Euro

The European Central Bank raised interest rates yesterday for a sixth time in a year, striving to boost the euro and prevent its slide from fanning inflation in the 11 nations sharing the currency. The bank's president, Wim Duisenberg, warned that high oil prices and a weak currency could lead to higher prices at the corner store. Policymakers raised the floor rate on short-term loans to commercial banks by one-quarter percentage point to 4.75 percent, extending the total increase since the central bank started raising rates 12 months ago to 2.25 percentage points.

MILAN - Fiat Industrial, the Italian maker of trucks, farm and construction vehicles, has raised its 2011 forecasts after second-quarter profits soared 78 percent on higher sales volumes across all sectors. Fiat Industrial SpA posted a second-quarter net profit of (euro) 212 million ($304.86 million), compared with (euro) 119 million a year earlier. Fiat Industrial shares rose 3.3 percent to (euro) 9.28 in Milan trading Monday after the results were released. The company says it now expects revenues of (euro)

Here is what a U.S. dollar buys (in commercial trades; consumer rates may be lower). Australia (dollar)   1.13   1.32    Austria (euro)   0.75   0.75    Belgium (euro)   0.75   0.75    Britain (pound)   0.68   0.67    Canada (dollar)   1.06   1.17    Denmark (krone)   5.91   5.57    France (euro)   0.75   0.75    Germany (euro)   0.75   0.75    Greece (euro)   0.

NICOSIA, Cyprus - There were long lines of anxious people but no sign of trouble as banks in Cyprus opened Thursday for the first time in nearly two weeks, after an international bailout that sought to save the country from financial ruin. To stop a run on its banks, the government imposed a daily limit on how much people can withdraw - the first such action in the 14-year history of the euro. Cypriots took the measure in stride, aware that with their economy on the edge of collapse, panic would make the situation worse.

What a U.S. dollar buys (in commercial trades; consumer rates may be lower). Country    Feb. 14Year ago    Australia (dollar)    0.97   0.94    Austria (euro)    0.75   0.77    Belgium (euro)    0.75   0.77    Britain (pound)    0.65   0.64    Canada (dollar)    1.00   1.00    Denmark (krone)    5.59   5.69    France (euro)    0.75   0.77    Germany (euro)

FRANKFURT, Germany - The European Central Bank says Italian government bonds account for nearly half of its total holdings under a now discontinued bond-buying program launched in 2010 to ease the eurozone's debt crisis. The bank on Thursday detailed for the first time what countries' bonds it acquired under the so-called Securities Markets Program, which it started when the euro area's debt crisis flared in May 2010. The central bank for the 17 European Union countries that use the euro said it held bonds with a face value of 218 billion euros ($287 billion)

Question: I traveled to Europe on a codeshare flight between Delta Air Lines and KLM. Before I left the United States, I carefully checked the size and weight restrictions for my two bags on both the Delta and KLM websites, because I'm an artist and I needed to take rolls of paper with me. I made sure my bags complied. The trip from Portland, Ore., to Copenhagen, Denmark, went off without a hitch; I paid $50 to check a second bag. However, on the flight from Toulouse, France, to Portland, Ore., I had to pay 200 euros for the second bag. When the gate agent saw my second bag, she declared it "too long," she never measured it. Although the flight was on KLM, the airport staff worked for Air France.

NICOSIA, CYPRUS - Cyprus is "very close" to signing an agreement with potential creditors for a bailout to support its troubled banks and pay its bills, the crisis-hit country's president said Thursday. President Dimitris Christofias said that the "very limited" number of differences that remain could be bridged "very soon. " The statement was greeted with guarded relief in the country that was hit on Wednesday by another two-notch credit rating cut. Ratings agency Fitch sank Cyprus deeper into junk status amid worries over a weakening economy that the Cypriot finance ministry projected will shrink by 3.5 percent next year.

U.S. stocks closed lower after uneven trading Tuesday as fears about the fiscal cliff and Greece tipped major indexes between gains and losses. A surge in Home Depot's stock prevented a steeper drop for the Dow Jones industrial average. The Dow closed down closed down 58.90 points, or 0.5 percent, at 12,756.18. It would have been lower without support from Home Depot, whose stock jumped 3.6 percent after the big-box retailer beat expectations for its fiscal third-quarter earnings. Home Depot is benefiting from the gradual housing recovery and rebuilding efforts after Sandy.

  ATHENS, GREECE - Greece's coalition government faces a crucial test in Parliament as unions on Monday launched three days of escalating strikes against austerity proposals that must win lawmakers' support if the debt-crippled country is to get more aid and stave off bankruptcy. The conservative-led coalition that has governed Greece since June on Monday presented the country's fourth austerity package in more than two years to Parliament. The drastic spending cuts and tax hikes demanded by the country's bailout creditors aim to save some $17.3 billion in 2013-14.

LUXEMBOURG - The European Union's financial affairs chief is "less pessimistic" about the future of the euro than he was earlier this year - but warned that the region still had a long way to go before the crisis over too much debt was solved. Olli Rehn, the EU's financial and monetary affairs commissioner, said the organization's ability to react to the financial crisis in the 17 countries that use the euro has much improved compared with two years ago when the crisis began. He also welcomed the official launch Monday of Europe's new $647.9 billion permanent bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM)