Market and Exchange

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Critics ridiculed European Union bureaucrats on Saturday for taking time off fighting the euro zone's debt crisis to impose strict new rules on how restaurants serve olive oil. From January 1, 2014, eateries will be banned from...

WASHINGTON -- Consumer sentiment perked up in May to its highest level in more than six years, according to a survey released Friday, helped by falling gasoline prices, a rising stock market and firmer housing prices. The preliminary May reading of the...

* Fed's Williams says stimulus reduction could start this summer * U.S. consumer sentiment rises to nearly six-year high * U.S. dollar index hits nearly three-year high * Dow, S&P 500 surge to record closing highs By Herbert Lash NEW YORK, May 17...

(Nicholas Wapshott is a Reuters columnist but his opinions are his own.) By Nicholas Wapshott May 17 (Reuters) - In the nearly five years since the worst financial crash since the Great Depression, the remedy for the world's economic doldrums has...

ORLEANS, France (Reuters) - The European Central Bank will keep its loose and growth-supportive monetary policy stance in place for "quite a long time", ECB executive board members said on Friday. With the euro zone economy stuck in recession, the ECB...

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Saving pocket change may not end the euro zone crisis, but the European Commission hopes that scrapping the smallest coins could help penny-pinching governments cut costs. The European Commission outlined proposals this week for...

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European officials gave a lukewarm response to French President Francois Hollande's sweeping proposals for deeper euro zone integration on Friday, noting that many of his ideas were already in circulation. In a 2-1/2-hour news...

* C$ at C$1.0311 vs US$, or 96.98 U.S. cents * US$ strengthens near 10-mth high on Fed QE debate * Bond prices rise across curve By Solarina Ho TORONTO, May 17 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar weakened to its softest level against its U.S. counterpart...

* Fed's Williams says could begin stimulus withdrawal this summer * U.S. consumer sentiment rises to highest in nearly 6 years * U.S. dollar index hits nearly three-year high, stocks climb * U.S. Treasuries prices fall further after sentiment data By...

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A slowdown in U.S. inflation was benign and could "unleash" consumer spending, Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher said on Thursday, adding that he was not worried about the risk of deflation. "If you look at CPI...

* Dollar retreats from gains against euro and yen * Equity markets decline on soft housing, labor market data * Bond prices rise on data, Brent oil edges higher By Herbert Lash NEW YORK, May 16 (Reuters) - Global equity markets traded slightly lower and...

* Dollar recovers after president of San Francisco Fed speaks * Wall Street drops further but Cisco surges on earnings * Bond prices rise on poor U.S. economic data * Brent oil settles slightly higher By Herbert Lash NEW YORK, May 16 (Reuters) -...