Although the end of the Lunar New Year holidays marks the beginning of spring, small and medium-sized enterprises are still shivering from a wintry financial climate. Tighter lending restrictions have hit SMEs hard. So Shanghai regulators aim to brin

    European government notes dropped by the most in almost four years as traders bet accelerating inflation in the euro region will limit the scope for central bank policy makers to cut interest rates. Two-year notes, most sensitive to changes in rates,

    EUROPEAN stocks climbed for a second week, led by commodities producers and insurers, as rising metal prices and better-than-expected earnings outweighed concern the United States may fall into a recession. Rio Tinto Plc, the world's third-biggest mi

    UNITED States stocks gained for a second week, led by energy and financial companies, after oil climbed to a record and investors speculated that bond insurers will keep their credit ratings. Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp, the largest US oil prod

    DECLINING blue chips dragged down Shanghai's key stock index in the morning session today on speculation new shares will dilute existing holdings and the central bank said it will continue to order banks to set aside more reserves. The Shanghai Compo

    SHANGHAI'S average housing price dropped below 10,000 yuan (US$1,400.56) per square meter last week for the first time in 10 months amid shrinking transaction volumes of new apartments, the Oriental Morning Post reported today. The average housing pr

    CHINA Southern Airlines said today that it planned to lease 10 Airbus A330 aircraft instead of buying them to improve its debt structure. The carrier will transfer its right to buy eight A330s to Shenzhen Financial Leasing Co and two aircraft to HSBC

    THE yuan is expected to reach more highs against the US dollar this week as few choices were left to curb inflation, economists said. The People's Bank of China posted the central parity rate of 7.1460 yuan against the greenback today, the highest s

    SHANGHAI'S key stock index plunged to the lowest since July 23 on speculation new shares will dilute existing holdings and the central bank said it will continue to order banks to set aside more reserves. The Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks yu

    SHANGHAI'S consumer prices continued to accelerate with a 5.9-percent increase in January, the Shanghai Statistics Bureau said today. The rise was fueled mainly by food costs, but an analyst said it was worth noting that prices of other products also