Russia's gas monopoly Gazprom on Thursday agreed to buy supplies of gas from Turkmenistan that would normally have gone to Ukraine, tightening the screws on Kiev. Russia and Ukraine are locked in a gas pricing

Read More

HSBC Holdings Plc. won approval on Thursday to act as a market-maker for yuan trading, as Beijing took another step towards greater flexibility for the Chinese currency. China said in November it would launch a

Read More

China's 2,600-year-old agricultural tax will no longer exist as of next January 1 after the country's top legislature voted Thursday to abolish it, state media said. The decision was taken at a meeting of legislators

Read More

China's 2,600-year-old agricultural tax will no longer exist as of next January 1 after the country's top legislature voted Thursday to abolish it, state media said. The decision was taken at a meeting of legislators

Read More

Japan will start to develop a massive oilfield in Iran next year despite opposition from the United States about the investment in the Islamic republic, a report said Thursday. Japan signed a two-billion-dollar deal with

Read More

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko signed the 2006 state budget, which aims to channel more funds for investment and development to fuel slow economic growth, into law on Thursday. The budget, approved last week on the

Read More

European securities exchanges may opt for closer co-operation in 2006 if a distracting and protracted battle for the London Stock Exchange does not result in a major deal. And if a big merger continues to

Read More

Mario Draghi, an investment banker and former Treasury official, was named Bank of Italy governor on Thursday to succeed Antonio Fazio, who quit over a take-over scandal that tainted the country's image. "The cabinet ...

Read More

Hong Kong's stock market will probably notch up another record year of IPOs in 2006, with nearly $26 billion in deals, PricewaterhouseCoopers forecast on Thursday, partly thanks to huge share sales by Chinese banks. The

Read More

South Korean factory output grew in November at its fastest pace in six years and a key manufacturing business sentiment index for January rose to an eight-month high, official data showed on Thursday. Treasury bond

Read More