Today's Reuters Business News Headlines - Yahoo! News:
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Apple, Foxconn set new standard for China work conditions
Thu,29 Mar 2012 11:37 PM PDT
Reuters -  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc and its main contract manufacturing Foxconn agreed to tackle violations of conditions among the 1.2 million workers assembling iPhones and iPads in a landmark decision that could change the way Western companies do business in China. Taiwan's Foxconn Technology Group, whose subsidiary Hon Hai Precision Industry assembles Apple devices in factories in China, will hire tens of thousands of new workers, eliminate illegal overtime, improve safety protocols and upgrade workers' housing and other amenities. ...
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Dow back in black as Wall St cuts losses near
Thu,29 Mar 2012 11:27 PM PDT
Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Dow managed a slim gain on Thursday while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq shook off most of their earlier losses to end slightly lower, as investors took advantage of a selloff to buy blue chips that have been rallying throughout the quarter. The Dow industrials sharply erased losses in the last half hour of trading and closed up 0.2 percent. Despite the S&P 500 marking its third day of declines, the benchmark index is still up 2.8 percent for the month and nearly 12 percent for the year. ... Full Story | Top |
Gold hovers around $1,660/oz; euro zone eyed
Thu,29 Mar 2012 11:20 PM PDT
Reuters -  SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold was trapped in a tight range around $1,660 an ounce on Friday ahead of a meeting of euro zone finance ministers that may boost the bloc's bailout power, and sluggish physical demand weighed on sentiment. Spot gold rallied to a two-week high near $1,700 earlier in the week after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke defended the low interest rate policy and cautioned it was premature to declare victory on economic recovery, triggering hopes of further monetary easing. ...
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S.Africa Feb credit growth quickens to 7.92 pct y/y
Thu,29 Mar 2012 11:17 PM PDT
Reuters -  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Growth in credit demand by South Africa's private sector quickened to 7.92 percent year-on-year in February compared with a 7.33 percent rise in January, central bank data showed on Friday. Growth in the broadly defined M3 measure of money supply slowed to 5.89 percent year-on-year from a revised 6.7 percent in January. Economists surveyed by Reuters forecast year-on-year private sector credit growth of 7.0 percent in February while M3 was seen expanding by 6.95 percent.
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Greek prime minister does not rule out new bailout package
Thu,29 Mar 2012 11:03 PM PDT
Reuters -  MILAN (Reuters) - Greece's Prime Minister Lucas Papademos said on Friday the country was making every effort to avoid a third bailout package but said he could not rule out the need for one. "Some form of financial assistance might be necessary but we have to work intensely to avoid such an event," Papademos said in an interview in Italy's Il Sole 24 Ore. He said Greece might find itself in a position of not being able to access markets even if all the measures agreed upon are fully implemented. "It is difficult to foresee market conditions and expectations in 2015," he said. ...
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Brent rise towards $123 on US gasoline, Mideast supply worries
Thu,29 Mar 2012 10:54 PM PDT
Reuters -  SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Brent crude rose towards $123 on Friday as investors bet on a tighter gasoline market in the world's largest oil consumer during the peak summer driving season and on persistent worries of a supply disruption in the Middle East. Traders took the opportunity to cover short positions and bought on price dips after oil tumbled in the past two sessions on growing talk of a release of strategic petroleum reserves by some consumer nations and a surge in U.S. crude inventories. Front-month Brent crude rose 38 cents to $122. ...
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Brent rise towards $123 on US gasoline, Mideast supply worries
Thu,29 Mar 2012 10:53 PM PDT
Reuters - SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Brent crude rose towards $123 on Friday as investors bet on a tighter gasoline market in the world's largest oil consumer during the peak summer driving season and on persistent worries of a supply disruption in the Middle East. Traders took the opportunity to cover short positions and bought on price dips after oil tumbled in the past two sessions on growing talk of a release of strategic petroleum reserves by some consumer nations and a surge in U.S. crude inventories. Front-month Brent crude rose 38 cents to $122. ... Full Story | Top |
S.Africa's February PPI slows to 8.3 pct y/y
Thu,29 Mar 2012 10:42 PM PDT
Reuters - JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's producer inflation, which represents domestic output, slowed to 8.3 percent year-on-year in February from 8.9 percent in January, Statistics South Africa said on Thursday. Month-on-month inflation was at 0.9 percent in February from 0.3 percent previously. Economists polled by Reuters expecting PPI to slow to 8.0 percent year-on-year while quickening to 0.7 percent on a monthly basis. Full Story | Top |
BHP iron ore chief quits amid expansion
Thu,29 Mar 2012 08:29 PM PDT
Reuters - MELBOURNE (Reuters) - BHP Billiton's veteran iron ore chief, Ian Ashby, is stepping down after 25 years with the world's biggest miner, it said on Friday, clearing the way for a new leader to complete the company's long-term $11 billion iron ore expansion. BHP's energy coal head, Jimmy Wilson, 50, will take over the reins of the iron ore business, BHP's biggest revenue earner and most profitable arm over the past several years. ... Full Story | Top |
Sun Hung Kai dives as Kwok brothers arrested for graft
Thu,29 Mar 2012 08:13 PM PDT
Reuters -  HONG KONG (Reuters) - More than $5 billion was wiped off the market value of Sun Hung Kai Properties , Asia's largest real estate developer, on Friday, hours after the company's billionaire owners were arrested on suspicion of corruption. Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) arrested Raymond and Thomas Kwok in the biggest investigation since the agency was launched in 1974 to root out what was seen as widespread corruption in the government and police. The Kwoks own $18. ...
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Qantas raising fares to tackle high fuel cost
Thu,29 Mar 2012 07:52 PM PDT
Reuters -  SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's Qantas Airways Ltd said on Friday it was raising domestic and international fares for the second time in as many months to partially offset high jet fuel prices. Domestic fares and international fuel surcharge will increase by between A$7 and A$30 ($7.2 to $30.1) a ticket depending on the sector, Qantas said in a statement. Domestic fares will go up on April 5 and international fuel surcharges on April 12, the airline said. ...
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Exclusive: Top natgas trader Coolidge returns 25 percent of fund to investors
Thu,29 Mar 2012 07:10 PM PDT
Reuters -  (Reuters) - Star natural gas trader David Coolidge is returning a quarter of Velite Capital's assets to investors, seeking to prevent his Houston-based hedge fund from growing too big for the narrow gas market as prices plunge to 10-year lows. Hoping to avoid the fate of cross-town rival John Arnold, who gave back $1 billion of capital last year after posting his first annual decline ever, Coolidge told investors this week that the transfer would occur on the first trading day of April. One investor estimated the refund at about $400 million. ...
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Murdoch's media empire strikes back
Thu,29 Mar 2012 06:31 PM PDT
Reuters -  LONDON (Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch on Thursday declared war against "enemies" who have accused his pay-TV operation of sabotaging its rivals, denouncing them as "toffs and right wingers" stuck in the last century. Reports by the British Broadcasting Corporation and the Australian Financial Review newspaper this week said that News Corp's pay-TV smartcard security unit, NDS, had promoted piracy attacks on rivals, including in the United States. ...
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Apple labor plan to ripple through China factories
Thu,29 Mar 2012 06:25 PM PDT
Reuters - SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apparel makers, toy companies and other manufacturers wrestling with rising wages in China now face new pressures after Apple Inc and main production partner Foxconn agreed to improve worker conditions at plants making its iPhones and other gadgets. In a major development for the way Western companies do business in China, Apple said on Thursday it agreed to work with Foxconn -- an affiliate of Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry -- to curtail hours, substantially improve wages, and hire tens of thousands to compensate for the reduced hours. ... Full Story | Top |
Dow back in black as Wall Street cuts losses near quarter's end
Thu,29 Mar 2012 05:59 PM PDT
Reuters -  NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Dow managed a slim gain on Thursday while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq shook off most of their earlier losses to end slightly lower, as investors took advantage of a selloff to buy blue chips that have been rallying throughout the quarter. The Dow industrials sharply erased losses in the last half hour of trading and closed up 0.2 percent. Despite the S&P 500 marking its third day of declines, the benchmark index is still up 2.8 percent for the month and nearly 12 percent for the year. ...
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