Brazil's ambitious high-speed train project was postponed once again due to a lack of bidders but Brazilian officials anticipated they would hold two separate bids for the project to link Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo on time for the 2016 Olympic Games.
European Union finance ministers pledged to beef up a rescue package for troubled economies such as Greece as they went to battle to contain debt crisis contagion threatening to engulf Silvio Berlusconi’s Italy and Socialist Spain.
President Barack Obama pushed congressional leaders for the largest possible deficit-reduction deal that would involve changes to popular entitlement programs, asking: If not now, when?
Global stocks and the Euro sank as fears that Italy could become the latest country caught up in the Euro-zone debt crisis caused investors to sell risky assets and snap up safe-haven US Treasury debt, pushing the 10-year note's yield below 3%.
Sugar supplies will remain limited until the 2012-13 harvest begins in top producer Brazil, broker FCStone do Brasil said citing futures traded in New York. The rise in sugar price helped push the FAO Food Price Index to 234 points in June, which is 39% higher than a year ago.
China's trade surplus widened more than expected to 22.3 billion US dollars in June, the highest level in seven months, as imports grew at the slowest pace since 2009. The surplus was 13.1 billion USD the previous month and 20 billion USD a year earlier.
Argentina's government has filed criminal charges against the managers of an economic consulting firm, escalating its persecution of independent economists. A federal court official said Friday that a judge is evaluating the charges but has yet to decide if it is appropriate to begin investigating them.
US employment growth ground to a halt in June, with employers hiring the fewest number of workers in nine months, dousing hopes the economy would regain momentum in the second half of the year.
Brazil’s central bank changed currency market rules to curb bets that the Real will appreciate against the dollar, according to an e-mailed statement. Brazil will require that banks make non-interest bearing deposits with the central bank equivalent to 60% of their short dollar positions exceeding 1 billion US dollars, the bank said.
Fiat will trim some production in Brazil and Argentina for a week because of a trade spat between the South American neighbours, the Italian car maker said on Friday.