against the US dollar after the United States imposed fresh sanctions targeting its central bank. According to media reports, the rial was being traded at 17,800 to the dollar by money changers in Tehran. The…
January 3, 2012
India Opens Stock Market to Foreign Investors as Its Economy Slows
On January 15, India opens its stock markets for the first time to individual foreign investors who will be able to directly buy and sell Indian equities. Until now, foreign investors could only invest through mutual funds or institutional…
January 2, 2012
Eurozone manufacturing decline persists, PMI survey says
Activity in the eurozone manufacturing sector fell for the fifth successive month in December, but showed a slight improvement on the previous month, a closely-watched survey suggests. The Markit eurozone manufacturing PMI was 46.9, up from…
January 2, 2012
Exxon wins $908m from Venezuela in oil dispute
Oil giant Exxon Mobil has won $908m (£586m) from an arbitration panel after the nationalisation of its Venezuelan oil project in 2007. However, this is less than 10% of what the oil giant had reportedly sought. The International Chamber of…
January 2, 2012
Hyundai and Kia predict slower sales growth in 2012
Hyundai and its affiliate Kia Motors have said they expect sales growth in 2012 to be sharply slower than 2011 due to the global economic downturn. The South Korean carmakers said they expect sales to rise by 6% next year to 7 million vehicles.…
January 2, 2012
India may ‘reverse’ monetary policy to boost growth
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said it may ease its monetary policy amid fears of a global economic slowdown. Duvvuri Subbarao, the governor of RBI, told the BBC the bank is likely to shift its focus towards boosting growth. The RBI has raised…
January 2, 2012
China Hints at Loosening Exchange Rate
China's central bank governor hinted Saturday that the exchange rate for country's currency - the yuan - could be loosened in the near future. In an interview with the weekly magazine Caixin, Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of…
January 1, 2012
Job losses dominate headlines in 2011
Many businesspeople were hoping that 2011 would be the year when the economy finally kicked into recovery mode. It didn’t work out that way. For most, it was another year of trying to do more with less, a continuing fight for survival. Job…
January 1, 2012
World stock markets end a tumultous year well down
World stock markets have rounded off a wild and difficult year. The UK FTSE 100 fell 5.6% in 2011, while France and Germany stocks saw falls of 18% and 15% as growing fears for the survival of the euro took their toll. But US stocks ended the year…
January 1, 2012
UK issues offshore drilling licences
The UK government has awarded 46 new exploratory drilling licences to firms, including Shell and Centrica, looking for oil and gas. The awards were initially held back due to environmental concerns. However the government says it is now confident…