Financial Market News

The Toronto stock market lived up to its predicted modest gains for 2013, closing up about six per cent, but there's optimism in the air for Canada's main stock market for the year ahead.

In this Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013, photo, trader Richard DeViccaro works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

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The Toronto stock market closed slightly lower Thursday as a U.S. budget deal and a solid retail sales report fuelled expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve could start cutting back on its monetary stimulus program as early as next week.

Asian stock markets mostly posted tentative gains Friday as investors prepared for the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision next week on whether to reduce its monetary stimulus.

The dollar rose and global equity markets slipped to a one-month low on Thursday after stronger-than-expected U.S. retail sales data added to jitters about when the Federal Reserve will start trimming its stimulus.

After years of sticking with plain-vanilla bond funds, investors are starting to turn their backs on them and opt for stocks instead.

Merrill Lynch has agreed to pay $131.8 million to settle U.S. civil charges that it misled investors about risky mortgage bonds it sold ahead of the 2008 financial crisis.

Trader Andrew Silverman, center, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013.

Stocks fell Thursday as investors watched some high profile initial public offerings and looked for clues as to when the Federal Reserve will wind down its bond buying program.

Asian shares stumbled to a 2-1/2 month low on Thursday on heightened expectations the Federal Reserve may act sooner than later to unwind its stimulus after a provisional budget deal in Washington eased some of the fiscal drag on the US economy.

Every year Singaporeans and Malaysians choke on smoke when farmers and plantation firms in neighboring Indonesia clear the land with fires during the dry season.

Financial markets were sluggish Wednesday as an apparent budget deal in the U.S. Congress failed to divert attention from investors' primary focus - whether the Federal Reserve will reduce its stimulus next week.

Cajoled by developed world governments and shocked by disasters such as the Bangladesh factory collapse, investors in emerging market companies are looking more closely at environmental, social or governance issues before they buy.

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Stocks edged lower in morning trading Wednesday as investors weighed a budget deal out of Washington and the outlook for economic stimulus from the Federal Reserve.

The S&P/TSX composite index gained 27.97 points to 13,340.75 as commodity prices rose amid positive Chinese economic data.

Twitter shares hit a new high Tuesday, leading the way on a day of big gains for Internet stocks, as the microblogging service climbed to roughly twice the price the company set for its initial public offering last month.

TAKING A BREAK: Stocks fell modestly Tuesday as investors stepped back a day after the market notched its latest record high close.

Banking regulators on Tuesday unveiled a central element of the sweeping 2010 reform law Congress passed in response to the financial crisis.