Several British banks said on Friday they had stopped dealing in Qatari riyals, as the diplomatic crisis surrounding the tiny Gulf country disrupted overseas trading of its currency. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic and travel links with Qatar on June 5, accusing it of supporting terrorism and courting regional […]

Euro zone inflation eased in June because of more moderate energy price rises, but the slowdown was less than expected by markets and the core measure of price growth the ECB keenly watches increased by more than anticipated. The European Union’s statistics office Eurostat estimated that consumer prices in the 19 countries sharing the euro […]

The U.S. Federal Reserve should defer on its rate hike agenda until concrete reforms emerge from Washington, according to one of its key policy makers. James Bullard, president of the St. Louis Federal Reserve, told CNBC Friday that weak data has undermined the Fed’s hawkish stance and the central bank should take a more reactionary […]

British Prime Minister Theresa May‘s Conservative minority government secured lawmakers’ backing for its legislative plans by a narrow margin Thursday, but only after making a sudden concession on abortion funding to stave off defeat. The House of Commons voted by 323 to 309 to approve last week’s Queen’s Speech, which laid out the government’s agenda […]

Goldman Sachs has downgraded its forecast for oil prices over the next quarter amid a sudden uptick in shale drilling and an unexpected surge in production from Libya and Nigeria. The investment bank now points to a three-month average of $47.50 per barrel for WTI crude, down from its previous estimate of $55.00 a barrel. […]

U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May is living on borrowed time, according to the former governor of Hong Kong. On Monday, Theresa May’s Conservative Party signed a deal with Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). The deal promised the ruling minority Conservative government the support of the 10 DUP politicians in upcoming votes. In exchange, the […]

In the aftermath of Britain’s departure from the European Union and the U.S.’s withdrawal from the Paris climate pact, the bloc’s remaining members must take greater responsibility for “existential” challenges the world faces, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said. “We are convinced that climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity, an existential challenge,” […]

An R2-D2 droid that was used in several “Star Wars” films has sold at auction for nearly $3 million. The auction house Profiles in History said the 43-inch tall unit that was compiled from parts used throughout filming of the original trilogy sold for $2.76 million at an auction Wednesday. There was no information about […]

After seven years of Conservative government-led austerity, a new survey suggests that public sentiment in the U.K. could be changing gears, with support for a tax more, spend more economic model at its highest in a decade. According to the British Social Attitudes survey, conducted by the National Centre for Social Research, 48 percent of […]

The currency markets experienced some major moves this week as politics and central banks come front and center, causing one major banking institution to ditch its parity call on the euro and the dollar. Deutsche Bank on Wednesday morning abandoned calls for the dollar to rise towards parity with the euro. In a research note […]