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| Kenya's port upgrades power supply to end damaging shutdowns Thursday, Oct 03, 2013 12:25 AM PDT  Mombasa, Kenya (Reuters) - Kenya's Mombasa port, east Africa's biggest trade gateway, is constructing a new power back-up facility after suffering frequent blackouts at a time when the port is under pressure to clear cargo faster under a regional trade plan. Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda have signed agreements to boost regional trade by cutting red tape to hasten the movement of goods between the port of Mombasa and the hinterland. Kenya also wants to keep its status as the trading hub of the region, fighting of competition from the port of Dar es Salaam in neighbouring Tanzania. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Africa's rand slips vs softer dollar Thursday, Oct 03, 2013 12:20 AM PDT  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's rand slipped against the dollar on Thursday despite the unresolved budget impasse in the United States that has kept the greenback on the ropes. The rand was at 10.0100 to the dollar at 0637 GMT, down 0.2 percent from its close in New York on Wednesday. The dollar fell to eight-month lows on Thursday as U.S. President Barack Obama and congressional leaders failed to reach an agreement to end the government shutdown. ... Full Story | Top |
| EU's Almunia says ready to charge Gazprom in antitrust case Thursday, Oct 03, 2013 12:19 AM PDT  By Foo Yun Chee and Andrius Sytas VILNIUS (Reuters) - The European Union's antitrust chief said on Thursday that he was ready to charge Gazprom with anti-competitive practices in a move that could lead to a fine of up to $15 billion for the Russian gas export monopoly. The European Commission opened an investigation more than a year ago after raiding the offices of several Gazprom units in central and eastern Europe, where it said it had concerns the company might have abused its dominant position. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Intellectual Ventures curbs patent buying amid fund-raising effort Thursday, Oct 03, 2013 12:11 AM PDT By Dan Levine SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Intellectual Ventures, a multi-billion-dollar firm that virtually invented a new market for patents and inventions, has curtailed its patent buying in the past few months, according to sources familiar with its patent market activity, as it seeks to raise new funds. Created in 2000, Intellectual Ventures to date has raised about $6 billion and acquired 70,000 patents and other intellectual property assets. The company is currently attempting to raise $3 billion more, according to an investor presentation reviewed by Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mauritius Central Bank raises cash reserve ratio to 8 pct Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 11:39 PM PDT PORT LOUIS (Reuters) - Mauritius' central bank raised reserve requirements for banks on their rupee deposits to 8 percent from 7 percent on Wednesday, citing excess liquidity. Central bank Governor Rundheersing Bheenick had said on Tuesday that an accommodative policy stance since 2009 has led to corporate indebtedness, and that monetary policy could not resolve structural problems in the private sector. The change will take effect from Friday and run until October 17, the bank said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain's William Hill warns on profit after slow third quarter Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 11:35 PM PDT LONDON (Reuters) - British bookmaker William Hill said a poor retail performance in its third quarter meant operating profit had fallen 20 million pounds ($32.5 million) below expectations, warning that shortfall may not be recovered by the year end. Quiet trading in July helped push retail net revenue in the 13 week period to Oct 1 down 4 percent on an underlying basis, the firm said on Thursday, with gross margin wins falling 0.8 percentage points as football results went the way of customers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Toshiba wants majority stake in British nuclear consortium: CEO Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 11:19 PM PDT  By Sophie Knight and Maki Shiraki TOKYO (Reuters) - Toshiba Corp wants a majority stake in British nuclear consortium NuGen and aims to decide on the matter before the end of the year, its chief executive said, as it seeks its first order for a nuclear reactor since the Fukushima crisis in 2011. Hisao Tanaka told Reuters in an interview on Thursday that the company was confident about securing orders for 29 new nuclear reactors by March 2018 and that he sensed post-Fukushima anti-nuclear sentiment had begun to thaw. ... Full Story | Top |
| Dollar sandbagged by U.S. politics, stocks put up a fight Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 10:53 PM PDT  By Wayne Cole SYDNEY (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar sagged to eight-month lows on Thursday as the U.S. government shutdown dragged on with no end in sight, though share markets found comfort in expectations major central banks might now have to keep monetary policy super-loose for longer. Also helping sentiment was an upbeat survey on China's huge services sector, an antidote to a disappointing report on manufacturing earlier in the week. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan swung 1 percent higher, with Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia and India all sporting gains. ... Full Story | Top |
| Motor racing-Bianchi to stay with Marussia in 2014 Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 10:46 PM PDT * Team to switch to Ferrari engines from next season * French rookie's best finish was 13th in Malaysia (Adds Booth, Chilton quotes) By Alan Baldwin YEONGAM, South Korea, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Ferrari-backed French driver Jules Bianchi will remain with Marussia next season, the Russian-licensed Formula One team said on Thursday. The highly-regarded 23-year-old, who is a member of the Ferrari driver academy, is currently in his rookie season with a best result of 13th in Malaysia. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italian prosecutors seek JPMorgan indictment for Paschi-Antonveneta deal Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 10:45 PM PDT  FLORENCE, Italy (Reuters) - Siena prosecutors requested that JPMorgan Chase & Co stand trial for obstructing regulators as part of a wider probe into Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena's purchase of Banca Antonveneta , said a judicial source. Prosecutors allege JPMorgan withheld information from Italian regulators about a 1 billion euro ($1.36 billion) financing the New York-based bank arranged for Italian bank Monte Paschi's takeover of domestic rival Antonveneta in 2008. ... Full Story | Top |
| Retail group expects slightly brighter holiday season sales Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 09:11 PM PDT  By Jessica Wohl (Reuters) - U.S. retail sales should rise 3.9 percent this holiday season, outpacing last year's gains, though economic concerns may impact shoppers' spending, the world's largest retail trade association said on Thursday. The National Retail Federation expects U.S. sales in November and December to rise 3.9 percent to $602.1 billion. That would surpass the 3.5 percent increase seen in 2012 and average growth of 3.3 percent over the past decade, but fall short of gains of more than 5 percent seen in both 2011 and 2010. ... Full Story | Top |
| UniCredit eyes Poland's BGZ, might leave Ukraine: CEO Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 09:09 PM PDT  By Silvia Aloisi MILAN (Reuters) - UniCredit , Italy's largest bank by assets, has submitted a preliminary offer to buy Poland's Bank BGZ and is sounding investors out on the possibility of selling its Ukrainian unit, Chief Executive Federico Ghizzoni said. Ghizzoni, who earlier this year sold Unicredit's Kazakh operation, said this was part of the bank's strategy to strengthen its presence in countries it considers "core" and leave those markets where it sees little opportunity for growth. ... Full Story | Top |
| China official services PMI hits six-month high, supported third-quarter pickup Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 08:11 PM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - Activity in China's services sector expanded at the fastest pace in six months in September as demand grew, cementing a modest pickup in the world's second-largest economy. The official purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the non-manufacturing sector rose to 55.4 in September - the highest reading since March - from 53.9 in August, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Thursday. A reading above 50 indicates activity in the sector is accelerating, while one below 50 indicates it is slowing. ... Full Story | Top |
| MF Global trustee plans to return more customer funds Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 08:08 PM PDT  (Reuters) - The trustee liquidating the brokerage unit of MF Global Holdings Ltd has asked a federal bankruptcy judge for permission to return remaining funds to U.S. customers who traded on domestic exchanges. Wednesday's request by court-appointed trustee James Giddens would reallocate money earmarked for general unsecured creditors to customers of the brokerage, who have a higher-priority payback status. The move could bring closure to customers who have waited nearly two years to fully recover their money, which became tied up when MF Global went bankrupt on October 31, 2011. ... Full Story | Top |
| BP wins reprieve over Gulf spill payouts: U.S. appeals court Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 08:04 PM PDT  By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) - BP Plc won a legal reprieve in its effort to force the administrator of a settlement related to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill to tighten standards in assessing claims, potentially sparing the oil company billions of dollars of extra costs. A divided 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans on Wednesday directed U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier, who in March had approved administrator Patrick Juneau's evaluation methods, to take a fresh look at which claims are legitimate. ... Full Story | Top |
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