European stock markets rose modestly today following late day-before gains on Wall Street — but the fifth straight retreat on Japan's main Nikkei index provided ample evidence that investor sentiment remains extremely fragile.
Societe Generale, France's second-largest bank, said Monday that its second quarter net income will be "slightly positive" thanks to its corporate and investment banking units.
Orders to U.S. factories jumped in May by the largest amount in nearly a year, further evidence that the nosedive in manufacturing is nearing an end.
Job losses continued to rise in June: 472,000 jobs were shed, compared to 380,000 jobs in May — a 24% increase, according to a report released today by TrimTabs Investment Research of Sausalito, Calif.
Venture capital investments in green technologies rebounded in the second quarter, according to a report released by Greentech Media Inc., a Cambridge, Mass.-based online media and research firm.
Construction spending fell more than expected in May, a sign the problems facing the nation's builders are far from over.
Legislators in more than a half-dozen states, their revenues evaporating in the recession, frantically worked to stave off government shutdowns and devastating service cuts.
The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that states can apply some of their own laws to big national banks operating within their borders, a decision proponents called a huge win for consumers and for states seeking more power to regulate financial activities.
Authorities ordered Citibank's Japan unit to suspend all sales operations at its retail banking arm for one month after it failed to improve anti-money laundering measures that target crime syndicates and other shadowy groups.