Stock Market News

As reported by the BBC, Asian shares have dropped after Monday's declines in the US and the EU, as political uncertainty in Greece has caused many investors to seek less risky assets. South Korea's Kospi finished down by 0.77% to 1,898.96, while Japan's Nikkei 225 index ended down by 0.8% at 8,900.74. Asian market shares had been lower...

As reported by the BBC, stocks have fallen around the globe as Greece's sustained political uncertainty challenges investor confidence. Still struggling to create a coalition government, Greece is faced with the threat of holding new elections, as EU leaders convened in Brussels. Luxembourg PM Jean-Claude Juncker said that Greece outside...

As reported by the BBC, shares at Sony have fallen to a 31-year low, just one day after the firm reported a record yearly loss of 456.7 billion yen ($5.7 billion; £3.5 billion). At the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the company’s shares fell as far as 6.7 percent to 1,132 yen. Sony, which has been seeing a loss for the past four years, is...

As reported by the BBC, the largest US bank, JPMorgan Chase, has announced a shocking trading loss of, at minimum, $2 billion (£1.2 billion) on its traders' complex investments. CEO Jamie Dimon is pointing his fingers at "sloppiness and bad judgement", warning that the situation could get worse. The hedging strategy, which is...

As reported by the BBC, fourth quarter profits for Toyota have increased five-fold as the US car market picks up and the recovery from the 2011 natural disasters continue. The company's net profit was 121 billion yen ($1.5 billion; £940 million) during the three months leading up to the end of March--a jump from 25.4 billion a year...

As reported by the BBC, Thomas Cook has revealed a refinancing package valued at £1.4 billion ($2.3 billion) which will offer the troubled tour operator another three years to pay off its debts. The firm says that the new arrangement gives it more sustainability and financial flexibility. Shares in Thomas Cook, which have dropped by over...

As reported by the BBC, EU shares ended higher as investor anxiety over national austerity plans after weekend election results proved to be only short-lived. Pro-bailout factions in Greece fared quite poorly, while Francois Hollande was elected France’s new president, promising to concentrate on growth rather than on austerity measures....

As reported by the BBC, due to slowing European operations, American car giant General Motors has seen a sharp decline in quarterly profits. The company’s net profit in the first three months of 2012 was $1.35 billion (£830 million), dropping from $3.41 billion one year earlier. In Europe, GM saw a loss of $300 million during the...

As reported by the BBC, Facebook has fixed its share price for the approaching initial public offering (IPO), setting the price at between $28 - $35 per stake and valuing the firm at around $85 billion - $95 billion (or £52 billion - £59 billion). The IPO is expected to be the biggest ever for a web firm, larger than Google's...

As reported by the BBC, clothing and household furnishings retailer Next has announced that a strong performance at its Directory home shopping firm has offset a decline in sales at its High Street shops. Total sales went up 1.4 percent for the 13 weeks leading up to April 28. The company’s directory home shopping brand sales went up by...

As reported by the BBC, the New York Dow Jones index has finished at its best level for over four years, buoyed by data showing US manufacturing stronger than expected for April. The Institute for Supply Management also announced that its manufacturing activity index went up to 54.8 in April from 53.4 in March. Figures above 50 show...

As reported by the BBC, French oil company Total has announced a drop in profits, blaming lowered demand and expensive raw material prices at its European petrochemicals firm. Net income for 2012’s first three months was 3.66 billion euros (£3 billion), down by 7% from one year ago. But sales went up by 11% to 51.17 billion euros. The...

As reported by the BBC, shares in Hon Hai, owner of Foxconn, fell after the electronic parts maker announced weaker-than-anticipated profits for 2012’s first quarter. Its shares dropped by about 7% during early trading. Last Saturday it reported making a net profit of about NT $14.9 billion ($511 million, or £314 million) during the...

As reported by the BBC, automobile giants Chrysler, Fiat and Volkswagen have all announced surges in first-quarter profits while the world car market recovers. Chrysler, which is now managed by Italy's Fiat, reported net profits of $473 million, its highest quarterly profit in thirteen years. This pushed Fiat’s overall net profits up by...

According to the BBC, IT giant Apple has reported that its profits nearly doubled in January, February and March of 2012. The firm said its net profit reached at $11.6 billion (£7.2 billion), a rise from $6 billion from the same period in 2011 and far better than what was previously expected. The firm sold 35 million iPhones during the...

As reported by the BBC, EU shares have slightly improved from Monday's abrupt falls as investors recuperate from worsening projections of Greek economic contractions and rising Spanish bond yields. Meanwhile, Holland and Italy were forced to pay higher rates to borrow money. France's Cac40 went up by 2.3%, the UK's FTSE 100 rose 0.8%, and...

As reported by the BBC, stock markets have dropped after weak manufacturing figures and political uncertainty in the Netherlands and France hit investor confidence. German shares dropped 3.4%, French stocks fell by 2.8%, UK stocks slid down 1.9%, while Wall Street fell 0.8%. Last Sunday, President Nicolas Sarkozy lost narrowly to...

As reported by the BBC, twin brothers from the UK are facing US civil charges for supposedly swindling investors out of $1.2 million (£745,000) through a sham stock-picking robot. Thomas and Alexander Hunter, from Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, were just 16 when, in 2007, they invented the robot scheme, dubbed Marl, report US officials. The...

As reported by the BBC, Goldman Sachs has reported that its profits dropped 23% in the last quarter, but still defeated analyst expectations. Net income dropped to $2.1 billion (£1.3 billion) during the first three months of 2012, from $2.7 billion during the same period in 2011. The bank said that staff salaries and bonuses were $4.4...

As reported by the BBC, during a rare demonstration of investor discontent, Citigroup shareholders have gone against granting top executives a higher pay deal. The deal, which had raised CEO Vikram Pandit's salary to $15 million (£9 million), was backed by only 45% of shareholders. The board of Citigroup said it would meet with...