Fitch lowered Britain‘s long-term outlook Wednesday to negative from stable, while confirming its top-level AAA rating.The ratings agency said the revision “reflects the very limited fiscal space to absorb further adverse economic shocks in light of such elevated debt levels and a potentially weaker than currently forecast economic recovery.”The change represented a more than 50 percent chance of a downgrade over the next two years, Fitch said, citing ongoing financial tensions in the eurozone.”

Fitch lowered Britain's long-term outlook Wednesday to negative from stable, while confirming its top-level AAA rating.The ratings agency said the revision "reflects the very limited fiscal space to absorb further adverse economic shocks in light of such elevated debt levels and a potentially weaker

NEW YORK (AP) ― Thanks to strong demand for Apple’s iPad and competing devices such as Amazon’s Kindle Fire, worldwide shipments of tablet computers are likely to grow faster than expected this year, according to a newly revised forecast from a leading market-research group.IDC said shipments in the last three months of 2011 were higher than expected. As a result, the research group now projects shipments of 106 million in 2012, up from its previous forecast of nearly 88 million.The new figure,

ATHENS (AP) ― The Fitch ratings agency on Tuesday upgraded Greece out of “restricted default” after Athens carried out the biggest debt writedown in history in a bond swap with private creditors. International debt inspectors, however, warned the country’s recovery will be slower and harder than expected.The new “B-” rating, which applies to the new bonds issued under Greek law, is still junk status, meaning they are not investment grade despite the huge cut to Greece’s debt pile.Along with the

NEW YORK (AP) ― AT&T is offering to discuss a settlement to an iPhone user who won a small-claims case that alleged the company was slowing down his “unlimited” data service. In a letter dated Friday, a law firm retained by AT&T Inc. is threatening to shut off Matthew Spaccarelli’s phone service if he doesn’t sit down to talk. The phone company doesn’t say if the settlement would involve money beyond the $850 award the Simi Valley, California, resident won from the company in small claims court

All but four of 19 major U.S. banks got a green light Tuesday from the Federal Reserve to boost their dividends and take other steps that will make their stocks more attractive to investors. The Fed declared them strong enough to survive a downturn worse than the Great Recession.The Fed’s findings s

NEW YORK (AP) ― PepsiCo Inc. revamped its management structure Monday in a move intended to strengthen its lineup of potential successors to CEO Indra Nooyi and leverage its scale as a global company. The management restructuring puts John Compton, who heads the company’s Americas foods division, in charge of all the company’s global groups in the newly created role of president. PepsiCo said Compton will also work with its regional groups for Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa to build br

TOKYO (AFP) -- The Bank of Japan on Tuesday boosted a loan program by almost $25 billion as part of efforts to kickstart the economy, while leaving the key interest rate unchanged at between zero and 0.1 percent.The central bank also said the country’s sluggish economy has shown signs of picking up as it announced a one-year extension to a loan program for banks in areas hit by last year’s earthquake and tsunami.The Bank of Japan said it would hike a lending program by about 2.0 trillion yen ($2

PARIS (AFP) ― Tentative signs of economic upturn are appearing in the eurozone but business activity is showing signs of flagging in China and Brazil, the OECD said on Monday. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said that the United States and Japan were leading improving growth prospects. “Stronger, albeit tenative” signals were evident in major economies and in the eurozone. But figures for China and Brazil were now below trend. The OECD’s composite index of leading indic

Singapore is Asia’s most competitive city in attracting businesses, efficiency and promoting a clean environment, according to an Economist Intelligence Unit report commissioned by Citigroup Inc. The island, ranked by the World Bank as the easiest place to do business, was the world’s third-most competitive city after New York and London among 120, according to the report. Singapore ranked the highest in financial maturity and physical capital, beating fourth-ranked Hong Kong, the report showed.

World’s second-biggest cotton producer to scrap ban after protests from growers, ChinaIndia, the world’s second-biggest cotton producer, scrapped a one-week-old ban on exports of the fiber after protests from growers, traders and China, the nation’s biggest buyer. “Keeping in view the interests of the farmers, industry, trade, a balanced view has been considered by the Group of Ministers to roll back the ban,” Trade Minister Anand Sharma said in an e-mailed statement Sunday. The ministry will pu