Business

May 14, 2011

Pfizer sets aside $772m for drug illness claims

The drugs giant Pfizer has put aside $772m (£476m) to resolve claims its hormone replacement drugs cause serious illness. Pfizer, which is the world's largest drugmaker, said the money provides "the minimum expected costs to resolve all of the…

May 14, 2011

Inflation in US food and fuel prices slows

Inflation in the US slowed in April, mainly due to smaller price rises in fuel and food. Consumer prices rose 0.4% in April, having risen 0.5% in March, according to figures from the Labor Department. Petrol prices rose 3.3%, down from March's 5.6%…

May 12, 2011

Budget deficit on track to exceed $1 trillion

The government is taking in more tax revenue as the economy improves, but not nearly enough to…

May 10, 2011

China’s trade surplus beats forecasts, as yuan in focus

China's trade surplus was nearly four times bigger than expected in April, with exports far…

May 10, 2011

Republic of Ireland to get ‘EU loan rate reduction’

Ireland is to get an interest rate cut on the emergency loans it has acquired from EU bodies, the BBC has learned. Currently, Ireland pays an average rate of 5.8% on loans agreed with the IMF, fellow Eurozone countries and a special fund set up by…

May 10, 2011

Shares fall on fears Greece needs new bail-out

European stock markets have fallen on continuing concerns that Greece may require a new financial bail-out deal. The falls follow comments on Friday by Jean Claude-Juncker, chairman of the eurozone finance ministers, that Greece may need a…

May 10, 2011

Oil price bounces after record fall

Crude oil prices have recovered after last Thursday's commodity market rout. Brent crude futures rose 6.5% on Monday to over $116 a barrel, still well below their recent peak of more than $126. The relief rally comes after a week-long 17% decline in…

May 10, 2011

US tells China to look to its own consumers

US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has called on China to rely more on its own spending and less on exports. "The challenge is to lay the foundation for a new growth model, driven more by domestic demand," he advised his Chinese counterparts. His…

May 7, 2011

US Adds More Jobs Than Expected

President Barack Obama says the U.S. economy is recovering, after the nation added more jobs than…

May 7, 2011

US Stocks Close Higher

U.S. stock indexes advanced on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose four-tenths of a percent to close at 12,639. The S&P 500 moved up four-tenths of a percent to end at 1,340 while the NASDAQ jumped nearly half a percent to 2,828.…