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| Analysis: A new hope or false dawn for Mexico's oil refiners? Thursday, Jan 02, 2014 11:45 PM PST  By David Alire Garcia TULA, Mexico (Reuters) - Mexico's oil refining industry, saddled for years with bloated costs, chronic underinvestment and generous government fuel subsidies, ought to be on the verge of a bright new dawn. A shake-up last month dismantled the state-run Pemex oil and gas monopoly, ending decades of stubborn self-reliance and potentially opening the door to foreign oil companies. Yet experts say Pemex's aging, ailing downstream sector, which suffered an estimated record $10 billion loss last year, remains far from salvation. The wave of excitement that followed the opening of Mexico's vast oil fields has failed to translate into optimism for refineries like the one near the city of Tula, 45 miles north of Mexico City. Full Story | Top |
| Asia shares roiled by risk aversion; yen rallies Thursday, Jan 02, 2014 11:21 PM PST  Oil prices had also taken a spill, though for purely idiosyncratic reasons. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan shed 1 percent, with markets from Shanghai to Sydney all in the red. The various moves seemed divorced from the news flow, which was mostly upbeat with global manufacturing ending 2013 on a strong note as the United States, Japan and Germany all saw demand pick up. The next hurdle later Friday will be a spate of speeches from top Federal Reserve policy makers, including outgoing Chairman Ben Bernanke. Full Story | Top |
| PRECIOUS-Gold extends gains, climbs to 2-week high as equities soften Thursday, Jan 02, 2014 11:20 PM PST  Gold rose for a fourth session on Friday, hitting a two-week high as weaker equities spurred demand for the metal as a safe-haven asset. The gains come after gold lost nearly 30 percent in 2013, ending a 12-year bull run and posting its largest annual loss in 32 years, largely due to the U.S. Federal Reserve's plans to unwind its monetary stimulus programme. "The gains might be persistent in January as we come off 2013 losses but it won't continue for the remainder of the year as the (Fed) tapering is set to begin and the global economy is improving," said Chen Min, an analyst at Jinrui Futures in Shenzhen. The bond-buying stimulus measures amid a weak global economy helped boost gold prices over the last few years. Full Story | Top |
| Brent rises toward $108; Libya, US inventories in focus Thursday, Jan 02, 2014 11:07 PM PST  By Florence Tan SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Brent crude rose towards $108 a barrel on Friday after posting its biggest daily percentage drop in six months in the previous session, although expectations for a rise in Libyan supply and speculation of a build up in U.S. stockpiles capped gains. A rebalancing of commodity portfolios by asset managers also added to the volatility in oil prices. "The strong inventories decline that we had in recent weeks are very likely linked to tax management at year-end than true underlying strength in demand," said Mark Keenan, head of commodities research in Asia at Societe Generale, referring to U.S. crude stocks. Analysts however expect official U.S. weekly data, to be released later on Friday, to show a fifth consecutive draw in nationwide crude inventories. Full Story | Top |
| Chinese icebreaker stuck after helping in Antarctic rescue Thursday, Jan 02, 2014 11:05 PM PST  By Maggie Lu Yueyang SYDNEY (Reuters) - A Chinese icebreaker that helped rescue 52 passengers from a Russian ship stranded in Antarctic ice found itself stuck in heavy ice on Friday, further complicating the 9-day "roller-coaster" rescue operation. It now had concerns about its own ability to move through heavy ice, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said. The Australian icebreaker carrying the rescued passengers, the Aurora Australis, will remain on standby in open water in the area "as a precautionary measure", the rescue agency said. The Aurora Australis had meant to sail towards an Antarctic base to complete a resupply before carrying the rescued passengers back to Australia. Full Story | Top |
| South African rand starts year on back foot against resurgent dollar Thursday, Jan 02, 2014 10:53 PM PST  South Africa's rand shed nearly 2 percent against a globally strong dollar to a near five-year low on the first trading day of the year as investors turned against emerging market assets seen as carrying more risk. Another record close for South African stocks, as investors bet precious metal producers had fallen too far last year, failed to shield the rand from its vulnerability to bouts of global risk aversion. "Right at the start of the year, positions are being kept very flexible/tight and thin conditions are exacerbating moves," Informa Global Markets said in a note. South Africa, which is running a budget deficit of around 5 percent of GDP and a current account gap close to 7 percent, is among the "fragile five" countries analysts that say are particularly vulnerable during bouts of global risk aversion. Full Story | Top |
| General Mills begins selling Cheerios without GM ingredients Thursday, Jan 02, 2014 09:56 PM PST (Reuters) - General Mills Inc said it has stopped using genetically modified ingredients in the popular breakfast cereal Cheerios as the U.S. branded foods manufacturer hopes the move will firm up customer loyalty in the face of growing opposition to such additives. Many activists and critics have cited studies showing that genetically modified (GM) crops are not safe for people and animals who consume them. Some activist groups opposing GM food also say the crops create environmental problems by encouraging more use of certain agro chemicals, and consumers should have the right to know what they are buying. However, General Mills, which also makes Betty Crocker dessert mixes and Yoplait yoghurt, said in a company blog post on Thursday that its decision on ingredients was not driven by safety concerns or pressure from critics. Full Story | Top |
| China to centralize military command to improve operations Thursday, Jan 02, 2014 09:46 PM PST  China's increasingly sophisticated military will establish a joint operational command structure for its forces to improve coordination between different parts of the country's defense system, the official China Daily reported on Friday. China has been moving rapidly to upgrade its military hardware, but military analysts say operational integration of complex and disparate systems across a regionalized command structure is a major challenge for Beijing. In the past, regional level military commanders have enjoyed major latitude over their forces and branches of the military have remained highly independent of each other, making it difficult to exercise the centralized control necessary to use new weapons systems effectively in concert. The English-language newspaper, citing the Defense Ministry, said that China will implement a joint command system "in due course" and that it has already launched pilot programs to that effect. Full Story | Top |
| Australia swelters after record hot 2013; farmers slaughter cattle, bushfire warning Thursday, Jan 02, 2014 08:42 PM PST By Matt Siegel and Colin Packham SYDNEY (Reuters) - A searing heatwave is baking central and northern Australia, piling more misery on drought-hit cattle farmers who have been slaughtering livestock as Australia sweltered through the hottest year on record in 2013. Temperatures have topped 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit)in large parts of Australia's key agricultural regions for most of the past week, with the mercury topping 48 degrees Celsius in the central west Queensland town of Birdsville. The heatwave is moving east across Australia, prompting health warnings on Friday in some of the country's biggest cities and firefighters were already battling bushfires. But it is in the outback that soaring temperatures have had the most devastating impact, especially on cattle farmers in Queensland, which accounts for about 50 percent on the national herd. Full Story | Top |
| China December services PMI falls to four-month low Thursday, Jan 02, 2014 07:39 PM PST  By Koh Gui Qing and Jonathan Standing BEIJING (Reuters) - Growth in China's services sector fell to a four-month low in December as business expectations dropped, a government survey showed, adding to evidence that the world's second-largest economy lost steam into the close of 2013. The official purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the non-manufacturing sector dropped to 54.6 in December from November's 56, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday. While the services PMI held above the 50 level that indicates expansion, slackening growth mirrors a fourth-quarter cooldown in factory activity and the broader economy as credit supply moderated and firms rebuilt inventories more slowly. Ting Lu, an economist at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong, said another factor was the fading effect of China's "mini" economic stimulus rolled out in mid-2013 to prop up slowing activity. Full Story | Top |
| Heavy snow, dangerous cold snarl travel in northeastern U.S Thursday, Jan 02, 2014 07:23 PM PST  By Elizabeth Dilts and Scott Malone NEW YORK/BOSTON (Reuters) - The governors of New York and New Jersey declared a state of emergency and pleaded with residents to stay indoors on Thursday as a major snowstorm bore down on the northeastern United States, delaying or canceling thousands of flights. The first major winter storm of 2014 brought bone-chilling temperatures and high winds from the lower Mississippi Valley to the Atlantic coast, with parts of New England, including Boston, bracing for up to 14 inches of snow by Friday morning. "As this winter storm unfolds, bringing heavy snow and high winds to many parts of the state, I strongly urge all New Yorkers to exercise caution, avoid travel and stay indoors," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said. Amid flight cancellations that hit just as many travelers were returning from holiday breaks, officials at Boston's Logan International Airport said that up to a quarter of its scheduled flights had been canceled on Thursday afternoon and evening. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. spy agency developing computer to crack privacy codes: report Thursday, Jan 02, 2014 06:24 PM PST  (Reuters) - The U.S. National Security Agency is trying to develop a computer that could ultimately break most encryption programs, whether they are used to protect other nations' spying programs or consumers' bank accounts, The Washington Post reported on Thursday. The report, which the newspaper said was based on documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, comes amid continuing controversy over the spy agency's program to collect the phone records Internet communications of private citizens. In its report on Thursday, The Washington Post said that the NSA is trying to develop a so-called "quantum computer" that could be used to break encryption codes used to cloak sensitive information. Other, non-governmental researchers are also trying to develop quantum computers, and it is not clear whether the NSA program lags the private efforts or is ahead of them. Full Story | Top |
| Colorado ski resorts wary of marijuana tourists; others chase them Thursday, Jan 02, 2014 05:47 PM PST  By Keith Coffman DENVER (Reuters) - Colorado ski resorts and the state Tourism Office have chosen not to embrace out-of-state visitors who have come to buy legalized cannabis, creating an opportunity for a handful of small firms that are catering to marijuana tourists. When legalized marijuana became available for sale with the New Year, out-of-state tourists joined Coloradans in lining up at authorized retailers, despite the federal ban on the substance. Colorado, under a 2012 voter-approved referendum, allowed the world's first state-licensed marijuana retailers to open for business on New Year's Day and legally sell pot for recreational use. At a number of the roughly three dozen former medical marijuana dispensaries cleared by state regulators to sell the drug, lines of customers formed outside the door. Full Story | Top |
| Snapchat says millions of user accounts compromised Thursday, Jan 02, 2014 05:17 PM PST By Gerry Shih SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Snapchat, the red-hot private messaging service, said on Thursday that it knew for months about a security loophole that allowed hackers this week to harvest millions of phone numbers and announced changes to its systems. An anonymous group called Snapchat DB posted the usernames and phone numbers of 4.6 million Snapchat users on New Year's Eve, days after the startup - headed by 23-year old founder Evan Spiegel - brushed off warnings that its app still contained security loopholes. The hacker group, which claimed to be based in the United States and Europe, made the entire database available for download but redacted the last two digits of every phone number. Full Story | Top |
| Bakken crude may be more flammable than previously thought: U.S. regulator Thursday, Jan 02, 2014 04:38 PM PST  By Patrick Rucker WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Crude oil produced in North Dakota may be more flammable and prone to explosions than earlier thought, U.S. officials said on Thursday as they examine whether gas trapped in crude-by-rail shipments could explain a spate of fiery accidents. In the latest crash involving fuel produced in an oil patch known as the Bakken, several tank cars exploded after a collision on a desolate stretch of North Dakota track on Monday. In that case, as with several other accidents in recent months, tank cars exploded with a force that surprised investigators. The incidents "indicate that the type of crude being transported from the Bakken region may be more flammable than traditional heavy crude oil," the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) said on Thursday. Full Story | Top |
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