Finance news

• U.S. Labor Department unveils retirement brokers rule

  14-04-2015 23:54
  
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Labor Department proposed sweeping changes on Tuesday that would require brokers who offer retirement advice to enter into "best interest" contracts with investors, in...
  
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• CORRECTED-INSIGHT-U.S. public companies seek bankruptcy at fastest 1st-qtr rate since 2010

  14-04-2015 23:51
  WILMINGTON, Del, April 14 (Reuters) - The number of bankruptcies among publicly traded U.S. companies has climbed to the highest first-quarter level for five years, according to a Reuters analysis of...
  
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• Cuba gave U.S. assurances it will not support terrorism in future: U.S. officials

  14-04-2015 23:48 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The United States decided to drop Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism on Tuesday partly because of Cuban assurances that it would not support terrorism in the future, senior U.S. officials said. "The assurances that they (provided) were fairly wide-ranging and fairly high-level," said one senior U.S. official who briefed reporters, adding that the Cubans had pledged "that they will no longer support acts of terrorism in the future." The White House on Tuesday said President Barack
  
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• REFILE-UPDATE 3-Agnellis' Exor bids $6.4 bln for PartnerRe to trump Axis

  14-04-2015 23:47
  MILAN, April 14 (Reuters) - Italian holding company Exor , which controls carmaker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles , offered $6.4 billion in cash to buy Bermuda-based reinsurer PartnerRe, trumping an...
  
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• UPDATE 2-Intel sees revenue holding, cuts capital spending, shares up

  14-04-2015 23:09
  April 14 (Reuters) - Chipmaker Intel Corp forecast revenue broadly in line with Wall Street's expectations and signaled a hefty cut in capital expenditures this year, lifting its shares in...
  
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• Sharing-economy jobs make taxes uber-complicated

  14-04-2015 22:29
  
  (Reuters) - Before Jane LeBoeuf started driving for Uber and Lyft, doing her taxes was cheap and easy.
  
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• Intel's revenue flat from year ago

  14-04-2015 22:12
  April 14 (Reuters) - Intel Corp's first-quarter revenue was flat from a year ago and in line with its own recently lowered expectations, due to weak demand for PCs that use the company's chips.
  
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• Obama advisers would recommend veto of U.S. House estate tax bill

  14-04-2015 22:04 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The White House on Tuesday said President Barack Obama's advisers would recommend he veto a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would repeal the estate tax. Conservative opponents of the estate tax say it is a "death" tax and that it burdens people who are grieving. The White House said repealing it would only benefit the wealthiest Americans.
  
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• Wells Fargo profit falls as employee costs rise

  14-04-2015 21:41
  
  (Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co , the largest U.S. mortgage lender, reported a drop in quarterly profit for the first time in five years as employee costs rose at a time margins are under pressure from...
  
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• Four Fed banks call for discount rate hike: minutes

  14-04-2015 21:35 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Four regional Federal Reserve banks pushed to convince the central bank to raise the rate it charges commercial banks for emergency loans, meeting minutes released on Tuesday showed. Ahead of the Fed's March 17-18 policy-setting meeting, directors of the Cleveland, Philadelphia, Kansas City and Dallas Fed banks asked the Fed's board to bump up the discount rate to 1 percent from 0.75 percent, according to the minutes of Fed board meetings. The board, however, sided with the nine other
  
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• Renzi hails Milan design fair as symbol of recovery, not just for 'hipsters'

  14-04-2015 20:37 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Stefano Rellandini MILAN (Reuters) - Prime Minister Matteo Renzi kicked off a showpiece Milan trade fair promoting modern Italian design on Tuesday, hailing it as a symbol of potential economic recovery in a country battered and discouraged by years of recession. "We are not just talking about stuff for hipsters here, we are talking about a piece of the Italian economy today and even more importantly tomorrow," Renzi said on the first day of Milan's week-long international design fair. The ev
  
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• Exclusive: U.S. Senate Banking panel launches new investigative team

  14-04-2015 20:37
  
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Banking Committee has set up an investigative team in recent weeks that will probe issues ranging from financial regulation to insurance fraud, part of a drive...
  
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• Dollar slides on data, U.S. growth forecast; oil up

  14-04-2015 20:12 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Rodrigo Campos NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar tumbled on Tuesday, weighed down by mixed retail sales data and economic growth predictions, while crude rose after a surprise drop in forecasts for U.S. shale oil production. A lower full-year earnings forecast from Johnson & Johnson due to the impact of dollar strength kept gains in check. Angst over the stronger dollar added to a list of concerns throughout the first quarter that have lowered estimates on corporate earnings. "Exp
  
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• IMF sees Brazil recession in 2015, weighing down region

  14-04-2015 20:06 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Brazil's economy will contract by one percent this year, weighing down Latin America as the region struggles to rekindle growth despite low commodity prices, the IMF said Tuesday. Brazil, the world's seventh economy and Latin America's largest, is being hit by inflation, private-sector doldrums and a massive corruption scandal at state oil giant Petrobras, the International Monetary Fund said in its latest forecast.
  
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• IMF: Global economy steady but risks abound

  14-04-2015 19:40 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The International Monetary Fund said Tuesday that the global economy remains tepid, with slowdowns in emerging markets offsetting progress in the Japanese and European economies. While the plunge in oil prices has mostly been positive for world output growth, currency and capital market volatility, geopolitical crises and inadequate investment and reform for the future could hold the global economy back, the IMF warned. In its semi-annual World Economic Outlook, the crisis lender projected the g
  
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• Yuan-rand exchange mechanisms at advanced stage

  14-04-2015 19:26 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Preparations for the direct exchange of the Chinese yuan and the South African rand are at an advanced stage, government officials said Tuesday. "We are at an advanced stage of the currency swap mechanisms," South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said at a joint press conference with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Pretoria. "We agree on the establishment of the clearing centre for the RMB (yuan), so we can have a direct exchange of the RMB and the rand." In
  
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• Bank promises action after Turkish lira tumbles to new low

  14-04-2015 18:55 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Turkey's central bank on Tuesday said it would consider measures to support the embattled lira as the currency tumbled to a new low in value against the dollar, pressured by domestic jitters ahead of June 7 elections. The lira hit the new record low in value against the dollar of 2.68 to the greenback but rallied somewhat following the statement from the central bank. The bank took the hugely unusual step of publishing the agenda of its next monetary policy meeting on April 22 which will in
  
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• Wells Fargo cautious on sales quotas amid banker complaints: CFO

  14-04-2015 18:55
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co takes seriously allegations that some of its bankers push products customers don't need due to pressure to meet aggressive sales quotas, Chief Financial Officer...
  
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• Retail sales rebound signals thaw in economic activity

  14-04-2015 18:54 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Retail sales rose in March for the first time since November as consumers stepped up purchases of automobiles and other goods, suggesting a sharp slowdown in economic growth in the first quarter was temporary. The Commerce Department's fairly sturdy report on Tuesday together with other data showing that producer inflation crept up last month should keep the Federal Reserve on track to start raising interest rates later this year. "A rebound in
  
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• Labor Department to let BNP manage retirement funds after guilty plea

  14-04-2015 18:52
  
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Labor Department revealed on Tuesday it will allow BNP Paribas SA to continue to manage retirement plans despite its guilty plea last year to criminal charges that it...
  
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• Argentina's Scioli walks tightrope in hunt for party faithful, swing voters

  14-04-2015 18:38 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Richard Lough and Nicolás Misculin LANUS, Argentina (Reuters) - Daniel Scioli, the front-running candidate for the ruling party ticket in Argentina's presidential election, has a new buzz word: "gradualismo", or "gradual change". Instead it illustrates the tightrope act he needs to pull off as he tries to win the support of outgoing leftist President Cristina Fernandez's loyalists while tapping a rich vein of undecided voters demanding change. Argentina's n
  
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• European Central Bank to stress: No way we'll taper stimulus

  14-04-2015 18:35 via news.yahoo.com
  
  FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Europe's economic outlook is finally beginning to brighten a little. But don't expect European Central Bank head Mario Draghi to sound all that excited when he takes the stage Wednesday for his next news conference.
  
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• Another bad year for stockpickers? Goldman Sachs thinks so

  14-04-2015 18:12
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Signs that stocks in the benchmark Standard and Poor's 500 index are still moving in unison will make 2015 a particularly challenging year for hedge funds and mutual fund...
  
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• Sluggish economy, conflicts weighing on global trade, says WTO

  14-04-2015 17:55 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Sluggish economies and global conflicts are taking their toll on world commerce, the World Trade Organization said Tuesday, slashing its trade growth outlook for 2015. "For trade growth it is important that you have certain elements present in the global economy (including) stability, predictability, and those things are not there right now," WTO chief Roberto Azevedo told reporters in Geneva. With economies around the world still struggling to fully recover from the 2008 financial cri
  
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• Wilbur Ross, Stanhope launch Virgin Money share sale: bookrunners

  14-04-2015 17:53
  
  LONDON (Reuters) - Two investors in Virgin Money are selling up to 45 million shares in the UK lender, representing around 10.2 pct of the firm's issued share capital, bookrunners on the deal said in...
  
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• Global equity funds inflows tracking to record: TrimTabs

  14-04-2015 17:22
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global equity mutual and exchange-traded funds have so far this year pulled in net inflows of $81.5 billion, putting them on track to beat a four-month record high of $86 billion...
  
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• IMF says emerging markets still losing steam

  14-04-2015 17:11 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Growth in emerging markets will slow for a fifth consecutive year, the IMF said Tuesday, as exchange rate swings and oil prices plunge, and China's economic growth slows. The International Monetary Fund said Tuesday it expected the emerging markets to post growth of 4.3 percent in 2015, down from 4.6 percent in 2014 and 5.0 percent in 2013. "In emerging markets, negative growth surprises for the past four years have led to diminished expectations regarding medium-term growth prospects,
  
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• South Africa names bidders for 1,000 MW of green power

  14-04-2015 16:53 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Peroshni Govender JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa has named preferred bidders for the fourth round of a series of renewable energy projects, that will add about 1,000 megawatts (MW) of power to its ailing grid, industry insiders said on Tuesday. Africa's most advanced economy is committed to introducing green energy into its power mix, 95 percent of which is coal at the moment, to redress its chronic electricity shortages. A failure to build any major power stations since the end of apa
  
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• IMF: India, Japan to drive Asia as China slows

  14-04-2015 16:53 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Faster growth under the reformist governments of India and Japan will help cushion the blow to the world economy from a marked slowdown in China, the International Monetary Fund predicted Tuesday. The report comes as China grapples with growth slumping to levels not seen in almost a quarter of a century. The IMF said that under reforms by India's new business-friendly government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the country was expected to expand at a much faster pace than previously expecte
  
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• European stocks disconnect as Nokia rings up Alcatel takeover

  14-04-2015 16:34 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Europe's main stock markets diverged Tuesday after news that Finnish telecoms giant Nokia was in advanced talks to buy Franco-American rival Alcatel-Lucent. The benchmark CAC 40 index in Paris dropped 0.73 percent to 5,215.59 points in mid-afternoon deals, while Frankfurt's DAX 30 shed 0.83 percent to 12,236.09 points. Also Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund hiked its eurozone growth forecasts but warned the outlook was fragile, with the Ukraine crisis and uncertainty over Greece
  
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• South Africa's Eskom to cut up to 4,000 MW from power grid

  14-04-2015 16:25 via news.yahoo.com
  
  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's Eskom will cut up to 4,000 megawatts of electricity from the strained national power grid on Tuesday from 1600 GMT to 2000 GMT, the utility said on its official Twitter account. Africa's most advanced economy is in the midst of its worst electricity crisis since 2008. South Africans are subjected to frequent controlled power cuts which Eskom implements to prevent the grid from being overwhelmed.
  
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• UPDATE 1-Detroit, Stockton bankruptcies may flag wider problems -Fed's Dudley

  14-04-2015 16:13
  NEW YORK, April 14 (Reuters) - The municipal bankruptcies in
  Detroit and Stockton, California, may foretell more widespread
  problems in the United States than is implied by current bond
  ratings, a...
  
  Read more

• IMF upgrades Japan's growth forecasts for 2015, 2016

  14-04-2015 16:04 via news.yahoo.com
  The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday unexpectedly upgraded its projections for Japan's economic growth this year and 2016, pointing to a weak yen and lower oil prices, but also warning that Tokyo must tame its massive national debt. In its latest World Economic Outlook, the Washington-based IMF said it expects Japan's gross domestic product to expand by 1.0 percent in 2015 and by 1.2 percent in 2016, lifting projections earlier this year for 0.6 percent and 0.8 percent growth res
  
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• More gloom ahead for Moscow and former Soviet region, says IMF

  14-04-2015 15:48 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday predicted more pain for the Russian economy and gloom around the ex-Soviet region despite positive noises from Moscow that the worst of the crisis might be over. Russia's economy is expected to shrink by 3.8 percent this year as sanctions imposed by the West over the conflict in Ukraine and low oil prices push the country deep into recession. Across the wider region -- where ex-Soviet nations remain heavily dependent on the Russian economy -- the o
  
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• India growth to hit 7.5%, outpacing China, says IMF

  14-04-2015 15:40 via news.yahoo.com
  
  India's economy will grow much faster than previously forecast this year and next and outpace rival China, the IMF said Tuesday, citing falling oil prices and a reform drive by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
  
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• BRIEF-Main owner withdraws petition for bankruptcy in PA Resources

  14-04-2015 15:35
  * Gunvor Group to withdraw its petition for bankruptcy in PA
  Resources
  Source text for Eikon:Further company coverage:
  (Reporting By Anna Ringstrom)
  
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• IMF hikes eurozone growth forecasts, cautious on outlook

  14-04-2015 15:33 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The IMF hiked its eurozone growth forecasts Tuesday, with the economy getting a boost from lower oil prices, record low interest rates and the European Central Bank's massive stimulus programme. The eurozone should grow 1.5 percent this year, up from the 1.2 percent estimated in January, the International Monetary Fund said in its latest World Economic Outlook survey.
  
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• IMF sees global economy steady; Japan, Europe improve

  14-04-2015 15:27 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The International Monetary Fund said Tuesday that the Japanese and European economies were picking up pace as it stuck to its forecast for moderate global growth this year and next. The IMF trimmed its outlook for the United States but said the country would remain the driver of world output in 2015 and 2016 while many emerging economies struggle with low commodity prices and turbulence in financial markets. It also said in its semi-annual World Economic Outlook that the plunge in oil prices was
  
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• Global investors stick to stocks for now but bubble fear mounts

  14-04-2015 15:25 via news.yahoo.com
  
  International investors are getting increasingly anxious that stock markets may be due a downward lurch with more of them rating equities as "overvalued" than at any time since 2000, a global survey said on Tuesday. A quarter of the 145 investors managing $392 billion who participated in the April Bank of America Merrill Lynch survey said they believed equities were topping out, up from a net 23 percent in March and 8 percent in February. Major world stock markets are currently trading
  
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• China's economy to grow 6.8% in 2015: IMF

  14-04-2015 15:25 via news.yahoo.com
  
  China must carry out promised reforms and rebalance its economy to stem financial risks, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Tuesday, as it pointed to slowing growth over the next two years. "For China, the main risk is failure to implement the reform agenda to address financial risks, rebalance the economy, and tap new sources of growth," the Washington-based Fund said in its latest World Economic Outlook. The National Bureau of Statistics will release the official gross domest
  
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• IMF cuts forecast for US economy, upgrades Europe and Japan

  14-04-2015 15:24 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The International Monetary Fund, citing the consequences of a strong dollar, is downgrading its outlook for the U.S. economy but raising its forecast for Europe and Japan.
  
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• Small business confidence falls; labor indicators weak

  14-04-2015 15:01 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Small business confidence fell in March as hiring and capital spending plans weakened, adding to signs that economic growth braked sharply in the first quarter. The National Federation of Independent Business said on Tuesday its Small Business Optimism Index dropped 2.8 points to 95.2 last month. The decline in the NFIB is in line with softer data on employment growth and manufacturing. Economic growth in recent months has been dampened by harsh winter weather as well as a now-settled labor disp
  
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• Detroit, Stockton bankruptcies may flag wider problems -Fed's Dudley

  14-04-2015 15:01
  NEW YORK, April 14 (Reuters) - The municipal bankruptcies in
  Detroit and Stockton, California, may foretell more widespread
  problems in the United States than is implied by current bond
  ratings, a...
  
  Read more

• Wells Fargo profit beats as mortgage banking recovers

  14-04-2015 14:55 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Lower mortgage rates increased demand for refinancing in the first quarter, breathing some life into the U.S. mortgage market, which has been sluggish over the past year. The average 30-year mortgage rate fell to as low as 3.59 percent in the first quarter of 2015, the lowest since May 2013, according to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. Rates in the year-earlier quarter averaged 4.35 percent on a monthly basis. "Our mortgage business was able to serve more customers by refinancing their
  
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• Retail sales rebound, post largest gain in a year

  14-04-2015 14:45 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. retail sales rose in March for the first time since late last year as consumers bought automobiles and other goods, bolstering views that a sharp slowdown in economic growth in the first quarter was temporary. The Commerce Department said on Tuesday retail sales increased 0.9 percent. The sturdy report could keep the Federal Reserve on track to start raising interest rates later this year. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast retail sales rebounding 1 percent last month.
  
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• Global stocks fall on worries over dollar strength, Greece

  14-04-2015 14:25 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Jemima Kelly LONDON (Reuters) - Global stock markets edged down on Tuesday as investors worried about the impact of a strong dollar on U.S. company earnings and unease over Greece's debt crisis overshadowed news of a possible merger between two big European telecoms equipment firms. As investors awaited U.S. retail sales data that could add to the case for rate hikes from the Federal Reserve later this year, the dollar traded close to a 12-year high against a basket of a major currencies
  
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• Slovenia Telekom shares drop on uncertainty over sale

  14-04-2015 13:52
  LJUBLJANA, April 14 (Reuters) - Shares in Slovenia's largest telecoms operator, Telekom Slovenia, dropped almost 7 percent on Tuesday on speculation the sale of the government's majority stake may...
  
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• TSX set to open slightly higher, tracking U.S. markets

  14-04-2015 13:41 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - Stock futures pointed to a near flat to slightly higher opening for Canada's main stock index on Tuesday, tracking U.S. markets. June futures on the S&P TSX index were up 0.1 percent at 7:15 a.m. ET. No major economic events are scheduled . Canada's main stock index slipped into the red on Monday, ending a seven-day winning streak as rival miners Alamos Gold Inc and AuRico Gold Inc won no love from a merger and investors also took a step back from a range of industrial
  
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• European stocks slip as Nokia rings up Alcatel takeover

  14-04-2015 13:39 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Europe's main stock markets slid Tuesday despite news that Finnish telecoms giant Nokia was in advanced talks to buy Franco-American rival Alcatel-Lucent. The euro eased to $1.0552 from $1.0571 in New York late on Monday, before the European Central Bank's interest rate decision on Wednesday. Nokia revealed Tuesday it was in talks to purchase Alcatel-Lucent, with the aim of creating a telecoms and Internet technology behemoth. In reaction, Alcatel-Lucent was the top riser in Paris, sur
  
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• Nokia, Alcatel-Lucent CEOs to meet with France's Hollande

  14-04-2015 13:37 via news.yahoo.com
  
  PARIS (Reuters) - The chief executives of Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent are set to meet French President Francois Hollande on Tuesday after the telecommunications equipment makers said they were in advanced tie-up talks, a source at the French presidency said. The government would be keen to see the creation of an industrial powerhouse but is concerned about the impact on French jobs, an Economy Ministry source said earlier. (Reporting by Elizabeth Pineau; writing by Leigh Thomas; editing by Geert De
  
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