Today's Reuters Business News Headlines - Yahoo! News:
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Gold treads water; euro zone caution remains
Wed,11 Apr 2012 11:26 PM PDT
Reuters - SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold hovered near $1,660 an ounce on Thursday, supported by a steady euro on easing fears about the euro zone debt crisis, though investors remained cautious on the outlook for peripheral economies and were awaiting more clues on global growth. Traders saw gold in a consolidation phase after a recent rally lifted prices from a near three-month low just above $1,610, amid speculation of more easing from the U.S. central bank. ... Full Story | Top |
Haitong to launch $1.5 billion Hong Kong offer on April 17: IFR
Wed,11 Apr 2012 11:20 PM PDT
Reuters - HONG KONG (Reuters) - Haitong Securities Co Ltd , China's No.2 brokerage by assets, is set to launch its up to $1.5 billion Hong Kong share offering as early as April 17, after securing commitments from investors for a large portion of the deal, IFR reported on Thursday. The company is set to price the deal on April 20, but the schedule might change over the weekend, Thomson Reuters publication IFR said, citing four sources. The sources were not authorised to speak publicly on the matter. ... Full Story | Top |
Paris Club agrees $344 mln debt relief for Guinea
Wed,11 Apr 2012 11:08 PM PDT
Reuters - PARIS (Reuters) - The Paris club of creditor governments agreed on Wednesday to provide $344 million in debt relief to Guinea, including more than $151 million in debt cancellation, the group said in statement. In addition to standard Paris Club relief terms for poor countries, the creditors agreed to defer or reschedule debt repayments over an eight-year period on some of the country's debt and defer interest on amounts treated, the statement said. ... Full Story | Top |
Ghana cracks down on unbudgeted public spending
Wed,11 Apr 2012 11:03 PM PDT
Reuters -  ACCRA (Reuters) - Ghana's government is barring public institutions from spending plans that were not included in the 2012 budget, Finance Minister Kwabena Duffuor said on Wednesday, in a bid to ensure fiscal discipline ahead of elections later this year. The West African nation holds presidential and parliamentary elections in December, and there are fears that the government could bow to pressure for wage hikes and other spending ahead of the vote. ...
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FERC takes aim at Barclays over power market manipulation
Wed,11 Apr 2012 10:58 PM PDT
Reuters - (Reuters) - Energy regulators have alleged Barclays PLC and four former electricity traders manipulated the California power markets more than three years ago. In a public notice of "alleged violations" published on its website on April 5, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) said the UK bank and its four West Coast power traders manipulated the electricity market between November 2006 and December 2008, trading in the physical market in such a way to derive bigger gains on derivative markets. ... Full Story | Top |
Moroccan parliament approves 2012 budget
Wed,11 Apr 2012 10:49 PM PDT
Reuters -  RABAT (Reuters) - Morocco's parliament on Wednesday passed the 2012 budget that targets a deficit below 5 percent and subjects corporates and alcohol to higher taxes as the government seeks to reduce wide social inequalities and tame protests over unemployment. The budget won 166 votes out of 230 present at the session in the 395-member parliament, the official MAP news agency said. The budget provided for a total expenditure of 346.8 billion dirhams and receipts at 314.5 billion dirhams. It targets a budget deficit of less than 5 percent after it hit 6. ...
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Brent steady at $120 ahead of Iran talks; Fed comments weigh
Wed,11 Apr 2012 10:46 PM PDT
Reuters -  SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Brent crude held steady at $120 on Thursday as supply disruption worries eased with Iran saying it would present new proposals in the upcoming nuclear talks with world powers, reversing some of the previous session's gains. Prices were also under pressure following comments by top U.S. Fed officials that the central bank is still waiting to see if more monetary stimulus is needed, and on resurfacing worries about Spain's fiscal woes. These factors overshadowed an unexpected drop in U.S. oil product stocks. Brent crude fell 1 cent to $120. ...
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Bank of Japan raises economy view for 2 of 9 Japan regions
Wed,11 Apr 2012 10:45 PM PDT
Reuters - TOKYO (Reuters) - The Bank of Japan on Thursday raised its assessment for two of Japan's nine regional economies and left its view unchanged for the remainder in a quarterly report, suggesting that the economy was slowly emerging from stagnation. In the previous quarterly report in January, the BOJ cut its assessment on seven out of nine regions. In the April report, the two regions that raised their assessments, including the central Tokai region that is home to much of Japan's automaking industry, said economic activity was picking up. ... Full Story | Top |
Economy picking up, exports better: Japan
Wed,11 Apr 2012 10:45 PM PDT
Reuters - TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's government stuck to its assessment that the economy is slowly recovering on Thursday but raised its view on exports, saying overseas shipments are showing signs of stabilizing on a moderate pickup in the United States and some return in Asian demand. It said in a monthly report that the pace of decline in consumer prices has eased but Japan remains in mild deflation, a slight change from the previous report when it just said the economy was in mild deflation. ... Full Story | Top |
Insight: Energy regulators in new push to quash manipulation
Wed,11 Apr 2012 10:44 PM PDT
Reuters -  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Emboldened energy market regulators are mounting an aggressive new campaign to stamp out a once-common trading practice that crosses physical and paper markets, unnerving traders who fear a backlash over years-old deals. Away from the contentious debate over Dodd-Frank derivative market reforms that followed the 2008 financial crisis, this new battle takes place in the gray area separating cash markets for commodities like crude oil and power from the swaps or futures contracts that are tied to those prices. ...
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Sony CEO to lay out revival strategy as losses pile up
Wed,11 Apr 2012 10:38 PM PDT
Reuters -  TOKYO (Reuters) - Kazuo Hirai's brief honeymoon as Sony Corp's new chief has ended abruptly as the struggling electronics giant doubled its annual loss forecast, sending its shares tumbling. On Thursday he will try to convince investors he has a strategy to fix Sony and its ailing TV unit, and turn around a brand that has been trampled on by consumer gadget leaders Apple Inc and South Korea's Samsung Electronics. ...
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Euro, shares firm after recent fall; Europe debt eyed
Wed,11 Apr 2012 10:23 PM PDT
Reuters -  TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares eked out small gains and the euro inched higher on Thursday, reflecting lingering worry over sovereign funding for troubled euro zone economies Spain and Italy. With a lack of strong follow-through buying in Asia from gains in global stocks on Wednesday and investors wary ahead of an Italian bond sale later in the session, European equity markets were likely to start mixed. Financial spreadbetters predicted major European markets would open between 0.2 percent lower and 0.2 percent higher. U.S. stock futures were up 0.3 percent. ...
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Preview: Rio, BHP iron ore output to dip as China demand cools
Wed,11 Apr 2012 09:50 PM PDT
Reuters - SYDNEY (Reuters) - Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton are set to report lower-than-expected iron ore output for the March quarter after heavy rains and cyclones disrupted port and mining operations in Australia. The losses could collectively reach as high as 4 million metric tonnes of ore - some 4 percent of overall estimated output for the quarter. The shortfall, evident in shipping statistics, has been helping shore up seaborne-traded iron ore prices despite slowing demand from China, the biggest buyer of Australian ore. ... Full Story | Top |
Energy costs stir worries in U.S. economic expansion
Wed,11 Apr 2012 09:49 PM PDT
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. economic activity kept growing moderately in the late winter months but rising energy prices were beginning to worry manufacturers and retailers across the country, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday. "Reports from the 12 Federal Reserve districts indicated that the economy continued to expand at a modest to moderate pace from mid-February through late March," the central bank said in its latest "Beige Book" summary of national activity. ...
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China's small exporters must adapt or die
Wed,11 Apr 2012 09:42 PM PDT
Reuters -  NINGBO, China (Reuters) - Chen Lifeng's dress-making company survived the global financial crisis yet may fall victim to today's milder economic slowdown, one that China deems necessary to secure its future growth. His company, Ningbo Tengsheng Garments Co., is grappling with slackening overseas sales, rapid wage rises and higher raw material costs that erode already thin profit margins. "The situation is grimmer than 2008-09. New orders are falling, but wages are rising. ...
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