European Central Bank holds rates, launches policy review

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Central Bank has decided to launch a top-to-bottom review of how it steers the economy in the 19 countries that use the euro currency. The review, the first since the global financial crisis, could include tweaking the bank's goal for inflation and finding ways to...

European Central Bank keeps interest rates, stimulus programs on hold, launches review of strategy

Global stocks slide on growing concern about China virus

BEIJING (AP) — Stock and oil prices fell Tuesday as concern about the potential impact of a Chinese disease outbreak increased and a rating agency cut Hong Kong's credit rating for official borrowing due to political tension. Indexes in London and Frankfurt declined and Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong closed...

Trump to nominate Shelton, Waller to Federal Reserve

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he intends to nominate two people to serve on the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors, an institution he has repeatedly attacked for not cutting rates deeply enough. Both were first named by Trump on Twitter in July but their nominations hadn't...

US stocks pull back from records following jobs report

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks fell from their record heights on Friday after a report showed hiring was a touch weaker than expected last month. Employers added 145,000 jobs across the country in December, short of the 160,000 that economists forecast. But the growth was solid enough to bolster Wall...

2014 Fed conundrum: How to alert markets rates were going up

WASHINGTON (AP) — In her first year as Federal Reserve chair, Janet Yellen presided over a policy panel divided over the issue of how much longer the central bank could afford to keep its benchmark interest rate at a record low, and how to prepare financial markets for the start of rate hikes. According to...

Fed should focus on fighting low inflation, official says

WASHINGTON (AP) — A top Federal Reserve official believes that the U.S. central bank needs to re-orient its thinking and policies toward fighting inflation that is too low, rather than its historic focus on keeping inflation from getting too high. John Williams, president of the New York Federal Reserve...

Investors could be partying like it's 1997, but many sat out

NEW YORK (AP) — Break out the Spice Girls CDs. That was one of the best years in decades for funds. Funds of all types made money through 2019, from risky ones full of stocks from developing economies to stodgy funds holding only super-safe Treasury bonds. Someone who came into 2019 with their money split...

Asian shares track Wall Street retreat as year winds down

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were lower in quiet New Year's Eve trading, with many markets closed. Tuesday's declines tracked a broad retreat overnight on Wall Street that erased some of the major indexes’ recent gains, though the market remains on track to end the year with its best performance since...

Global shares mixed as investors eye NKorea, China-US trade

TOKYO (AP) — Global shares were mixed Monday as Chinese benchmarks surged on expectations of lower financing costs following a policy decision by the country's central bank. Investors were awaiting updates on the signing of a trade deal between the U.S. and China and keeping a wary eye on North Korea. ...