China Business

The eurozone's future doesn't look bright after Greece and Spain both suffered downgrades Thursday, triggering new concerns in Europe.

Risk Qualification agency Moody's lowered its rating of 16 Spanish banks late on Thursday evening. The 16 banks suffered reductions of between one and three points on the agency's scale.

President of the European Union (EU) Commission Jose Manuel Barroso said Thursday that a solution to the global economic crisis must have a global dimension.

International ratings agency Fitch announced Thursday to have cut Greece's credit rating from B- to CCC, citing the "hightened risk" that Greece could leave the euro zone.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Thursday that austerity measures alone would not be enough to fix debt problem and meet challenges ahead.

World Bank President Robert Zoellick said Wednesday if Greece leaves the eurozone, it would have "ripple effects" comparable to the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008.

Japan's gross domestic production ( GDP) grew an annualized real 4.1 percent in the January-March period this year, government said Thursday. The nation's GDP reading in the recording quarter corresponds to an expansion of 1.0 percent from the previous quarter.

The U.S. stocks failed to hold early gains on Wednesday and ended lower for the third straight day, as fears about Europe continued to weigh on the market.

The eurozone trade surplus stood at 8.6 billion euros (10.9 billion U.S. dollars) in March, the European Union's (EU) statistics bureau Eurostat said on Wednesday.

Facebook Inc. on Wednesday increased its IPO shares by 84 million, totaling 421 million shares in an offering expected on Friday.

U.S. Federal Reserve officials were wary of the firmness of economic recovery despite some positive signs, the minutes of the latest policy meeting showed on Wednesday.

The euro fell against the dollar on Tuesday and hit fresh four-month low as Greece failed to form new government in the final talks.

The Irish Referendum Commission said on Tuesday the upcoming referendum on the European fiscal treaty can not be postponed.

Both Democrats and Republicans should work through their differences to enhance the United States ' fiscal sustainability, as compromise is an honorable thing, former president Bill Clinton said here on Tuesday.

Russian and Ukrainian leaders Tuesday discussed bilateral cooperation in energy in their talks in Moscow, Acting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

Californians may support California Governor Jerry Brown's initiative to tax the rich but will not be likely to vote for a sales tax hike for everyone in November as a way to solve the state's budget deficit.

Japan's core private-sector machinery orders declined 2.8 percent in March on month to 746.3 billion yen (about 9.29 billion U.S. dollars), marking the first fall in three months, the government said Wednesday.

MILAN,May 15(Xinhua)--The Italian banking association ABI on Tuesday described rating agency Moody's downgrade of 26 Italian banks as"irresponsible. The Italian prime minister has recently reaffirmed his will to put Italy on course to balance the budget next year by implementing a tough austerity package of spending cuts and tax hikes approved last December r.

Crude oil price edged down after volatility on Tuesday as investors weighed euro zone's better-than-expected GDP report against Greece's failing efforts to form a new government and U. The news that euro zone avoided double-dip recession became a big relief for the nervous markets.

Stocks erased early gains and ended negative on Tuesday as worries over prolonged Greek political turmoil and debt woes overshadowed a better-than-expected reading on the region's broad economy y.