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| CA-BUSINESS Summary Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 12:45 AM PDT Asian shares fall, euro shaky as Europe worries mount TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares fell on Thursday as weak euro zone data, a sluggish debt auction in Italy and fears of a potential run on Cyprus's banks stoked investors' concerns about instability in Europe. European markets were seen subdued, with financial spreadbetters predicting London's FTSE 100 , Paris's CAC-40 and Frankfurt's DAX to open down as much as 0.3 percent. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cyprus reopens banks under tight restrictions Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 12:45 AM PDT  By Karolina Tagaris and Michele Kambas NICOSIA (Reuters) - Cypriots banks reopen on Thursday with tight controls imposed on transactions to prevent a run on deposits after the government was forced to accept a stringent EU rescue package to prevent the country from going bankrupt. Banks were shut almost two weeks ago as the government negotiated a 10 billion euro ($13 billion) bailout package, the first in Europe's single currency zone to impose losses on bank depositors. Bank staff turned up for work early in Nicosia as cash was delivered by armored trucks. ... Full Story | Top |
| GM to produce next-generation electric car in South Korea: executive Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 12:34 AM PDT  By Hyunjoo Jin SEOUL (Reuters) - General Motors Co (GM) will produce its next-generation electric cars in South Korea, the head of its South Korean unit told Reuters on Thursday, as the U.S. carmaker tries to revive momentum for the stalling vehicle technology. Sergio Rocha, CEO of GM Korea, gave no time frame for the launch of the new vehicles, but said they would be slightly bigger than the Spark small car and use a thoroughly new design, unlike the Spark EV which was based on an existing gasoline engine model. ... Full Story | Top |
| S.Africa's rand steady ahead of the long Easter weekend Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 12:21 AM PDT  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's rand opened on a steady footing against the dollar on Thursday ahead of important domestic economic data, with traders taking little risk before the four-day Easter holiday. The rand was at 9.2533 against the dollar at 0609 GMT, a shade firmer than Thursday's New York close of 9.265. Credit demand growth by South Africa's private sector fell to 7.88 percent year-on-year in February, compared with an unrevised 8.64 percent rise in January, although the data had little impact on the currency. Trade data for February is due at 1200 GMT. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Austerity threatens EU's competitive edge in infrastructure Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 12:19 AM PDT  By Anthony Deutsch BERLIN (Reuters) - Europe's carefully maintained autobahns, high-speed TGV trains and vast network of modern airports have long been the envy of the world. But thanks to austerity budgets that are slashing infrastructure spending just as other parts of the world are ramping it up, that may not be true for much longer. European infrastructure spending rose just 1.5 percent last year to $741 billion, compared to global growth of 4.5 percent and a 7.1 percent rise in the Asia-Pacific, according to data compiled by Marketline, a business information provider. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cyprus is very special case, found right solution: German finance minister Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 12:08 AM PDT BERLIN (Reuters) - German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Thursday Cyprus was a very special case and the European Union had found the right solution for it with its deal for a 10 billion euro ($12.78 billion) bailout tied to the imposition of losses on bank depositors. "Cyprus was a very special case, everyone knew that," Schaeuble told SWR radio. "And we found the right solution." Schaeuble also said Luxembourg had a totally different business model to the east Mediterranean island which is due to reopen its banks later on Thursday almost two weeks after they were shut. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK house prices show first annual rise in a year - Nationwide Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 12:05 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - British house prices were 0.8 percent higher this month than a year ago, data from mortgage lender Nationwide showed on Thursday, the first time prices have risen in annual terms since February 2012. Over the month house prices were flat. Although housing turnover remains little more than half its peak level of 2007, prices appear to have stabilised. Rival lender Halifax turned more upbeat on the market earlier this month and is forecasting "low single digit" gains for 2013 as a whole. ... Full Story | Top |
| Shell faces new probe over Alaska drill program Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 11:51 PM PDT  By Yereth Rosen ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - A fourth government probe is under way into Royal Dutch Shell's mishap-prone 2012 Alaska drilling season, this time for possible violations of international marine environmental rules, a U.S. Coast Guard official said on Wednesday. The Coast Guard has asked federal prosecutors to consider taking action on possible violations of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) committed in the operations of Shell's Kulluk drillship, said Rear Admiral Thomas Ostebo, head of the Coast Guard in Alaska. ... Full Story | Top |
| IMF ups I.Coast 2013 growth forecast to 8 pct Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 11:32 PM PDT  ABIDJAN (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund sees economic growth in top cocoa grower Ivory Coast reaching 8 percent in 2013, up from a previous forecast of 7 percent, a senior Fund official said on Wednesday. The West African state is in the midst of an economic revival after a brief civil war in 2011 that closed the book on a decade of political turmoil that hobbled growth. "In 2013 our (growth) figure is 8 percent," Michel Lazare, who headed a two-week evaluation mission to the nation, told a news conference in the commercial capital Abidjan. ... Full Story | Top |
| Guinea picks global advisers for mining review Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 11:31 PM PDT By Bate Felix and Saliou Samb CONAKRY (Reuters) - Guinea has chosen global law firm DLA Piper and three other advisers to help review and, if need be, renegotiate mining contracts signed by previous governments, the head of the review body told Reuters. The review, pledged by President Alpha Conde after he came to power in 2010, will scrutinise contracts with companies such as BHP Billiton, Vale, Rio Tinto, RUSAL and BSGR to ensure the mineral-rich but impoverished West African nation is benefiting sufficiently from deals. ... Full Story | Top |
| Gabon still in talks with China over Belinga mine Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 11:30 PM PDT By Joe Bavier ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Gabon is still negotiating with its Chinese partner to develop the giant Belinga iron ore deposit, a project key to diversifying the country's oil-reliant economy, but it will likely bring in other miners and could break up the vast concession. Deputy Minister for the Economy Desire Guedon also said economic growth will slip to 7.0 percent this year, from 7.3 percent in 2012, and crude oil output will decline half of 1 percent. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ghana oil output jumps but no plans to loosen policy: C.bank Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 11:30 PM PDT By Joe Bavier ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Ghana - set to upwardly revise its 2012 growth figures on a surge in oil output - will continue to bear down on inflation, acting Central Bank Governor Henry Kofi Wampah said. The country was Africa's fastest-growing economy in 2011 with estimated growth of 14.4 percent as it joined the ranks of the continent's oil producing countries and pumped the first crude from its offshore Jubilee field. ... Full Story | Top |
| Asian shares fall, euro shaky as Europe worries mount Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 11:25 PM PDT  By Chikako Mogi TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares fell on Thursday as weak euro zone data, a sluggish debt auction in Italy and fears of a potential run on Cyprus's banks stoked investors' concerns about instability in Europe. European markets were seen subdued, with financial spreadbetters predicting London's FTSE 100 , Paris's CAC-40 and Frankfurt's DAX to open down as much as 0.3 percent. Benchmark indices in Spain and Italy were likely to open flat and 0.3 percent lower respectively. A 0.4 percent fall in U.S. stock futures pointed to a weak Wall Street start. ... Full Story | Top |
| S.Africa Feb credit growth falls to 7.88 percent y/y Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 11:14 PM PDT  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Growth in credit demand by South Africa's private sector fell to 7.88 percent year-on-year in February, compared with an unrevised 8.64 percent rise in January, central bank data showed on Thursday. Expansion in the broadly defined M3 measure of money supply climbed to 7.71 percent year-on-year in February, from an unrevised 6.75 percent the previous month. Economists surveyed by Reuters forecast year-on-year private sector credit growth of 8 percent in February and a 7.2 percent rise in money supply. Full Story | Top |
| Nigeria offers to sell power plant to Chinese firm Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 11:13 PM PDT ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria has offered to sell a major power station to the Chinese engineering firm that has upgraded the plant, the privatisation agency said, as it aims to end power shortages that are the biggest brake on economic growth. Africa's most populous nation is privatising the bulk of its power sector to help increase electricity output by 10 times by 2020, although President Goodluck Jonathan's plan laid out three years ago is running behind schedule. ... Full Story | Top |
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