Finance news

• Energy stocks lead US market lower; investor wait on Greece

  15-07-2015 23:30 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market edged lower Wednesday, ending a four-day rally, as a drop in energy shares and jitters over Greece outweighed encouraging earnings reports from banks.
  
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• Yellen defends Fed policies from critical House lawmakers

  15-07-2015 23:10 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said Wednesday she is encouraged by signs that the economy is reviving after a brutal winter. And if the improvements stay on track, the Fed will likely start raising interest rates later this year.
  
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• Canada PM blames global woes for shrinking economy, assails rivals

  15-07-2015 22:58 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Allison Lampert OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper went on the attack on Wednesday after the country's central bank cut interest rates to combat a shrinking economy, with his spokesman saying Harper's rivals cannot be trusted to govern in such difficult times. The Bank of Canada cut its benchmark rate for the second time this year, driving the Canadian dollar to a six-year low, saying the economy had contracted in the first half of 2015. "The global econo
  
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• TSX advances after Bank of Canada cuts rates

  15-07-2015 22:33 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Canada's main stock index rose on Wednesday after the Bank of Canada cut interest rates to try to stimulate a sputtering economy, helping lift the shares of financial companies. The Bank of Canada cut its key interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 0.5 percent, saying an unexpected economic contraction in the first half of the year had added to excess capacity and put downward pressure on inflation. Meanwhile, U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen repeated her view that the Fed wil
  
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• Violence as Greece debates reforms needed for bailout

  15-07-2015 22:32 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Anti-austerity protesters hurled petrol bombs at police guarding the Greek parliament Wednesday as MPs debated deeply unpopular reforms they need to vote in to clear the way for a eurozone rescue of Greece's failing economy. The street violence reflected broad public anger at measures now backed by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras despite a July 5 referendum rejecting near-identical terms from Greece's creditors. Tsipras is facing a revolt over the reforms from his radical left ruling Syr
  
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• Wall Street edges lower as energy weighs

  15-07-2015 22:28 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. stocks edged lower on Wednesday following comments from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, as a decline in energy shares outweighed gains in the financial sector in the latter stages of trading. "We were positive the whole day and we sort of lost our gains right at the tail end," said Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors in New York.
  
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• Banks help TSX end higher after BoC rate cut

  15-07-2015 22:10 via news.yahoo.com
  
  TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose on Wednesday, shrugging off slips in energy and materials stocks, with shares of banks and insurers higher after the Bank of Canada cut interest rates. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index unofficially closed up 62.88 points, or 0.43 percent, at 14,662.28. Eight of the index's 10 main industry groups rose. (Reporting by Alastair Sharp, editing by G Crosse)
  
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• Mexico's historic oil auction falls short of goal

  15-07-2015 21:59 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Mexico's historic first oil auction fell short of expectations on Wednesday, with only two of 14 offshore fields awarded as the world's biggest firms shunned the inaugural sale. The government offered 14 oil fields in shallow water of the Gulf of Mexico worth a total of $17 billion, the first sale in an energy reform that ends the state's 77-year monopoly on drilling. The auction was the climax of President Enrique Pena Nieto's top economic reform, which was enacted last year
  
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• Wall Street dips after Fed's Yellen as energy weighs

  15-07-2015 21:30 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. stocks dipped on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said the central bank was ready to raise interest rates if the economy remains on track, with turmoil abroad unlikely to affect the U.S. economy. The group was buoyed by a 3.4 percent rise in Bank of America to $17.72 and a 3.7 percent gain in U.S. Bancorp to $45.51 after their quarterly results.
  
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• Elliott's Singer says Argentina damaging itself, on 'sad path'

  15-07-2015 21:25
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Paul Singer, head of roughly $25 billion hedge fund Elliott Management, said Wednesday that Argentina was making matters worse for itself by not paying bondholders and that the...
  
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• After rate cut, Canada PM's office says global woes hit economy

  15-07-2015 21:22 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Allison Lampert OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office said after the central bank cut rates on Wednesday that the global economy is fragile and his rivals could not be trusted to govern in such a difficult environment. The statement came after the Bank of Canada cut its benchmark interest rate for the second time this year to combat a shrinking economy, a move that drove the Canadian dollar to a six-year low. "The global economy remains fragile and is be
  
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• Fed survey finds economic growth in all regions of country

  15-07-2015 20:56 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy was expanding in all regions of the country in the late spring, aided by strong sales of autos and other consumer goods.
  
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• Bank of Canada cuts rates again as oil's dive stalls economy

  15-07-2015 20:48 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Randall Palmer and Leah Schnurr OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Bank of Canada cut its benchmark interest rate for the second time this year on Wednesday to combat a shrinking economy, a move that drove the Canadian dollar to a six-year low. Bank Governor Stephen Poloz had expected a recovery by now from the oil price crash that hit Canada's oil-exporting economy in the first quarter, but that projection has proved far too optimistic. "The facts have changed, quite quickly actually, in the l
  
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• Bank of Canada cuts key interest rate to 0.5 percent

  15-07-2015 20:36 via news.yahoo.com
  
  TORONTO (AP) — Canada's central bank cut its key interest rate Wednesday as it slashed its economic outlook and predicted a pullback in the second quarter due to the impact of lower oil prices and weaker demand for exports.
  
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• Yellen stands by Fed's transparency as lawmakers turn up heat

  15-07-2015 20:31 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Michael Flaherty and Howard Schneider WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on Wednesday resisted calls for more congressional oversight, as members of a House of Representatives panel criticized the central bank's policies and pressed it to be more accountable. In her semiannual testimony to Congress, Yellen repeated her view that the Fed will likely hike interest rates later this year if the U.S. economy expands as expected, and cited improvement in the labor market
  
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• Yellen sticks to 2015 timeline for first US rate hike

  15-07-2015 20:25 via news.yahoo.com
  
  In prepared testimony to Congress, Yellen expressed relative confidence in the economy going ahead, suggesting it could surprise on the upside. The labor market still showed "some" slack, she noted -- one reason accommodative monetary policy was still merited despite the unemployment rate falling to 5.3 percent. "Too many people are not searching for a job but would likely do so if the labor market was stronger," Yellen said.
  
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• Fed sees growth across US economy: Beige Book

  15-07-2015 20:06 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Washington (AFP) - The US economy grew during May and June, keeping up momentum after the first quarter's stall, the Federal Reserve's Beige Book report said Wednesday.
  
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• Development finance talks in Ethiopia close to collapse: charities

  15-07-2015 19:59 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Katy Migiro ADDIS ABABA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Talks between rich and poor countries in the Ethiopian capital, aimed at agreeing on the financing of the United Nations' bold new global development agenda, are on the brink of collapse, advocacy groups said on Wednesday. The G77 developing countries want the final document, due to be signed when the Financing For Development (FfD) conference closes on Thursday, to include the creation of a new U.N. tax body which they hope would set new
  
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• PAI eyes listing of Swedish chemicals firm Perstorp - sources

  15-07-2015 19:53 via news.yahoo.com
  
  STOCKHOLM/LONDON (Reuters) - Private equity firm PAI wants to list Perstorp [PAIRP.UL] in a deal that could value the Swedish chemicals firm at more than 1.5 billion euros (1 billion pounds) including debt, while also working to refinance that debt, people familiar with the matter said. PAI is working with investment bank Rothschild [ROT.UL] on the potential stock market listing, the people said on Wednesday, adding a refinancing of its debt could take place either before or in conjunction with
  
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• Wall Street lauds Celgene's $7.2 billion Receptos buy

  15-07-2015 19:14 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - Celgene Corp's effort to reduce dependence on its flagship cancer drug through the $7.2 billion (4.6 billion pounds) bet on Receptos Inc's potential blockbust...
  
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• Pay-TV to reach one in five German households this year

  15-07-2015 19:11 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The German television market is dominated by a large variety of public and advertising-funded channels that are free to view, meaning pay-TV penetration by companies such as Sky Deutschland is far below the global average of 48 percent. Pay-TV channels from providers including Disney, Time Warner or Fox are mainly offered by cable companies in Europe's largest economy and face increasing competition from on-demand services like Netflix. Germany has 90 pay-TV channels, offering entertainment, spo
  
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• Wall St. higher; financial stocks lead

  15-07-2015 19:10 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Bank of America rose 3 percent to $17.66, poised for its best day in five months, after reporting its biggest quarterly profit in nearly four years. Yellen said she expects the economy to grow steadily for the rest of the year, allowing the Fed to hike rates, but gave no direct hint on the timing or pace of a hike. The Fed is broadly expected to hike rates in September or December.
  
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• The Latest: Democrat urges Yellen to wait on rate hikes

  15-07-2015 19:07 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The latest on Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's mid-year economic outlook and testimony to Congress (all times local):
  
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• Fed chief Yellen's Q&A testimony before House committee

  15-07-2015 19:01 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The following are highlights of Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's question-and-answer session on Wednesday before the U.S. House Financial Services Committee, where she delivered the central bank's semi-annual monetary policy report to Congress. "I would say ... our economy is in a much better state. Low interest rates have facilitated it, and a decision on our part to raise rates will say, 'No, the economy doesn't stink.' We're close to where we want to be, and we now think the economy can n
  
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• UPDATE 1-Coal miner Walter Energy files for bankruptcy

  15-07-2015 18:44
  July 15 (Reuters) - Walter Energy Inc filed for
  bankruptcy protection on Wednesday, becoming the latest coal
  miner to do so as they struggle with a steep fall in prices
  since 2011.
  
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• U.S. stocks firm on Yellen, euro falls before Greek vote

  15-07-2015 18:40 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Richard Leong NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock prices held steady on Wednesday as Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen affirmed a likely interest rate increase by year-end, while the euro fell ahead of a Greek government vote on whether to accept tough terms for a vital third bailout. "If the economy evolves as we expect, economic conditions likely would make it appropriate at some point this year to raise the federal funds rate," Yellen said in a testimony prepared for a U.S. House pa
  
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• Global slowdown boosts Africa's hopes of achieving development goals

  15-07-2015 18:33 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Katy Migiro ADDIS ABABA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Africa is likely to benefit from weak global growth by attracting more investment that will drive its development, experts said at a financing conference in Ethiopia on Wednesday. Investors have been pouring money into Africa in recent years, buoyed by its strong economic growth and improved governance amid slow growth in Europe, China and the United States. "As the global economy continues to be sluggish and large emerging markets slow d
  
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• German Vice Chancellor Gabriel to visit Iran from Sunday

  15-07-2015 18:26 via news.yahoo.com
  
  German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel will lead a business delegation to Iran from Sunday, his ministry said a day after world powers and Tehran reached a historic nuclear deal. Gabriel, who is also economy and energy minister, "will travel to Iran from July 19 to 21 with a small delegation of industry and science representatives," a ministry spokeswoman said in a statement to AFP. Bilateral trade between Iran and Germany was once strong but fell as a result of the sanctions, declining
  
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• Iraq says no alarm at prospect of hiked Iran oil exports

  15-07-2015 18:23 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Iraq can offset the impact of the Iran nuclear deal on oil prices and competition for export markets with higher production and improved regional trade, the oil ministry said Wednesday. The deal reached between Tehran and world powers Tuesday could lead to the lifting of economic sanctions on Iran and allow the Islamic republic to increase its oil exports. Experts predict that the return of Iranian oil exports could help keep oil prices low.
  
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• The Latest: GOP lawmaker attacks Yellen on subpoena

  15-07-2015 18:06 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The latest on Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's mid-year economic outlook and testimony to Congress (all times local):
  
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• Coal miner Walter Energy files for bankruptcy

  15-07-2015 17:57
  July 15 (Reuters) - Coal miner Walter Energy Incfiled for bankruptcy protection on Wednesday after struggling
  with a steep fall in coal prices since 2011.
  
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• BofA profit soars as expenses fall to lowest since 2008

  15-07-2015 17:51 via news.yahoo.com
  
  BofA's legal expenses, which have totaled at least $70 billion since 2008, dropped for the second straight quarter, suggesting the worst of the bank's legal problems stemming from the financial crisis was behind it. Litigation expenses, which had undermined the cost-cutting initiatives introduced by Chief Executive Brian Moynihan since he assumed the top job in 2010, fell to $175 million from $4 billion a year earlier. "We also benefited from the improvement in the U.S. economy, w
  
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• The Latest: Yellen says timing could affect pace of hikes

  15-07-2015 17:36 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The latest on Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's mid-year economic outlook and testimony to Congress (all times local):
  
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• Wall Street up as Fed says on track to raise rates in 2015

  15-07-2015 17:36 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Yellen said she expects the economy to grow steadily for the rest of the year, allowing the Fed to hike rates, but gave no direct hint on the timing or pace of a hike. "A rate hike will be additive to the U.S. equities as the U.S. economy requires something other than crisis-era rates," said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management in Minneapolis.
  
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• Thursday preview: Sports Direct reports full-year earnings, Fed's Yellen delivers testimony

  15-07-2015 17:30 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (ShareCast News) - Sports Direct is expected on Thursday to post an increase in full-year earnings in line with market consensus.
  
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• Mexico opens historic oil auction

  15-07-2015 17:13 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Mexico launched on Wednesday the first oil auction of a historic energy reform that reopens the industry to foreign investors, with US, European and Asian firms jostling for contracts. Nearly 80 years after kicking foreign energy companies out of the country, the government is offering 14 blocks in shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico worth an estimated $17 billion in total. The auction is the climax of President Enrique Pena Nieto's top economic reform, which was enacted last year after a
  
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• Bank of Canada cuts key lending rate to 0.5 percent

  15-07-2015 17:11 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Canada's central bank cut its key lending rate by a quarter-point to 0.5 percent Wednesday in a bid to stimulate an economy that fell into recession in the first half of the year. It is the second time this year that the Bank of Canada has slashed rates to revive the economy -- badly hit by lower global oil prices -- after the central bank sprang a surprise on investors and households in January. "The Bank's estimate of growth in Canada in 2015 has been marked down considerably fr
  
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• Delta no longer plans on 60 Boeing orders due to pilot vote: CEO

  15-07-2015 17:09
  
  (Reuters) - Delta Air Lines Incno longer plans to purchase 20 used and 40 new single-aisle aircraft from the Boeing Conow that its pilots rejected a tentative contract proposal, according to...
  
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• U.S. stocks steady on Yellen, euro slips before Greek vote

  15-07-2015 17:05 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Richard Leong NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock prices held steady on Wednesday as Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen affirmed a likely interest rate increase by year-end, while the euro fell ahead of a Greek government vote on whether to accept tough terms for a vital third bailout. "If the economy evolves as we expect, economic conditions likely would make it appropriate at some point this year to raise the federal funds rate," Yellen said in a testimony prepared for a U.S. House pa
  
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• Exclusive: Syngenta investor rebukes board for YouTube engagement on Monsanto bid

  15-07-2015 17:04
  
  LONDON (Reuters) - A leading Syngentainvestor has criticized the board for excluding all but "a very small group" of shareholders from talks that could determine the fate of a $45 billion takeover...
  
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• Massachusetts regulator targets recommendation of alternative mutual funds

  15-07-2015 16:57
  BOSTON (Reuters) - Massachusetts' top securities regulator William Galvin said he has begun investigating the recommendation of alternative mutual funds by state registered investment advisers.
  
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• Nigeria's Seven Energy secures $495 mln to boost gas supply

  15-07-2015 16:46 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Oil and gas firm Seven Energy has secured a $495 million loan from a consortium of Nigerian and international lenders to help fund its spending to supply gas to the domestic market, an adviser on the deal said on Wednesday. Seven Energy, an indigenous Nigerian company, plans to buy gas fields along with the related infrastructure and pipelines so it can sell gas into the domestic market for use in power generation and industrial consumption. Nigeria privatised its electricity sector 18 months ag
  
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• The Latest: Yellen gets praise, criticism for Fed policies

  15-07-2015 16:39 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The latest on Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's mid-year economic outlook and testimony to Congress (all times local):
  
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• Bank of Canada cuts key lending rate to 0.50 percent

  15-07-2015 16:37 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Canada's central bank cut its key lending rate by a quarter-point to 0.50 percent on Wednesday, the second time its has lowered rates this year in a bid to stimulate a sluggish economy. "The Bank's estimate of growth in Canada in 2015 has been marked down considerably from its April projection," the Bank of Canada said in a statement, announcing the decision. It is the second rate cut this year, after the central bank sprang a surprise on investors and households in January.
  
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• Wall Street little changed; Celgene leads healthcare rally

  15-07-2015 16:33 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The Dow Jones and the S&P 500 were little changed in morning trading on Wednesday, while Celgene led a rally in health stocks that pushed the Nasdaq to modest gains. Bank of America reported its biggest quarterly profit in nearly four years. Receptos jumped 10.4 percent to $228.64, while the Nasdaq biotech index jumped more than 2 percent to hit a record high for the third time in three weeks.
  
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• TSX climbs after Bank of Canada cuts rates

  15-07-2015 16:31 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Canada's main stock index rose on Wednesday after the Bank of Canada cut interest rates, helping boost shares of financial companies and energy producers. The benchmark Canadian index is up for a fourth straight session, and the equity market has recently benefited after Greece recently reached a bailout deal. The Bank of Canada cut its key interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 0.5 percent, saying an unexpected economic contraction throughout the first half of the year had added to
  
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• Bank of Canada cuts rates again as economy contracts

  15-07-2015 16:21 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Randall Palmer and Leah Schnurr OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Bank of Canada cut its key interest rate by 1/4 percentage point to 0.5 percent on Wednesday, saying an unexpected economic contraction in the first half of the year had added to excess capacity and put downward pressure on inflation. "Additional monetary stimulus is required at this time to help return the economy to full capacity and inflation sustainably to target," the central bank said in the interest rate decision that acc
  
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• US stocks open with small gains as investor assess earnings

  15-07-2015 16:20 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks made slight gains in early trading as investors assessed earnings news and digested comments from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen. Energy stocks fell with the price of oil as traders judged that Iran's nuclear accord would lead to more oil on global markets.
  
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• Exclusive - Apax taps JP Morgan and UBS for $1.1 billion exit of Rhiag: sources

  15-07-2015 16:16 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Pamela Barbaglia LONDON (Reuters) - European private equity firm Apax [APAX.UL] has hired JP Morgan and UBS to explore a stock market listing or sale of its Italian auto-parts distributor Rhiag, six sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.     The London-based buyout firm has invested in Rhiag for less than two years and hopes to cash out for as much as 1 billion euros ($1.10 billion), the sources said. Private equity firms typically invest for three to five years.
  
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• The 'and Daughter' evolution of family businesses

  15-07-2015 16:06
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Trump Organization is a lot like the thousands of family businesses that dot the land, even though its current leader, Donald Trump, is a U.S. presidential candidate.
  
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