A roundup of news in finance, economics and business from around the world:
PARIS – France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have sent a joint letter to EU president Herman Van Rompuy inviting him to chair a body of eurozone leaders.
ATKINSON – US President Barack Obama will launch a two-pronged plan to create jobs and trim the deficit in a September counter-attack against Republicans he accuses of holding back the recovery.
WASHINGTON – A key measure of wholesale inflation rose in July by the most in six months.
BEIJING – Chinese commentators are marking a visit by Vice President Joseph Biden by offering a struggling United States advice: Stop flooding your economy with cheap credit.
LONDON – Britain’s jobless total has risen unexpectedly for the first time since January, data showed, sparking fresh doubts over the economy which is already buckling under deep public spending cuts.
GENEVA – The Swiss franc gained against other major currencies after the Swiss National Bank failed to peg the currency with the euro.
STOCKHOLM – Swedish authorities launched an official debt collection probe of beleaguered carmaker Saab, whose bills have been piling up for months, in a step that could end in bankruptcy.
RIO DE JANEIRO – Spanish clothing giant Zara has been implicated in a slave labour scandal in Brazil, after a report that it had bought items made by Bolivian and Peruvian immigrants in illegal working conditions.
WASHINGTON – Boeing reaffirmed that a September delivery of its all-new 787 Dreamliner to Japanese launch customer ANA is on track as testing of the new jet approaches the final stage.
MUMBAI – Mining heavyweight Coal India overtook energy giant Reliance Industries to become India’s biggest firm by market value, reflecting strong coal demand to power an expanding economy.
WASHINGTON – Several major US cigarette manufacturers have filed suit against graphic photographic warnings that the government will require on all packaging beginning next year.
NEW YORK – Rattled investors pulled more than $US40 billion ($A38.29 billion) from mutual funds in a single week this month as fears about the global economy intensified.
NEW YORK – US stocks gave up early gains to close little changed on Wednesday as caution reigned in the still-jittery markets.
LONDON – European stock markets were mostly firmer in quiet holiday trade, calming down after recent turmoil and as investors found little new in a French-German summit on the eurozone debt crisis.
HONG KONG – The euro recovered from an early wobble in Asian trade as forex markets shrugged off a eurozone meeting that failed to land a killer blow in the battle to restore debt confidence.
WELLINGTON – Fletcher Building and SkyCity shares rose after the market heavyweights reported strong earnings to a New Zealand market that is generally more settled than a week ago.
NEW YORK – Oil prices climbed, boosted by an unexpectedly big drop in US gasoline inventories during the peak of the key summer driving season and a weaker dollar that helped to spur demand.
NEW YORK – Gold rose on a combination of increased inflationary pressure and ideas this week’s Franco-German proposals will not solve the euro zone debt crisis.
LOCAL NEWS
SYDNEY – The Australian dollar is over half a US cent higher on Thursday.
CANBERRA – Energy giant Shell is said to be on the verge of signing a multi-billion-dollar deal that will have Australia supplying a huge chunk of South Korea’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) needs.
CANBERRA – The federal opposition has demanded the government rule out compensating Gunns as part of its new Tasmanian forestry deal.
