BANGKOK – Asian stock markets rose Wednesday, swayed by a late-day rally on Wall Street, after Greece indicated a willingness to commit to spending cuts demanded by lenders in exchange for a bailout vital to the country’s solvency. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index jumped 1.8 percent to 9,216.62. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.9 percent to 2,021.07 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index added 1.3 percent to 21,182.38. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index was up 0.3 …

BANGKOK – Europe’s stock markets sank and Wall Street was poised to fall Tuesday as Greek bond holders remained at odds with finance officials over the interest rate they’ll receive from new bonds that aim to cut Greece’s debt mountain. In Asia, stock markets mostly rose though trading was subdued because of Chinese New Year holidays. Markets in Hong Kong, mainland China, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam were closed. As trading …

BANGKOK – Asian stocks posted muted gains Monday in trade thinned by Chinese New Year holidays as talks on a debt agreement for Greece dragged on. Only a handful of markets were open for business. Trading is closed in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and South Korea. Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average was up 0.2 percent at 8,779.16 while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.3 percent to 4,228.10. New …

BANGKOK – Asian stock markets faltered Friday amid worries over the health of Europe’s banks and fears that the continent’s debt crisis might be spreading beyond a handful of small economies. Benchmark oil stood below $ 102 per barrel while the dollar rose against the euro and the yen. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index fell 1.5 percent to 8,359.92. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 1.4 percent at 18,550.37. South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.7 …

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks rose on Monday but were off their highs after a report that Germany and other European nations with top credit ratings could be downgraded shook some of the recent optimism about the euro zone’s outlook. S&P was poised to announce later on Monday that the credit ratings of Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Finland and Luxembourg would be “credit watch negative,” according to a Financial Times report. “It’s more …

FLAT DAY: Stocks finished about where they started Friday as investors balanced positive signs for the U.S. economy with a looming deadline for a deficit-cutting committee in Congress. DOWN WEEK: Steep declines earlier in the week left the market with its worst weekly loss since September. The S&P 500 lost 3.8 percent. THE DOW: The Dow Jones industrial average gained 25 points to close at 11,796. The Dow traded in a relatively narrow …

NEW YORK – Stock futures are dropping on refreshing doubts about a bailout deal for Greece. The decline comes in the wake of Wall Street’s very best week in months. European finance ministers explained Friday they would delay authorizing a new installment of emergency funds for Greece until finally October. Investors dread that Greece will eventually default on its debts, damaging the European banking technique and the global economic recovery. Later on Monday, …

TOKYO – Asian stock markets fell sharply Monday, with sentiment soured by renewed nervousness about Europe’s credit card debt difficulties and heavy Wall Road losses before the weekend. Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average misplaced 2 percent at eight,562.47 as the index hit fresh six-month intraday lows. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index shed 3.two % to 19,231.69. In Australia, the S&ampP/ASX 200 plunged 3.five percent to 4,048.sixty. Benchmarks in New Zealand and Singapore also …

HONG KONG (AFP) – Asian stocks fell on Monday after last week’s historic downgrade of the United States’ credit rating, which compounded concerns over the world’s biggest economy as well as the global outlook. The falls were echoed by big losses in oil while gold surged to another record as investors moved out of risky assets. They also follow a huge sell-off on Friday caused by mounting problems in the eurozone amid growing …

Increasing problem about the economic climate is overriding any reduction investors might be feeling now that Washington seems to have a credit card debt deal that will avert a default by the federal authorities. The Home on Monday evening handed a invoice that would raise the U.S. debt limit by at minimum $ two.1 trillion and reduce paying by a comparable sum over the subsequent ten years. The agreement was reached Sunday night …