London/Istanbul (CNN Business)Turkey is plunging into a fresh currency crisis as investors dump the lira in response to the extraordinary decision by the country’s central bank to slash interest rates in the face of soaring inflation. The lira stabilized on Wednesday but suffered a huge fall against the US dollar on Tuesday. The lira fell more than 15% against the […]

The Federal Reserve is expected to consider speeding up its tapering of bond purchases at its Dec. 14 and 15 meeting. Several Fed officials have spoken publicly about accelerating the wind down of the program, and minutes from the Fed's November meeting revealed Wednesday that some Fed officials were in favor of a more rapid tapering. Even if the Fed […]

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading. Gap, Nordstrom — Shares of Gap and Nordstrom plummeted after the companies reported disappointing quarterly results late Tuesday citing rising labor costs, inventory issues, shopping costs and factory closures as challenges. Gap shares dropped 22%. Nordstrom tumbled 28%. Shares of other retailers were hurting Wednesday too. Tapestry fell 3.2%, and Ralph Lauren […]

The surge in inflation that has driven prices higher for a broad range of goods is unique to the pandemic but has a lot in common with the price pressures following World War II. The extent of inflationary pressures post-pandemic have taken many by surprise in part because of the way the pandemic affected consumer behavior. "You had a very […]

Silicon Valley pacemaker startup EBR Systems expects Australia’s strong research focus on heart disease will be a fertile environment to develop the products it hopes will solve one of the world’s biggest global health problems. EBR, which is working on a new kind of “leadless” pacemaker system called WISE, listed on the ASX on Wednesday morning with backing from high-profile […]

Check out the companies making headlines after the bell: Nordstrom — Shares of the department store chain tumbled roughly 20% following its quarterly results. Nordstrom reported earnings of 39 cents per share, well below the 56 cents expected by analysts. Labor costs ate into profits and sales and Nordstrom Rack, its off-price division, has struggled to return to pre-pandemic levels, […]

U.S. markets closed mixed on Monday, after reflecting further on President Biden’s nomination of Fed Chair Jerome Powell for a second term. The initial reaction was positive and share prices mostly rose. By the closing bell, however, rising bond yields indicated that growth (i.e., tech) stocks were likely to be facing more expensive capital. That cooled the initial enthusiasm. Tuesday […]

Needless to say, 2021 has been a banner year for equities, with the S&P 500 up a stunning 25%. While the going was pretty easy by historical standards, with only one 5% drop year to date, there is a good chance that 2022 could bring some tougher sledding. The tapering of the quantitative easing program, which was designed to keep […]

FILE PHOTO: The logo of French telecom operator Orange is pictured on the facade of the Belgian unit in Brussels, Belgium, May 10, 2016.REUTERS/Francois LenoirPARIS (Reuters) – Telecoms company Orange Belgium said it was in talks to buy a majority stake in Belgian telecoms operator VOO SA, in a possible deal valuing the whole of VOO at 1.8 billion euros […]