Source: Reuters Ratings agency Moody’s on Monday suggested the United States should eliminate its statutory limit on government debt to reduce uncertainty among bond holders. The United States is one of the few countries where Congress sets a ceiling on government debt, which creates “periodic uncertainty” over the government’s ability to meet its obligations, Moody’s...

Source: Reuters Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has warned there is a one-in-two chance it could cut the United States’ prized AAA credit rating if a deal on raising the government’s debt ceiling is not agreed soon. Putting the US on negative watch, S&P warned that it could cut the rating as soon as this...

Source: Bloomberg Moody’s Investors Service raised the pressure on US lawmakers to increase the government’s US$14.3 trillion debt limit by placing the nation’s credit rating under review for a downgrade. The US, rated Aaa since 1917, was put on review for the first time since 1995 on concern the debt threshold will not be raised...

Source: Reuters As the world’s population of millionaires booms, the global wealth management industry is failing to convince new customers its services are worth paying for, leaving it grappling with slowing sales alongside rising costs, research showed on Wednesday. Specialist wealth management consultant Scorpio Partnership said in an annual health check of the global private...

Source: AFP The Federal Reserve has set a gradual exit from its crisis support of the US economy that could take up to five years, according to the minutes of its last policy meeting released Tuesday. Policymakers agreed that the central bank, “when economic conditions warrant,” would begin to raise ultra-low interest rates and then...

Source: Reuters Wall Street was headed for a third day of losses on Tuesday as fears of a systemic crisis in the Eurozone grew, sending index futures sharply lower. In a rerun of the spring selloff in equity markets, US stocks fell sharply in the last session as European officials for the first time refused...

Source:  Bloomberg President Barack Obama pushed back against Republican efforts to focus on a scaled-down deficit deal, arguing for a broader package of spending cuts and tax increases to put the US on a sounder long-term fiscal footing. “Now is the time to deal with these issues,” Obama said at a White House news conference...

Source: Bloomberg Nestle SA, the world’s largest food company, agreed to buy 60 per cent of Hsu Fu Chi International Ltd, a Chinese snack and candy maker, for S$2.07 billion (US$1.7 billion) to tap growth in the world’s most populous nation. Nestle’s cash offer of S$4.35 for each share of Singapore-listed Hsu Fu Chi is...

Source: AFP Australian miner Macarthur Coal has received a takeover bid from US mining giant Peabody Energy and major steel producer ArcelorMittal valued at A$4.68 billion (US$5 billion), it said on Monday. Macarthur, the world’s top producer of a pulverised coal used to make steel, has rejected several previous takeover bids from Peabody in the...

Source: AFP Media baron Rupert Murdoch fought to keep his bid for satellite broadcaster BSkyB alive on Monday, with the British government consulting watchdogs amid calls for the decision to be shelved. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg added to the pressure on Murdoch on Monday when he publicly called on the media baron to drop...