Euronext, the leading exchange in the Euro zone, today announced that on 16 December its commodities franchise achieved a second lifetime record daily volumes in the same month in milling wheat futures with 92,531 contracts traded.

According to Raphaël Gallardo, Strategist – Investment and client solutions at Natixis Asset Management, the fall in the oil price is attributable to a real phenomenon (the downward revision in global energy demand), but which he considers to be amplified by macro-financial interest-rate issues (steepening US real rates) and foreign exchange factors (dollar rally).

Sub-Saharan African Central Banks showed strong interest from the outset, taking 52% of the transaction, the rest being allocated to bank treasuries, private banks and asset managers.

Five companies owned more than 44% of the U.S. banking industry's total assets at Sept. 30 — a dramatic increase from decades past according to SNL Financial's latest report released today.

The issue was placed with more than 400 European institutional investors. The order book totalled around €6.5 billion. The bonds will pay a 4.00% fixed rate of interest over the first 10 years and subsequently adjusted every five years...