Business Blog

KUALA LUMPUR, June 20 (Reuters) - Credit agency RAM Ratings said state-backed mortgage lender Cagamas Bhd CAGMAS.UL will issue 20 billion ringgit ($6.22 billion) in commercial paper and sukuk to refinance existing debt.The issue will refinance existing debt of 20 billion ringgit expiring June 25, RAM said in a ratings filing with the central bank late on Thursday, assigning Cagamas&aposs new progr

* FTSEurofirst 300 up 0.8 pct, Euro STOXX 50 up 1.3 pct* EDF&aposs plunge takes 5.8 bln euros off its market value* Peugeot&aposs short-covering rally continuesBy Blaise RobinsonPARIS, June 19 (Reuters) - European stocks rallied on Thursday, with one blue-chip index near a six-year high, after the U.S. Federal Reserve signalled that over the long run interest rates would be lower than it had previ

NEW YORK, June 19 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks opened flat on Thursday, following a four-day rally that took the S&P 500 to record levels, while the latest jobless claims data indicated strengthening of the labor market. The Dow Jones industrial average...

Kazakhstan will start drafting a new Islamic banking law that could help the industry develop in the former Soviet state, after a five-year-old set of rules failed to stimulate activity.

Kazakhstan will start drafting a new Islamic banking law that could help the industry develop in the former Soviet state, after a five-year-old set of rules failed to stimulate activity.

DUBAI, June 19 (Reuters) - Banque Saudi Fransi 1050.SE , the kingdom&aposs fourth-largest listed lender, has completed a capital-boosting sukuk issue worth 2 billion riyals ($533 million), it said in a statement on Thursday.The Islamic bond, which has a ten-year lifespan but with an option for the bank to repay investors after the fifth year, priced at 140 basis points over the three-month Saudi i