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| India's Singh highlights bright side of crashing rupee Friday, Aug 30, 2013 12:52 AM PDT  By Frank Jack Daniel NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sought to soothe worries about the Indian economy on Friday, telling parliament that the crashing value of the rupee was part of a needed adjustment that would make Asia's third-largest economy more competitive. The speech was the veteran economist's first substantial comment to parliament since the rupee suffered its steepest ever monthly fall in recent weeks, bringing back memories of a 1991 balance of payments crisis that made Singh famous. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Mall developers feel the pull of Africa's consumer boom Friday, Aug 30, 2013 12:44 AM PDT  By Matthew Bigg and Tiisetso Motsoeneng ACCRA/JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - When Wal-Mart Stores , the world's top retailer, bought control of major South African discount chain Massmart Holdings in 2011, American shopping mall developer Irwin Barkan had an epiphany. An industry veteran of 30 years, Barkan's U.S. home market was "graying", while the youthful, underdeveloped African continent offered a sweet spot, with a rapidly expanding middle class and no competition from online retailers. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S., Switzerland forge bank settlement deal amid tax probe Friday, Aug 30, 2013 12:38 AM PDT  By Patrick Temple-West WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department has signed an agreement with the Swiss government to allow some Swiss banks to pay penalties to avoid or defer prosecution stemming from a long-running probe of tax dodging by Americans using Swiss bank accounts. The settlement program will apply to about 100 second-tier Swiss banks, provided they agree to disclose certain previous hidden assets of U.S. customers. It will be open only to banks not already under U.S. criminal investigation. The deal is a step forward in a three-year U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Africa's Amplats says to shed 4,800 jobs Friday, Aug 30, 2013 12:29 AM PDT  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Anglo American Platinum, the world's top platinum producer, said on Friday it would shed around 4,800 jobs through its restructuring process, with 3,300 coming from lay-offs and the remainder from voluntary packages. Amplats, which fell into a loss last year, initially wanted to cut 14,000 jobs in a bid to return to profit but fierce government and union resistance caused it to rein in its plans. ... Full Story | Top |
| Zurich says looking at whether undue pressure placed on CFO Friday, Aug 30, 2013 12:26 AM PDT  ZURICH (Reuters) - Zurich Insurance Group said its board will look into whether undue pressure was placed on its finance chief ahead of his apparent suicide, the company's acting chairman said on Friday. "The board sees it as its prime responsibility to look into the question as to whether there was undue pressure placed on our CFO," Tom de Swaan told analysts and investors. On Thursday, Zurich's chairman, former Deutsche Bank boss Josef Ackermann, quit after saying the family of Pierre Wauthier believed he shared some of the blame for his death. ... Full Story | Top |
| BoE's Carney says uncertainty about RBS' future must end Friday, Aug 30, 2013 12:20 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - Britain should end uncertainty over long-term plans for state-controlled Royal Bank of Scotland , Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said in a newspaper interview. Carney also told the Daily Mail it would be "a challenging task" to avoid a new credit or house price bubble but he was ready to head off any risk. ... Full Story | Top |
| Carney says uncertainty about RBS' future must end Friday, Aug 30, 2013 12:17 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - Britain should end uncertainty over long-term plans for state-controlled Royal Bank of Scotland, Bank Governor Mark Carney said in a newspaper interview. Carney also told the Daily Mail it would be "a challenging task" to avoid a new credit or house price bubble but he was ready to head off any risk. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Africa's rand, bonds firmer ahead of trade data Friday, Aug 30, 2013 12:11 AM PDT  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's rand firmed slightly against the dollar in early trading on Friday but could come under renewed pressure if trade data due later in the session shows a widening deficit. The rand was at 10.3350 to the dollar at 0613 GMT, up 0.2 percent from Thursday's New York close. It has been recovering from a four-year low of 10.510 hit on Wednesday as emerging market currencies sold off on fears of possible Western military action in Syria. ... Full Story | Top |
| ECB's Nowotny says don't expect rate rise for some time Friday, Aug 30, 2013 12:06 AM PDT  ALPBACH, Austria (Reuters) - Financial markets should not expect the European Central Bank to raise interest rates for the foreseeable future as long as expectations for inflation remain steady, ECB policymaker Ewald Nowotny said. He also told reporters that turmoil on emerging markets was not having a direct impact on the euro zone so far, but that it was premature to say this would remain the case. "The forward guidance of the ECB is a clear statement that means that monetary policy will be conducted so that interest rates will remain at the current rate or lower. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: Batista's Brazilian empire was sunk by more than hubris Friday, Aug 30, 2013 12:04 AM PDT  By Jeb Blount RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Fifteen months ago, OGX Petróleo chief executive Paulo Mendonça was confident that the company he led was on track to become a major independent oil producer, an anchor for Eike Batista's vast Brazilian resource empire. In an interview with Reuters at a Rio de Janeiro office block, Mendonça showed off bowls of pungent crude oil from OGX's first field, Tubarão Azul, or "Blue Shark," and brushed aside concerns about its operations in the waters northeast of Rio. Sure, there had been some hiccups, but they were being fixed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Daimler's Mercedes-Benz sees double-digit growth in China market Thursday, Aug 29, 2013 11:56 PM PDT  By Norihiko Shirouzu CHENGDU, China (Reuters) - Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz expects to see growth of up to 15 percent in China's luxury car segment this year, a senior executive said, and is trying to grab a bigger share of that market by expanding into the inland-west and smaller cities. The company plans to open 75 new dealer outlets this year, nearly half in third- and fourth-tier cities, said China sales head Nicholas Speeks, as part of a broader turnaround plan to reverse its recent struggles in the world's biggest auto market. ... Full Story | Top |
| Soccer-Besiktas out of Europe after CAS upholds ban Thursday, Aug 29, 2013 11:51 PM PDT ISTANBUL, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Turkish club Besiktas has been excluded from the Europa League this season after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld a UEFA-imposed one-year ban from European competition for match-fixing, CAS said on Friday. Playing under appeal against the original ban, Besiktas beat Norway's Tromso 2-0 on Thursday in the second leg of their Europa League playoff, winning the tie 3-2 on aggregate. (Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by John O'Brien) Full Story | Top |
| Sundance sees troubled Africa iron ore project online by 2018 Thursday, Aug 29, 2013 11:34 PM PDT PERTH (Reuters) - Australia's Sundance Resources expects to bring its $4.7 billion iron ore project in West Africa online by early 2018, despite the collapse of a takeover by China's Hanlong Group in April that many expected to doom the project. Giulio Casello, chief executive of Sundance, told Reuters in an interview that the company is also aiming to finalise an equity partner for the project and have offtake secured by the end of the year. By early next year, Sundance expects to have selected a contractor for the development. ... Full Story | Top |
| Asian shares mostly rise as Syria action on hold Thursday, Aug 29, 2013 11:32 PM PDT  By Lisa Twaronite TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian stocks rose and oil prices tumbled as a possible U.S. military strike on Syria appeared less likely, while the dollar remained not far from a three-week high against a basket of currencies after upbeat U.S. growth data. While most regional emerging market currencies scratched out gains on Friday, the damage for the month was extensive as investors positioned for the U.S. Federal Reserve to begin tapering its asset-buying stimulus as early as next month. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Africa's credit growth slows to 7.41 pct in July Thursday, Aug 29, 2013 11:25 PM PDT JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Growth in credit demand from South Africa's private sector slowed to 7.41 percent year-on-year in July from 8.91 percent in June, central bank data showed on Friday. Expansion in the broadly defined M3 measure of money supply also braked to 7.36 percent from 9.18 percent. Economists surveyed by Reuters had expected credit growth to slow to 8.7 percent while money supply growth was seen at 8.4 percent. Full Story | Top |
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