Finance news

• Illinois governor-elect eyes widening budget hole

  02-12-2014 23:48
  CHICAGO, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Illinois Governor-elect Bruce Rauner said on Tuesday that the state's already "dire" financial condition gets worse as he and his team drill down on the budget.
  
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• UPDATE 4-Power restored after massive outage hits downtown Detroit

  02-12-2014 23:47
  DETROIT, Dec 2 (Reuters) - A massive outage on Tuesday cut power for as long as six hours to public buildings in Detroit ranging from city hall to a criminal courthouse, scores of public schools and...
  
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• Quebec raises some taxes as it renews balanced-budget pledge

  02-12-2014 23:42 via news.yahoo.com
  
  OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Canadian province of Quebec reaffirmed on Tuesday that it plans to balance its books in the 2015-16 fiscal year after a series of deficits, and said it would raise taxes on financial institutions temporarily to help it achieve its goal. In the provincial Liberal government's update on Quebec's economic and financial situation, Minister of Finance Carlos Leitao also forecast a deficit of C$2.35 billion ($2.06 billion) for 2014-15, unchanged from the forecast in th
  
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• Puerto Rico's House passes bill to increase crude oil tax

  02-12-2014 23:41
  SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Puerto Rico's House of Representatives passed a bill to increase a tax on crude oil by around 68 percent on Tuesday, in a move that helps facilitate a crucial...
  
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• GLOBAL MARKETS-Oil retreats after Monday's rally; stocks gain

  02-12-2014 23:39
  * U.S. stocks climb with energy shares; MSCI global stock index up
  
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• UPDATE 2-Mexico's Urbi files for bankruptcy to restructure debt

  02-12-2014 23:34
  MEXICO CITY, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Mexican homebuilder Urbi
  has filed for bankruptcy protection to restructure its
  debt, the company said on Tuesday.
  
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• UPDATE 1-Canada's Onex in talks to buy UK survival firm Survitec - Bloomberg

  02-12-2014 23:26
  Dec 2 (Reuters) - Canadian buyout firm Onex Corp is in talks to buy a UK safety and survival equipment maker from Warburg Pincus LLC for about 450 million pounds ($704 million), Bloomberg reported,...
  
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• Swedish center-right opposition stands by vow to back own budget after govt talks

  02-12-2014 23:03 via news.yahoo.com
  
  STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden's four-party Alliance opposition repeated its vow to vote for its own budget bill in a parliament vote scheduled for Wednesday after last-ditch talks with the government looked to have failed to avert a defeat for Prime Minister Stefan Lofven. "We were clear on that we would vote 'yes' to the Alliance proposal and we have seen nothing to change that," opposition Moderate Party economic spokeswoman Anna Kinberg Batra told reporters. The Modera
  
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• Energy shares lead Wall Street higher; telecoms slip

  02-12-2014 22:48
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday as energy stocks led the S&P 500 and Dow, while Biogen's rally on news about an experimental treatment for Alzheimer's disease topped gains at the Nasdaq.
  
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• Australia shares seen edging higher on continuation of relief rally

  02-12-2014 22:48
  SYDNEY, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Australian shares are expected to shrug off further commodity price weakness and rise on Wednesday as investors continue the previous session's relief rally and look to...
  
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• ANZ Bank to pay NZ$19m to NZ regulator in deal over swaps sales

  02-12-2014 22:47
  WELLINGTON, Dec 3 (Reuters) - ANZ Bank has admitted it engaged in misleading conduct over the sale of interest rate swaps to New Zealand farmers, and will pay NZ$19 million ($14.83 million) in...
  
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• DHX Media to buy Nerd Corp for about $50 million

  02-12-2014 22:47
  TORONTO (Reuters) - DHX Media Ltd , which produces children's entertainment shows, said on Tuesday it has agreed to buy privately held Nerd Corps Entertainment for about C$57 million ($50 million),...
  
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• Lloyds sells portfolio of Irish mortgages to Goldman Sachs and CarVal: FT

  02-12-2014 22:46
  
  (Reuters) - Lloyds Banking Group has sold a 1.6-billion-pound ($2.50 billion) portfolio of Irish mortgages to Goldman Sachs and CarVal, a private equity group, the Financial Times newspaper...
  
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• BNY Mellon gives activist investor Trian Fund a board seat

  02-12-2014 22:30
  
  (Reuters) - Bank of New York Mellon said it elected Ed Garden, a founding partner of activist investor Trian Fund Management LP, to its board.
  
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• Royal Caribbean and Avanir are big market movers

  02-12-2014 22:29
  
  Stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market: NYSE Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., up $4.46 to $76.75 The cruise line operator will ...
  
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• UPDATE 2-BNY Mellon gives activist investor Trian Fund a board seat

  02-12-2014 22:23
  Dec 2 (Reuters) - Bank of New York Mellon said it elected Ed Garden, a founding partner of activist investor Trian Fund Management LP, to its board.
  
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• UPDATE 1-Brown Shoe vying to buy Stuart Weitzman -sources

  02-12-2014 22:11
  NEW YORK, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Footwear retailer Brown Shoe Company Inc is trying to acquire women's luxury shoe retailer Stuart Weitzman Holdings LLC, which could fetch close to $1 billion, three...
  
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• Energy companies lead an advance in US stocks

  02-12-2014 22:08
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — Gains in energy companies are leading the U.S. stock market to a higher close.
  
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• RPT-Australia probes bitcoin crime links as currency craves legitimacy

  02-12-2014 22:00
  SYDNEY, Dec 3 (Reuters) - A top Australian law enforcement agency is investigating bitcoin's role in organised crime, a senior official said, just as politicians and financial regulators embrace the...
  
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• Pimco Total Return fund posts 19th straight month of outflows in Nov

  02-12-2014 22:00
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Pimco Total Return Fund posted its 19th straight month of outflows in November, totaling $9.5 billion, compared with $27.5 billion of withdrawals the previous month,...
  
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• Bearish Chinese bets fuel iron ore rout as China's pricing clout grows

  02-12-2014 22:00
  SINGAPORE, Dec 3 (Reuters) - A halving in the price of iron ore this year has been fuelled in part by Chinese speculators who built up huge short positions on the one-year-old futures contract on the...
  
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• Canada's Onex in talks to buy UK survival firm Survitec - Bloomberg

  02-12-2014 21:52
  Dec 2 (Reuters) - Canadian buyout firm Onex Corp is in talks to buy a UK safety and survival equipment maker from Warburg Pincus LLC for about 450 million pounds ($704 million), Bloomberg reported,...
  
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• Brown Shoe vying for Stuart Weitzman: sources

  02-12-2014 21:45
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Footwear retailer Brown Shoe Company Inc is in contention to acquire women's luxury shoe retailer Stuart Weitzman Holdings LLC, in a deal that could reach $1 billion, three...
  
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• WRAPUP 2-Solid construction, auto sales data boost U.S. growth picture

  02-12-2014 21:35
  * September outlays point to upward revision to Q3 growth
  
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• Head of auction house Christie's to step down amid record sales run

  02-12-2014 21:25
  LONDON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Steven Murphy, the chief executive of Christie's, will step down at the end of this year, the London-based auction house said on Tuesday, following a record run of sales.
  
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• UPDATE 1-Top U.S. Senate Republican sees possible major healthcare legislation

  02-12-2014 21:08
  WASHINGTON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - The senior U.S. Senate Republican on Tuesday raised the possibility of Congress writing comprehensive healthcare legislation if the Supreme Court next year strikes down...
  
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• TREASURIES-Prices sag as Wall St rallies, corporate debt deals drag

  02-12-2014 21:00
  
  U.S. Treasuries fell on Tuesday, with prices pressured by a Wall Street rally and institutional investors readying for a $6 billion corporate bond deal from leading retailer Amazon. U.S. equities pivoted ...
  
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• Top U.S. Senate Republican sees possible major healthcare legislation

  02-12-2014 20:51
  WASHINGTON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - The senior U.S. Senate Republican on Tuesday raised the possibility of Congress writing comprehensive healthcare legislation if the Supreme Court next year strikes down...
  
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• Kerry: Sanctions haven't altered Moscow stance on Ukraine but hit its economy

  02-12-2014 20:47 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Lesley Wroughton BRUSSELS (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday Western sanctions have not halted Russia's support for separatists in Ukraine but have damaged the Russian economy, which is now projected to slide into recession next year. A senior State Department official, accompanying Kerry to a NATO meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels, said he would talk to allies about imposing further sanctions on Russia if pro-Moscow separatists do not cease violence in
  
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• CORRECTED-Arab Bank asks U.S. court to block thousands of terror-finance claims

  02-12-2014 20:16
  (Corrects headline to clarify the case involves thousands of plaintiffs, not thousands of lawsuits)
  
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• Ebola costs Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone $2 billion: World Bank

  02-12-2014 20:06 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Peter Cooney and Alphonso Toweh WASHINGTON/MONROVIA - Ebola is costing the three West African countries worst hit by the outbreak more than $2 billion as the deadly virus causes their economies to slow down or shrink, the World Bank said on Tuesday. The bank sharply revised down its 2014 and 2015 economic growth estimates for Sierra Leone and Guinea from its previous analysis in October, but said the outlook for Liberia was improving slightly. This year, Liberia's gross domestic product growt
  
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• U.S. November auto sales pace best since 2003

  02-12-2014 19:54 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Ben Klayman and Bernie Woodall DETROIT (Reuters) - The top six automakers sold more cars and trucks in November than analysts expected, with a healthy economy, generous discounts and low fuel prices luring consumers into U.S. showrooms. The industry's annualized sales rate in November was about 17.1 million vehicles, the best pace for that month since 2003 and well ahead of the estimated 16.7 million in a Thomson Reuters survey of 41 industry economists and analysts. November sales total
  
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• No need for irrational fears of student loans

  02-12-2014 19:52
  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The next generation of college students has heard the message loud and clear about the perils of taking on too much student loan debt - so much so that many are unwilling to...
  
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• UPDATE 1-France, Germany aim to present joint investment plans by mid-Dec

  02-12-2014 19:51
  BERLIN, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Germany and France aim to come up with joint investment projects focused on the digital economy by the time a European Union summit takes place in mid-December, ministers...
  
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• Mexico's Urbi seeking bankruptcy protection to restructure debt

  02-12-2014 19:21
  MEXICO CITY, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Mexican homebuilder Urbi is seeking
  bankruptcy protection to restructure 33 billion pesos ($2.34 billion) of debt, a
  source close to the negotiations said on Tuesday.
  
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• Oil retreats after Monday's rally; stocks climb

  02-12-2014 19:21 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Caroline Valetkevitch NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices resumed their decline on Tuesday after rallying the previous session, while world stock markets edged higher as investors snapped up beaten-down energy shares. A bounce in oil prices on Monday from five-year lows helped foster a broadly more positive tone in Asia, but both Brent and U.S. crude oil were down more than 1 percent in midday U.S. trading on Tuesday. Brent crude oil is down more than 30 percent since June. U.S. stocks were highe
  
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• Tesco's shares rise after CEO's move to take the helm in UK

  02-12-2014 19:20
  
  By James Davey LONDON(Reuters) - A decision by Tesco's new chief executive to personally take over the day-to-day running of the grocer's core British business as it heads into the key Christmas trading period was broadly welcomed as a pragmatic move by analysts on Tuesday. Shares in Tesco, which have fallen 44 percent so far this year after an accounting scandal compounded a succession of profit warnings, closed up 2 percent on Tuesday, following the management reshuffle announced by
  
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• Symphony Communications buys Markit's chat service

  02-12-2014 19:19
  Dec 2 (Reuters) - Symphony Communication Services LLC, a financial industry instant messaging company backed by Goldman Sachs Group Inc and other big banks, said it bought the open messaging business...
  
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• COLUMN-No need for irrational fears of student loans

  02-12-2014 19:00
  (The author is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.)
  
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• Misfit Wearables raises $40 mln from Xiaomi, other Chinese firms

  02-12-2014 19:00
  SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Xiaomi Technology Co Ltd and other Chinese companies have joined a $40 million investment in U.S. wearables startup Misfit, the first time the world's third-biggest...
  
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• Charities lose $23.5 million on foreign exchange

  02-12-2014 18:54
  LONDON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Top global charities lost $23.5 million on foreign exchange last year because of problems with hedging their international income and access to often obscure currencies of...
  
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• U.S. says ex-Sentinel CEO deserves 20 years in prison for $666 mln fraud

  02-12-2014 18:48
  Dec 2 (Reuters) - Eric Bloom, a former Chicago-area money manager convicted of fraud, is an "unrepentant con man" who should spend at least 20 years in prison and repay $665.9 million to his victims,...
  
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• UPDATE 2-South Stream setback sinks Saipem shares

  02-12-2014 18:46
  * Saipem shares close down 10 pct (Recasts lead, adds minister, shares)
  
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• Ireland has concerns over Britain, Germany "patent box" proposal

  02-12-2014 18:32
  DUBLIN, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Ireland is concerned about German and British proposals to tighten tax breaks linked to patents, as it looks to replace a much-criticised tax loophole with its own...
  
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• Wall Street rises, boosted by energy despite oil weakness

  02-12-2014 18:31
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday as a pair of big M&A deals boosted market optimism and helped the market rebound from the broad decline in the previous session, which was the S&P 500's weakest day in a month.
  
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• Solid construction, auto sales data boost U.S. growth picture

  02-12-2014 18:22 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. construction spending recorded its largest gain in five months in October, easing concerns of a sharp slowdown in fourth-quarter economic growth. Reports on Tuesday showing unexpectedly stronger automobile sales in November also buoyed growth prospects. "The economy is on firmer ground than people think, it remains a beacon of light in a world where growth in many countries remains subpar," said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at MU
  
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• UPDATE 1-Bundesbank chief says manipulating currencies is "dangerous"

  02-12-2014 18:20
  * Bundesbank chief says ECB not targeting weaker euro (Adds quotes, background)
  
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• UPDATE 3-Nigerian central bank steps up support to lift naira to near target band

  02-12-2014 18:07
  * Market expects large dollar sales from state oil company
  
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• Kuka plans full takeover of Swisslog

  02-12-2014 18:00
  BERLIN (Reuters) - German industrial robots maker Kuka said it was aiming for a full takeover of Swiss logistics group Swisslog after well over 80 percent of shares in the company were tendered in...
  
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• FTSE rebounds from two-week lows as energy shares recover

  02-12-2014 17:58
  * Energy stocks bounce as oil prices rise from recent lows
  
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