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| Kenya says 2013 Q2 GDP growth at 4.3 pct - stats office Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 12:38 AM PDT NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's economy expanded by an annualised 4.3 percent in the second quarter of this year, a fraction slower than the 4.4 percent recorded a year earlier, official data showed on Tuesday. The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics said growth was driven by the agriculture, manufacturing and financial sectors, while the hotels and restaurants sector posted a 11.4 percent contraction due to political uncertainty around March's presidential election. Full Story | Top |
| Thai court sentences firebrand royalist activist for royal insult Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 12:30 AM PDT By Amy Sawitta Lefevre BANGKOK (Reuters) - A Thai court sentenced on Tuesday the founder of a pro-royalist protest movement to 2 years in jail for insulting the monarchy by repeating comments deemed offensive made by a political rival. Businessman Sondhi Limthongkul led so-called yellow shirt protests from 2005 to 2008 that undermined two governments led, or backed, by ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra. ... Full Story | Top |
| JPMorgan insider helps Justice Department in probe: WSJ Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 12:25 AM PDT  (Reuters) - An insider at JPMorgan Chase & Co has supplied a large amount of information related to the sale of mortgage securities to the U.S. Justice Department, which is using the documents to pursue possible criminal charges against the bank, the Wall Street Journal reported citing people familiar with the matter. The cooperating person has provided information including emails suggesting that JPMorgan vastly overstated the quality of mortgages that it packaged into securities and sold to investors before the financial crisis, the newspaper quoted the sources. ... Full Story | Top |
| Angola leaves benchmark lending rate unchanged at 9.75 pct Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 12:10 AM PDT LUANDA (Reuters) - Angola's central bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 9.75 percent, the bank said in a statement after a meeting of its monetary policy committee on Monday. The committee cut the lending rate in August from 10 percent. Full Story | Top |
| South Africa's rand firms against struggling dollar, data could weigh Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 12:09 AM PDT  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's rand gained against a wobbly dollar on Tuesday after a U.S. government shutdown, although the local currency might not sustain the gains if a PMI survey points to loss of confidence in the local manufacturing sector. The rand traded at 9.9650/dollar by 0659 GMT, up 0.68 percent from its New York close. Government bonds followed suit, pushing the yield for the 2026 benchmark paper 5.5 basis points lower to 7.88 percent and the 2015 issue down four basis points to 6.05 percent. The dollar weakened against a basket of major currencies after the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kenya sees tea earnings up 9 pct in 2013: regulator Monday, Sep 30, 2013 11:57 PM PDT  NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's tea export earnings are forecast to rise 9 percent year-on-year in 2013 to 122 billion shillings, the industry regulator said on Tuesday. The Tea Board of Kenya said total production increased 7.45 percent to 278.1 million kgs in the eight months to August. "High yields and production was due to good weather. That cushioned earnings from a drop in tea prices across all major auctions," said Zakayo Magara, the board's acting managing director. Full Story | Top |
| Mauritius keeps key repo rate unchanged at 4.65 pct Monday, Sep 30, 2013 11:52 PM PDT PORT LOUIS (Reuters) - Mauritius held its key repo rate unchanged at 4.65 percent on Monday, in line with market expectations, the central bank said. The bank said in a statement that although the Indian Ocean island was facing downside risks to its economic outlook, wage developments in excess of inflation and productivity gains continue to remain the main upside risk to inflation in the medium term. Full Story | Top |
| Guinness Ghana full-year profit slips nearly 27 pct Monday, Sep 30, 2013 11:51 PM PDT ACCRA (Reuters) - Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited's net profits fell nearly 27 percent to 18.277 million cedis during the 12 months through June 2013, down from 25 million cedis during the same period a year earlier, the company said. Net turnover rose nearly 10 percent to 321.017 million cedis, while earnings per share dropped to 0.086 cedis from 0.133 cedis, the company said in a filing with the Ghana Stock Exchange on Monday. Full Story | Top |
| Angola's Sonangol to take bids for 10 onshore oil blocks Monday, Sep 30, 2013 11:47 PM PDT LUANDA (Reuters) - Angolan state oil firm Sonangol said it plans to hold bidding this year and next for licences to explore for oil onshore in 10 new blocks in the Kwanza and Lower Congo basins. Angola, Africa's second-biggest oil producer after Nigeria, wants to increase its crude output to 2 million barrels per day (mbpd) in 2015 from around 1.7 mbpd now. Most of its crude currently comes from offshore fields. "The bidding process is designed to develop Angola's onshore geological potential," Sonangol said on Monday. ... Full Story | Top |
| China manufacturing tepid in September, small firms struggle Monday, Sep 30, 2013 11:25 PM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - China's manufacturing growth edged up only slightly in September, official data showed on Tuesday, with small firms struggling in the face of overcapacity and weak demand, adding to concerns a nascent economic recovery may be foundering. The official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) stood at 51.1 last month from August's 51.0, below expectations in a Reuters poll for a rise to 51.5, which would have been the highest in 17 months. Chinese factories have sent mixed signals on the extent of their latest rebound. ... Full Story | Top |
| Dollar near 7-1/2 month low as U.S. government begins shutdown Monday, Sep 30, 2013 11:06 PM PDT  By Dominic Lau TOKYO (Reuters) - The dollar held near a 7-1/2 month low against a basket of currencies on Tuesday as much of the U.S. government began to shut down after Congress failed to agree a compromise bill to fund government operations. Competing spending measures flew back and forth between Republican-controlled House of Representatives and Democratic-led Senate late into Monday night in Washington but Congress deadlocked over efforts by some Republicans to use the temporary spending bill to delay implementation of President Barack Obama's health care program. ... Full Story | Top |
| Adidas calls in fitness experts to revive Reebok Monday, Sep 30, 2013 11:02 PM PDT  By Victoria Bryan FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Reebok is turning to sponsorship deals with prominent fitness groups to try to revive a venerable name that has faded since it became part of Germany's Adidas sportswear group eight years ago. The sports shoe and clothing brand is winning converts among hardcore sports enthusiasts and aims to build on this support to make up ground it has lost to rivals such as global market leader Nike . ... Full Story | Top |
| Amazon to hire more than 70,000 seasonal employees Monday, Sep 30, 2013 11:00 PM PDT  (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc said it expects to hire more than 70,000 full-time seasonal employees across its order fulfillment centers in the United States, a 40 percent increase from last year. Amazon, which has about 88,400 employees, said it has converted more than 7,000 temporary employees in the United States into full-time employees so far this year. "We're looking forward to converting thousands more after this holiday season," said Dave Clark, Amazon's vice president of worldwide operations and customer service. ... Full Story | Top |
| Vivendi's GVT in pay-TV venture in Brazil Monday, Sep 30, 2013 10:45 PM PDT PARIS (Reuters) - French media group Vivendi said on Tuesday that its Brazilian GVT subsidiary had started negotiations with satellite group EchoStar Technologies LLC to set up a joint-venture for pay-TV services in Brazil. The venture, which will be managed by GVT, plans to benefit from an expected rise in demand driven by two global sport events, the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic Games in 2016, the statement said. (Reporting by Dominique Vidalon) Full Story | Top |
| In historic step, Japan PM hikes tax; will cushion blow to economy Monday, Sep 30, 2013 10:42 PM PDT  By Tetsushi Kajimoto and Stanley White TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took a step on Tuesday that none of his predecessors had managed in more than 15 years - making a dent in the government's runaway debt. Abe, riding a wave of popularity with economic policies that have begun to stir the world's third-biggest economy out of years of lethargy, said the government will raise the national sales tax to 8 percent in April from 5 percent. But at the same time he will soften the blow to the nascent recovery. As the tax increase is set to raise an additional 8 trillion yen ($81. ... Full Story | Top |
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