Finance news

• UPDATE 3-Illinois pension reform faces skepticism in high court hearing

  11-03-2015 23:52
  SPRINGFIELD, Ill., March 11 (Reuters) - A state lawyer defending the landmark 2013 pension reform law faced tough questions on Wednesday from an Illinois Supreme Court judge at a high-stakes hearing...
  
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• UPDATE 1-Ecuador targeting short maturities with new bond sale - source

  11-03-2015 23:44
  NEW YORK, March 11 (IFR) - Ecuador's determination to keep coupons below 8% is forcing it to target a short maturity as it markets a new bond offering to international investors, according to a...
  
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• U.S. Fed slashes payout plans of large Wall Street banks

  11-03-2015 23:44 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Four of the largest U.S. banks just scraped by in an annual Federal Reserve check-up on the industry's health, underscoring their top regulator's enduring doubts about Wall Street's resilience more than six years after the crisis. Goldman Sachs Group Inc , Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co , all with large and risky trading operations, lowered their ambitions for dividends and share buybacks, the Fed said on Wednesday, to keep them robust enough to withstand a hypothetica
  
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• UPDATE 1-Australia's IFM Investors to pay $5.7 bln for Indiana toll road

  11-03-2015 23:23
  SYDNEY/WILMINGTON, Del., March 12 (Reuters) - Australia's IFM Investors said on Thursday it had agreed to pay $5.73 billion to buy the bankrupt operator of a major U.S. toll road, making its biggest...
  
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• Erdogan meets Turkey's top banker to keep up 'trust' in economy

  11-03-2015 23:07 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday met with the government's economic pointman and the central bank governor, agreeing on the need to maintain trust in the economy at talks aimed at calming markets after a plunge in the value of the lira. Erdogan hosted Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan and central bank chief Erdem Basci at his presidential palace in Ankara, in an apparent attempt to heal a damaging rift over his controversial comments on monetary policy. In a two-hour meet
  
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• UPDATE 4-IMF aims for 'immediate' stabilization with latest Ukraine bailout deal

  11-03-2015 23:03
  WASHINGTON, March 11 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund has agreed to pump $10 billion into Ukraine's troubled economy over the next year, providing swift assistance for the country's...
  
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• New Zealand leaves interest rates at 3.5 percent

  11-03-2015 23:03 via news.yahoo.com
  New Zealand's central bank held interest rates at 3.5 percent on Thursday, saying lower oil prices were helping to contain inflation. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand said the official cash rate (OCR) was likely to remain unchanged for some time as long-term inflation forecasts remain in the middle of its 1.0-3.0 percent target range. "Our central projection is consistent with a period of stability in the OCR," governor Graeme Wheeler said in a statement. "However, future inte
  
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• Endo offers about $11 bln for Salix, trumping Valeant

  11-03-2015 23:03
  (Reuters) - Endo International Plc offered to buy Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd for about $11 billion in cash and stock, trumping an agreed bid by Canada's Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc.
  
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• UPDATE 4-Endo offers about $11 bln for Salix, trumping Valeant

  11-03-2015 23:01
  * Endo falls 1 pct, Salix up 7 pct, Valeant closes down 3 pct (Adds Valeant comment, updates shares)
  
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• China defends Sri Lankan project in test of its push to invest abroad

  11-03-2015 23:00
  COLOMBO/NEW DELHI, March 12 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's suspension of a project to build a glittering skyline on land reclaimed from the Indian Ocean has prompted China to defend its investment, in a...
  
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• New poll shows bipartisan support for Obama's Cuba policy

  11-03-2015 22:57 via news.yahoo.com
  
  A new national poll shows a bipartisan majority of American voters support the Obama administration's new Cuba policy and would like to see an end to the 50-year-old economic embargo against the communist-ruled island. The poll released on Wednesday by Beyond the Beltway, a joint public polling initiative by Washington-based research consultants Benenson Strategy Group and SKDKnickerbocker, found that most American voters support expanding trade, travel, and diplomatic relations with Havana
  
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• IMF sees Ukraine returning to growth next year

  11-03-2015 22:50 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday that Ukraine's economy should return to growth in 2016 after a deep contraction this year. In a news release providing details of its $17.5 billion loan to Ukraine, the IMF said the economy would likely shrink by about 5.5 percent this year, before rebounding with growth of 2 percent in 2016 and 4 percent annually in the medium term. It said inflation should subside to around 27 percent by the end of this year after a spike led by a sharp drop in
  
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• Summit Materials IPO priced at $18/share: market source

  11-03-2015 22:47
  (Reuters) - Cement maker Summit Materials Inc's initial public offering was priced at $18 per share, according to a market source, valuing the Blackstone Group-controlled company at $1.67 billion.
  
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• Erdogan underlines rates view to Turkish central bank chief

  11-03-2015 22:30 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Daren Butler and Ece Toksabay ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Nervous Turkish markets hoped President Tayyip Erdogan might make peace with the central bank governor on Wednesday, but the two seem likely at best to have agreed to disagree on interest rate policy. Erdogan's demands for a sharp rate cut to boost economic growth before a June election, even though inflation remains high, have helped to send the lira to record lows and raised concern about the bank's independence. Unable to raise r
  
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• GE weighs deeper cuts to banking business: WSJ

  11-03-2015 22:30 via news.yahoo.com
  
  "GE is an industrial company first and foremost," Chief Executive Jeff Immelt says in a letter to shareholders to be published on March 16 with the company's annual report. GE's shares were up slightly at $25.23 in extended trading on Wednesday.
  
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• Funds urge Children's Place to improve results, explore sale: source

  11-03-2015 22:27
  (Reuters) - Activist hedge funds Barington Capital Group LP and Macellum Advisors GP LLC are urging specialty retailer the Children's Place Inc to improve its operating results and to explore a...
  
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• Morgan Stanley nixed preferred buyback in capital plan: source

  11-03-2015 22:21
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley withdrew a proposal to repurchase $4.9 billion worth of trust preferred securities in order to get approval from the U.S. Federal Reserve for its capital plan, a...
  
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• Investors raise hedge fund allocations in March: data

  11-03-2015 22:05
  LONDON (Reuters) - Investors raised their allocations to hedge funds marginally in March, with inflows and outflows largely unchanged from a month earlier, data showed on Wednesday.
  
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• Exclusive: CVS says biotech drug copies may bring price cuts of 40-50 percent

  11-03-2015 21:48 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Caroline Humer WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The entry of copycat biotech drugs into the U.S. market could cut prices of expensive medications by 40 percent to 50 percent, depending on the level of competition among drugmakers, a top executive at CVS Health Corp told Reuters. CVS is one of the largest U.S. pharmacy benefit managers and, along with rival Express Scripts, has put unprecedented pressure on global pharmaceutical makers to lower prices for its clients. The comments by CVS Health Chief Me
  
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• Investment gatekeepers have a value problem

  11-03-2015 21:38
  (Reuters) - The investment gatekeepers who help control $25 trillion of institutional money have trouble figuring out who is and who isn't good at money management.
  
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• U.S. Fed slashes dividend plans of large Wall Street banks

  11-03-2015 21:38 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Douwe Miedema WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three major U.S. Wall Street banks had to scale back planned investor payouts after an annual check-up by the Federal Reserve, and two foreign banks failed the test altogether, a sign the Fed is keeping a tight lid on Wall Street. Goldman Sachs , Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co , all with large and risky trading operations, lowered their ambitions for dividends and share buybacks, the Fed said on Wednesday, to keep them robust enough to withstan
  
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• RPT-Australia's IFM Investors to pay $5.7 bln for Indiana toll road

  11-03-2015 21:38
  March 11 (Reuters) - IFM Investors of Australia agreed to
  pay $5.725 billion to buy the bankrupt operator of a 157-mile
  (253 km) toll road in northern Indiana, the investment fund said
  in statement.
  
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• Turkey's Erdogan says expressed rates concerns to central bank governor

  11-03-2015 21:35 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan expressed his "sensitivities" about interest rates and economic output in a 2-hour meeting with the central bank governor, Erdogan's office said on Wednesday. Erdogan's demands for a sharp interest rate cut to boost economic growth before a June election, although inflation remains high, have helped to send the lira to record lows. "In the meeting that pointed to Turkey's strong economic fundamentals, policies implemented in line with strong and balanced growth t
  
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• Petrobras scandal pushes Rousseff coalition to the brink

  11-03-2015 21:31 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Anthony Boadle BRASILIA (Reuters) - President Dilma Rousseff can no longer count on a key ally in her ruling coalition, complicating efforts to stave off what could be the roughest patch for Brazil's economy in a quarter-century. Leaders of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), the biggest party in Rousseff's coalition, blame her for their inclusion in a probe of politicians allegedly involved in a massive corruption scheme at state-run oil company Petrobras. PMDB legislat
  
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• CVC-KKR ahead in battle for Philips' lighting business: sources

  11-03-2015 21:29
  LONDON/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - A consortium of private equity firms CVC and KKR has tabled the highest bid to take control of Philips' lighting components business, though rival Bain Capital could...
  
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• IMF chief sees 'better news' at last for advanced economies

  11-03-2015 21:24 via news.yahoo.com
  
  IMF chief Christine Lagarde said Wednesday that major advanced economies were seeing "better news" thanks to cheap oil, currency shifts and low interest rates that encourage investment. "For once in a long time there are clearly some relatively better news on the horizon of the advanced economies. "We clearly have a rebound of the US economy, an improvement and good growth showing in the UK, and the euro area is also now turning the corner," said Lagarde at a joint press
  
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• 70% of Americans Don’t Know the Woman Pulling Their Purse Strings

  11-03-2015 21:15 via news.yahoo.com
  
  She may be the most powerful woman in the country — arguably, in the world — but most Americans don’t know who Fed Chair Janet Yellen is. In an NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey conducted this month, 70 percent of 1,000 adults interviewed said they didn’t recognize Yellen’s name or weren’t sure who she is. By comparison, 52 percent said they didn’t know the name of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a possible 2016 presidential contender, and 43 percent weren’t familiar with the name
  
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• IMF aims for 'immediate' stabilization with latest Ukraine bailout deal

  11-03-2015 21:09 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The International Monetary Fund has agreed to pump $10 billion into Ukraine's troubled economy over the next year, providing swift assistance for the country's struggling finances as part of a larger four-year bailout. The IMF board on Wednesday approved an overall loan of $17.5 billion, with the bulk of the money heading out the door fast: $5 billion likely by the end of this week and another $5 billion in coming months, IMF officials said. The program "is very strongly front-loa
  
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• Most Powerful Woman in the World? Americans Have No Clue Who She Is

  11-03-2015 21:09 via news.yahoo.com
  
  She may be the most powerful woman in the country — arguably, in the world — but most Americans don’t know who Fed Chair Janet Yellen is. In an NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey conducted this month, 70 percent of 1,000 adults interviewed said they didn’t recognize Yellen’s name or weren’t sure who she is. By comparison, 52 percent said they didn’t know the name of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a possible 2016 presidential contender, and 43 percent weren’t familiar with the name
  
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• Fed view, strong dollar drag Wall Street lower

  11-03-2015 21:04 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks ended lower for a second straight session on Wednesday as worries increased the Federal Reserve could bump up rates as soon as June and the dollar strength further dampened the outlook for U.S. corporate earnings. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 26.98 points, or 0.15 percent, to 17,635.96, the S&P 500 lost 3.85 points, or 0.19 percent, to 2,040.31 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 9.85 points, or 0.2 percent, to 4,849.94. (Reporting by Caroline Valetkevi
  
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• Oregon city considers penalizing pot growers for smelly marijuana

  11-03-2015 20:27 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Shelby Sebens PORTLAND, Ore. (Reuters) - The Oregon city of Medford, where officials say residents have long grumbled about the odor of marijuana growing operations, is considering a regulation that would fine pot growers if their marijuana is too smelly, city officials said on Wednesday. The city's legal staff has drafted an ordinance that would fine both medical and recreational marijuana growers whose operations are too malodorous up to $250 a day and would give the city power to seize pla
  
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• Airbus Helicopters near large South Korean order: reports

  11-03-2015 20:23
  PARIS (Reuters) - Airbus Helicopters is in the final stages of talks that could land it a contract worth at least $3 billion for the development and production of military and civil helicopters in...
  
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• Mexico to sell $52 million daily to stop peso slide

  11-03-2015 20:00 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Mexico's central bank announced Wednesday that it will sell $52 million per day over the next three months to stop the peso from sliding further after the currency reached historic lows. "The fundamental goal is to preserve the stability of the Mexican economy" and "ensure the order, the liquidity and the good functioning of the foreign exchange market," Finance Minister Luis Videgaray said in a speech. The Mexican currency was worth 15.90 pesos against the dollar on Tue
  
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• IMF says Ukraine to get about $10 billion in first year of loan facility

  11-03-2015 19:52 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Ukraine's newly-approved loan facility from the International Monetary Fund will be "heavily front-loaded" with about $10 billion to be disbursed in the first year, IMF chief Christine Lagarde said on Wednesday. Earlier on Wednesday, the IMF signed off on a $17.5 billion four-year aid program for Ukraine to attempt to pull its economy back from the brink of bankruptcy.
  
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• Wall Street edges up after selloff; rate concerns limit gain

  11-03-2015 19:49 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. stocks inched higher on Wednesday, rebounding from the previous day's selloff, but investors continued to focus on when the Federal Reserve would adjust its rate policies. Wall Street fell sharply on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 suffering its biggest one-day decline in two months, surpassing a selloff of similar magnitude on Friday, on the increasing view the Fed may raise interest rates as soon as June. "The reason the Fed would raise rates is because growth dynamics are picking
  
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• NY official: Average Wall Street bonus rises to nearly $173K

  11-03-2015 19:27 via news.yahoo.com
  
  ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The average bonus paid to securities industry employees in New York City grew 2 percent last year to nearly $173,000, New York's state comptroller reported Wednesday.
  
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• Cyprus GDP decline narrows in Q4, beats flash estimate

  11-03-2015 19:27 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Cyprus's GDP contracted by 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014, compared with 0.9 percent in the previous three month, beating a flash estimate made last month, official figures showed Wednesday. Year on year, however, real GDP on a seasonally and working-day adjusted basis, shrank 2.0 percent in the fourth quarter compared with a flash estimate of 1.9 percent. In July-September the economy also contracted 2.0 percent year on year, from the previous 1.8 percent estimate. In November,
  
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• Wall St bonuses rise to $28.5 billion; jobs up for first time since 2011

  11-03-2015 19:26 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Edward Krudy NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Wall Street bonus pool rose to $28.5 billion last year, and the industry added jobs for the first time since 2011 even as profits in the securities sector fell, New York state's budget watchdog said on Wednesday. According to the state comptroller, the average bonus on Wall Street was up 2 percent to $172,860. Bonuses rose as pretax profits at the broker-dealer operations of New York Stock Exchange member firms fell 4.5 percent to $16 billion. "
  
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• Average Wall Street bonus up to $172,860 in 2014

  11-03-2015 19:11 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The average banker on Wall Street took in an annual bonus of $172,860 US last year, the comptroller for the state of New York said Wednesday. The figure is up by about two per cent from 2013's level, and it's also the biggest the city has seen since before the financial crisis that started in 2008, state comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said. The 200-odd firms that are members of the New York Stock Exchange added 2,300 jobs in 2014, the first year that's increased since 2011. There are now 167,
  
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• IMF approves $17.5 bn aid for Ukraine

  11-03-2015 18:58 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The International Monetary Fund approved Wednesday a $17.5 billion (15.5 billion euro) aid plan for crisis-wracked Ukraine, whose economy is reeling from a pro-Russia insurgency in its industrial heartland. "This new four-year extended arrangement will support immediate economic stabilization in Ukraine and a set of deep and wide-ranging policy reforms aimed at restoring robust growth over the medium term and improving living standards for the Ukrainian people," said IMF managing direc
  
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• Wall Street bonuses rise; industry adds jobs for first time since 2011

  11-03-2015 18:50 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The average bonus on Wall Street edged higher last year, and the industry added jobs for the first time since 2011 even as profits in the securities sector fell, New York state's budget watchdog said on Wednesday. The average bonus rose 2 percent in 2014 to $172,860, while the overall bonus pool increased 3 percent to $28.5 billion. Bonuses rose as pretax profits at the broker-dealer operations of New York Stock Exchange member firms fell 4.5 percent to $16 billion. New York City's sec
  
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• IMF approves $17.5Bn credit program for Ukraine

  11-03-2015 18:44 via news.yahoo.com
  
  KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — The International Monetary Fund agreed Wednesday to extend $17.5 billion in loans to Ukraine as part of a program designed to pull the country back from the verge of economic collapse.
  
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• Balls says Labour wants financial services to flourish

  11-03-2015 18:31 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Guy Faulconbridge and William Schomberg LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Labour Party will help the financial services industry prosper as a global exporter but will ensure vigilant scrutiny by regulators if Ed Miliband wins the May 7 national election, the opposition party's finance minister-in-waiting said on Wednesday. In an attempt to allay financiers' concerns that a possible Miliband government would damage London's position as the only financial capital to rival New Yor
  
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• Euro hits 12-year-low while DAX touches record

  11-03-2015 18:31 via news.yahoo.com
  
  German and French stock markets rebounded sharply Wednesday after upbeat comments from ECB head Mario Draghi but the euro hit a 12-year low on expectations of a US rate hike. The yield on German, Italian and Spanish 10-year government bonds have fallen to record lows as a result of the massive bond-buying programme.
  
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• Britain's FTSE ends slightly higher as miners recover

  11-03-2015 18:22
  LONDON, March 11 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index ended slightly higher on Wednesday after commodity stocks recovered from falling sharply earlier in the session because of concerns about...
  
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• IMF approves $17.5 bn lifeline for Ukraine

  11-03-2015 18:20 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The International Monetary Fund approved Wednesday a $17.5 billion (15.5 billion euro) aid plan for crisis-wracked Ukraine, whose economy is reeling from a pro-Russia insurgency in its industrial heartland. The four-year financial aid program replaces an existing IMF program, less than a year old, that proved inadequate to stabilize Ukraine's finances as the country fights the insurgency in the east. "This new four-year extended arrangement will support immediate economic stabilization
  
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• Wall St. edges up after selloff; rate concerns limit gain

  11-03-2015 18:16 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. stocks inched higher on Wednesday, rebounding from the previous day's selloff, but investors continued to focus on when the Federal Reserve would adjust its rate policies. Wall Street fell sharply on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 suffering its biggest one-day decline in two months, surpassing a selloff of similar magnitude on Friday, on the increasing view the Fed may raise interest rates as soon as June. "The reason the Fed would raise rates is because growth dynamics are picking
  
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• Official: Average Wall Street bonus rises to nearly $173,000

  11-03-2015 18:15 via news.yahoo.com
  
  ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York's state comptroller says the average bonus paid to securities industry employees in New York City grew 2 percent last year to nearly $173,000.
  
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• Holcim, Lafarge in talks to renegotiate merger terms: FT

  11-03-2015 18:06
  
  PARIS (Reuters) - Swiss company Holcim and French cement group Lafarge are in talks to renegotiate the terms of their 41 billion euro merger after a divergence in the value of the two companies...
  
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• IMF approves $17.5 billion loan program for Ukraine

  11-03-2015 18:01 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund's board signed off on a $17.5 billion four-year aid program for Ukraine on Wednesday, the second attempt in less than a year to pull its economy back from the brink of bankruptcy. A statement from IMF Managing director Christine Lagarde did not provide details on how large an initial payment will be made to Ukraine or on what timetable. The IMF loan is expected to unlock further credits from other donors. Including debt talks with Kiev&
  
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