Archive for February 14th, 2008

China bank card spending rises 60% during Spring Festival holiday

Thursday, February 14th, 2008

Bank card transactions in China rose 59.7 percent year-on-year during the week-long Spring Festival holiday, according to China Unionpay, a national bank card network operator. Consumers spent 29.4 billion yuan (4.03 billion U.S. do ...

Nikkei stock up over 550 points

Thursday, February 14th, 2008

The Nikkei stock index surged over 4 percent with a gain of over 550 points on Thursday. The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average jumped 558.15 points, or 4.27 percent, from Wednesday to 13,626.45, posting the sharpest point gain since mi ...

New Zealand share market inches up 0.1%

Thursday, February 14th, 2008

The New Zealand share market inched up 0.1 percent on Thursday, with the benchmark NZSX-50 index closed up 4.6 points at 3550.41. Turnover totaled a healthy 162.6 million NZ dollars (127.7 million U.S. dollars). Fletcher Building cl ...

Japan remains cautious amid strong 4th-quarter growth

Thursday, February 14th, 2008

A strong fourth-quarter growth has failed to raise Japan's outlook for economic expansion amid widespread pessimism from the U.S. credit crisis and officials still warned against a murky future. While acknowledging an "unexpectedly ...

Panama, Guatemala sign free trade agreement

Thursday, February 14th, 2008

Panama and Guatemala inked a free trade agreement (FTA) Wednesday to boost bilateral trade after nine rounds of negotiations. The pact, which still requires the ratification of the two countries' legislatures, will help Panama expan ...

Bulgaria to set up giant energy company

Thursday, February 14th, 2008

Bulgaria is to merge five power companies into one of the largest energy entities in the region, the government's information service said Wednesday. Bulgarian Energy Holding will be composed of gas company Bulgargaz, National Elec ...

Brazil admits exports of uninspected beef to EU

Thursday, February 14th, 2008

Brazil's Minister of Agriculture Reinhold Stephanes admitted Wednesday that Brazilian exporters had sold beef that had not undergone proper sanitary inspections, contributing to the embargo on the product by the European Union (EU) last wee ...

Brazil industrial employment up 2.2% last year

Thursday, February 14th, 2008

Brazilian industry employed in 2007 2.2 percent more workers than in 2006, Brazil's Geography and Statistics Institute (IBGE) said Wednesday. According to the institute, it was the biggest annual rise registered since the IBGE start ...