Finance news

• Berkshire Partners nears acquisition of Affordable Care: sources

  15-09-2015 23:55
  (Reuters) - Private equity firm Berkshire Partners LLC is nearing a deal to acquire Affordable Care Inc, the largest U.S. denture services provider, from buyout firm American Capitalfor more than...
  
  Read more

• U.S. crude jumps before govt. stockpile report; Brent premium narrows

  15-09-2015 23:39 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. crude rose nearly 3 percent on Tuesday, buoyed by gains on Wall Street, higher gasoline prices and a strong stockpile draw report, while Brent oil advanced less, narrowing the transatlantic spread to the lowest in eight months. U.S. crude futures rallied almost through the day, slipping into the negative only briefly after the White House said it would not back a bill by rival Republicans to repeal a 40-year-old ban on U.S. crude exports. A late surge
  
  Read more

• Venezuelan telecoms deteriorate amid dollar squeeze, group says

  15-09-2015 23:38 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Alexandra Ulmer and Eyanir Chinea CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's telecoms industry was deteriorating because of a scarcity of dollars, putting roaming and mobile internet services at risk, the crisis-hit country's telecoms chamber said on Tuesday. Telecoms, like almost all sectors of socialist-run Venezuela's battered economy, depend on a strict state allocation of dollars for imports and investments. "The scarce allocation of hard currency so far in 2015 is substantially less than the avera
  
  Read more

• Bankrupt coal miner Alpha gets approval for $692 mln loan

  15-09-2015 23:07
  Sept 15 (Reuters) - Alpha Natural Resources, a major U.S. coal miner that filed for bankruptcy in August, has reached agreements with creditors that clears the way for it to borrow $692 million to...
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• CANADA FX DEBT-C$ inches higher ahead of Fed rate decision

  15-09-2015 22:58
  (Adds strategist comment, details, closing figures) * Canadian dollar at C$1.3247, or 75.49 U.S. cents * Bond prices lower across the maturity curve By Solarina Ho TORONTO, Sept 15 (Reuters) - The...
  
  Read more

• GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks rally in low volume, dollar up ahead of Fed

  15-09-2015 22:49
  * U.S. oil drops after White House comment on export ban, then rallies
  
  Read more

• TREASURIES-Yields shoot higher in thin trading ahead of Fed meeting

  15-09-2015 22:18
  * Thursday Fed decision eyed (Updates prices, adds comments)
  
  Read more

• U.S. crude up on Wall Street, gasoline rally; Brent premium narrows

  15-09-2015 22:14 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. crude settled up more than 1 percent on Tuesday, buoyed by gains on Wall Street and higher gasoline prices, while Brent oil advanced less ahead of the expiry of its front-month contract, narrowing the transatlantic spread to the lowest in eight months. U.S. crude rallied almost through the day, rising 2 percent at one point on bets that weekly inventories of oil in the United States fell last week after four straight weeks of gains. The market's eupho
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Wall Street rallies over 1 percent ahead of Fed decision

  15-09-2015 22:07 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. stocks rallied more than 1 percent on Tuesday after data showed healthy growth in consumer spending but did little to remove uncertainty about whether the Federal Reserve will end seven years of near-zero interest rates when it meets this week. Speculation about when the Fed will begin to raise rates has dogged Wall Street for several months, with the picture complicated by recent market turbulence that some see as justification for the central bank to hold off. "The debate around the Fed c
  
  Read more

• Wall St. rallies over 1 percent ahead of Fed decision

  15-09-2015 21:24 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Speculation about when the Fed will begin to raise rates has dogged Wall Street for several months, with the picture complicated by recent market turbulence that some see as justification for the central bank to hold off. "The debate around the Fed continues but the Fed will do more damage waiting for December to raise rather than start the normalization process," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities. U.S. interest rates futures implied traders place a 27 percent chan
  
  Read more

• Roche says biotech 'bubble' pushes midsize buys out of reach

  15-09-2015 21:18
  
  LONDON (Reuters) - The biotechnology sector is in a "bubble", pushing prices for medium-sized companies with experimental drugs in late-stage development out of reach, the chief executive of...
  
  Read more

• U.S. grocery chain Albertsons to press ahead with IPO: sources

  15-09-2015 21:14 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The determination of Albertsons' majority owner, private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP, to carry out the IPO despite volatility in the stock markets underscores its confidence that it can fetch a high valuation for Albertsons. Cerberus is looking to capitalize on the strong performance of larger Albertsons rival Kroger Co , the sources said. In marketing IPOs, companies often use peers as reference for pricing.
  
  Read more

• Rising jobs tide for poor workers may ease Fed rate dilemma

  15-09-2015 21:03 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Jason Lange WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When the Federal Reserve considers whether the U.S. economy is ready for an interest rate hike on Thursday, policymakers will want to be confident the jobless rate, now at 5.1 percent, is as strong as it looks. Improvements in the labor market for low-income Americans historically accelerate when the economy is closer to full output, which the U.S. central bank considers to be consistent with an unemployment rate between 5.0 percent and 5.2 percent. The rece
  
  Read more

• Wall Street-backed chat company Symphony up and running with new media partners

  15-09-2015 20:03 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Olivia Oran (Reuters) - Wall Street-backed messaging platform Symphony Communications Services LLC announced a number of partnerships with major media companies during a kick-off event on Tuesday. Symphony, a lower-cost rival to Bloomberg LP and Thomson Reuters Corp, is working with News Corp's Dow Jones to offer news stories in its service and with McGraw Hill Financial Inc to integrate data and analytics from its S&P Capital IQ product. It also announced a partnership with data company
  
  Read more

• Amid China woes, European carmakers look to home market

  15-09-2015 20:02 via news.yahoo.com
  
  FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — European automakers are shrugging off the threat to sales from China's struggling economy and focusing instead on growing demand in their home market, where competition is getting increasingly fierce, particularly for mass market cars.
  
  Read more

• U.S. crude oil gains with Wall Street; Brent premium narrows

  15-09-2015 19:20 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil rose around 2 percent on Tuesday, buoyed by gains on Wall Street while Brent was steady to soft ahead of the front-month contract's expiry, narrowing the trans-Atlantic spread to its lowest in eight months. Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 index surged almost 1 percent on upbeat U.S. retail sales data for August.
  
  Read more

• Libya peace talks hit snag over proposed deal amendments

  15-09-2015 19:09 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Delegates for Libya's internationally recognized government said on Tuesday it was recalling its team from U.N.-backed peace talks with rivals, complaining about amendments to a draft agreement meant to end their conflict. It was the latest setback for United Nations efforts to reach a deal by Sept. 20 over the crisis between Libya's official government and a rival, self-declared administration that has taken over the capital Tripoli since fighting last year. Western powers say the U.N. deal for
  
  Read more

• Universal Studios Japan in talks to sell stake to Comcast - WSJ

  15-09-2015 18:50 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - The owners of Universal Studios Japan, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc , are in talks to sell a stake in the theme park to Comcast Corp's NBCUniversal, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The theme park's holding company, USJ Co, originally planned a Tokyo listing in September, but delayed because of the sale talks, one of the people said. (http://on.wsj.com/1KQnG3Z) A deal would value the company at $6 billion (3.9 billion pounds), the report
  
  Read more

• Britain's FTSE 100 turns higher after strong opening on Wall St

  15-09-2015 18:29 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Britain's top equity index turned higher in thin trade on Tuesday, as a strong start to trade on Wall Street helped lift mining stocks off their lows, including Glencore (Xetra: A1JAGV - news) , which hit another all-time trough early in the day. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed up 0.9 percent higher at 6,137.60 points, turning higher as Wall Street gained following a climb in retail sales. The move helped to reverse an early fall in mining stocks.
  
  Read more

• In bringing ad-blocking to mobiles, Apple gives itself a boost

  15-09-2015 18:28 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Leila Abboud PARIS (Reuters) - Apple Inc's move to make ad-blocking software available on the iPhone is a double-barrelled effort to boost the health of the so-called app economy, while undermining arch rival Google Inc , which dominates the $120 billion online advertising market. Apple is in effect nudging big brands to shift spending to apps, rather than traditional online ads where Google leads. Ad-blocking software has been growing rapidly on desktop computers, led by early adopters among
  
  Read more

• European stocks gain as US data disappoints

  15-09-2015 18:27 via news.yahoo.com
  
  European stocks climbed Tuesday as downbeat US data on the eve of a Federal Reserve meeting was seen by investors as dimming the likelihood of an interest rate hike. Speculation is divided over whether the Federal Reserve's monetary policy committee, which meets Wednesday and Thursday, will deem the US economy strong enough to withstand the first rate hike since 2006.
  
  Read more

• Portugal suspends Novo Banco sale after low bids, to resume later

  15-09-2015 18:25
  
  LISBON (Reuters) - The Bank of Portugal has suspended the sale of Novo Banco, the bank carved out of Banco Espirito Santo (BES) after a 4.9 billion euro rescue in 2014, due to low bids, but plans to...
  
  Read more

• Oil rebounds with Wall Street; U.S.-Brent crude spread tightens

  15-09-2015 18:10 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil traded steady to higher on Tuesday, buoyed by gains on Wall Street that helped prices rebound after a tumble in the previous session, ahead of an industry report that's expected to show if U.S. crude stockpiles have fallen after weeks of gains. The American Petroleum Institute (API) will issue its weekly report on U.S. crude inventories after the market's settlement, at 4:30 p.m. EDT (2030 GMT). A preliminary Reuters poll indicated that U.S. crude stoc
  
  Read more

• Wall Street higher in cautious trading ahead of Fed

  15-09-2015 18:06 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. stocks rose in cautious trading on Tuesday after data showed retail sales continued to climb in August, strengthening the case for an interest rate increase when the Federal Reserve meets this week. Analysts said an interest rate hike - the first since 2006 -would remove the uncertainty that has dogged the market for several weeks. "The debate around the Fed continues but the Fed will do more damage waiting for December to raise rather than start the normalization process," said Art Hogan,
  
  Read more

• U.S. does not plan cyber sanctions before Xi visit

  15-09-2015 17:52 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The United States does not plan to impose sanctions on Chinese entities for economic cyber attacks ahead of next week's U.S. visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping, a senior U.S. official said on Tuesday. The Washington Post first reported the decision, citing a senior Obama administration official as saying it came after an all-night meeting on Friday during which the two sides reached "substantial agreement" on several cybersecurity issues. Last week, U.S. officials said Washington was consider
  
  Read more

• Zimbabwe's Mugabe reads wrong speech, opponents question his fitness

  15-09-2015 17:48 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By MacDonald Dzirutwe HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's 91-year-old President Robert Mugabe read out the wrong speech at the opening of parliament on Tuesday, an error which the main opposition quickly used to question whether Africa's oldest leader was still of a sound mind. Mugabe, the only ruler the southern African nation has known since it was recognised in 1980, delivered the same speech he gave on Aug. 25, pinning his hopes on China to help revive Zimbabwe's struggling economy. Mugabe finishe
  
  Read more

• Record cashew crop gives fragile Guinea-Bissau economic reprieve

  15-09-2015 17:44 via news.yahoo.com
  
  A record cashew harvest in Guinea-Bissau is helping shore up government finances, the IMF and a former finance minister said, allaying concerns of an economic collapse following a month-long political crisis. President Jose Mario Vaz dismissed his cabinet in August, prompting West African regional bloc ECOWAS to warn that economic gains made since a 2014 election were "seriously threatened".
  
  Read more

• Stocks, dollar edge higher as Fed meeting looms

  15-09-2015 17:43 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The Federal Reserve will end a two-day meeting on Thursday with a decision on monetary policy. Worries about slowing Chinese and global growth and the prospect of higher U.S. borrowing costs have weighed on markets for weeks, but some expect the Fed to raise interest rates as a confirmation that the U.S. economy doesn't need supportive measures from the central bank. Recent data points to "enough downside risks to the outlook for the Fed to justify waiting until October to hike," said Brian Jaco
  
  Read more

• Canada existing home sales rose in August, buoyed by major cities

  15-09-2015 17:28 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Sales of existing homes in Canada rose in August from July, as strength in the two big markets of Vancouver and Toronto offset weakness elsewhere, a report from the Canadian Real Estate Association released on Tuesday showed. Low interest rates have kept the housing market stronger than expected despite signs of a slowdown in some markets, including Canada's oil-industry capital of Calgary, where the plunge in crude prices has hurt the economy. In a separate report, CREA said it had revised up i
  
  Read more

• Generali's solvency ratio rises after BSI sale

  15-09-2015 17:17
  
  MILAN (Reuters) - Italian insurer Generali'ssolvency ratio rose to 200 percent after the sale of its Swiss private banking unit BSI, the company said as it presses ahead with measures to bolster...
  
  Read more

• Police target China's biggest brokerage, shares slide again

  15-09-2015 17:13 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Samuel Shen and Pete Sweeney SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese police are investigating senior managers at CITIC Securities, the country's biggest brokerage, the company said on Tuesday, as Beijing intensifies its scrutiny of irregular stock market activity following heavy losses since June. The news emerged on another bad day for shares, which dropped by almost 4 percent in a further blow to hopes that a slew of regulatory measures issued by Beijing over the past three months had brought some sta
  
  Read more

• Prada profit dives, weighed down by Hong Kong, Macau

  15-09-2015 16:54 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Adds comments from conference call, detail) HONG KONG, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Italian luxury goods maker Prada SpA reported a 23 percent fall in first-half net profit on Tuesday, hurt by a slowdown in Asia, particularly in Hong Kong and Macau. Asia-Pacific, Prada's biggest market, has been roiled in the past few months by stock market turmoil in China and signs of growing strains in the world's second-largest economy. Chief Financial Officer Donatello Galli told analysts on a conference call that
  
  Read more

• Liberty's Malone says no progress on Vodafone deal: Bloomberg

  15-09-2015 16:50
  
  LONDON (Reuters) - Cable operator Liberty Globaland mobile phone group Vodafonehave not worked out how to progress with an exchange of assets, months after they said they were in talks, Liberty's...
  
  Read more

• Wall Street higher after strong retail sales data

  15-09-2015 16:27 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday after data showed retail sales continued to climb in August but investors remained cautious ahead of this week's Federal Reserve meeting. U.S. consumer spending appeared to grow at a healthy pace halfway through the third quarter, pointing to solid domestic demand that could persuade the Fed to raise interest rates. After the retail data, traders raised their bets the Fed would raise rates later this week to 27 percent from 23 percent on Monday, according to CME Group
  
  Read more

• FTSE 100 edges up after strong opening on Wall Street

  15-09-2015 16:14 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Alistair Smout and Sudip Kar-Gupta LONDON (Reuters) - Top equity index edged higher in thin trade on Tuesday, as a strong start to trade on Wall Street helped lift mining stocks off their lows, including Glencore, which hit another all-time trough early in the day. Mining and commodities trader Glencore slumped almost 8 percent early on after three leading global thermal coal price benchmarks fell below levels last seen during the global financial crisis of 2008-2009. Other miners also fell,
  
  Read more

• Britain's FTSE 100 edges up after strong opening on Wall St

  15-09-2015 16:12 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Britain's top equity index edged higher in thin trade on Tuesday, as a strong start to trade on Wall Street helped lift mining stocks off their lows, including Glencore, which hit another all-time trough early in the day. Mining and commodities trader Glencore slumped almost 8 percent early on after three leading global thermal coal price benchmarks fell below levels last seen during the global financial crisis of 2008-2009. Coal prices have been knocked by a sharp slowdown in demand, especially
  
  Read more

• U.S. consumer spending rising solidly; manufacturing still weak

  15-09-2015 16:11 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. consumer spending grew at a fairly healthy pace over the past two months, but factory production slipped in August, providing the Federal Reserve a mixed picture of the economy ahead of a rate-setting meeting later this week. The Commerce Department said on Tuesday that retail sales excluding automobiles, gasoline, building materials and food services increased 0.4 percent in August after an upwardly revised 0.6 percent increase in July. A separate r
  
  Read more

• Exclusive: Chinese coal data cast doubt on historic stalling of world CO2

  15-09-2015 16:10 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Alister Doyle and David Stanway OSLO/BEIJING (Reuters) - When the International Energy Agency reported in March that global carbon emissions had stayed flat in 2014, even as the world economy grew, the news was hailed as a turning point in the struggle to curb climate change. One of the keys to keeping carbon emissions flat in 2014 was significantly lower coal consumption in China, the world's top greenhouse gas emitter: a 2.9 per cent drop, reported in preliminary Chinese data in February.
  
  Read more

• How the Fed’s Rate Hike Decision Could Set Off a Global Squeeze

  15-09-2015 16:00 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The Dow Jones Industrial Average has traded into a narrowing multi-week pennant formation as Wall Street goes into hibernation out of fear of a monetary policy winter. This should be no surprise: As the chart below from Citigroup shows, this bull market has been built in stages on the foundations of the Fed's now expired bond buying or "quantitative easing" stimulus programs. Faced with the prospect of the first monetary tightening since 2006, everyone is starting to realize just how unwieldy th
  
  Read more

• How a Fed Rate Hike Could Set Off a Global Squeeze

  15-09-2015 16:00 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The Dow Jones Industrial Average has traded into a narrowing multi-week pennant formation as Wall Street goes into hibernation out of fear of a monetary policy winter. This should be no surprise: As the chart below from Citigroup shows, this bull market has been built in stages on the foundations of the Fed's now expired bond buying or "quantitative easing" stimulus programs. Faced with the prospect of the first monetary tightening since 2006, everyone is starting to realize just how unwieldy th
  
  Read more

• Zimbabwe's Mugabe reads wrong speech at opening of parliament

  15-09-2015 15:46 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Zimbabwe's 91-year-old President Robert Mugabe read out the wrong speech at the opening of parliament on Tuesday, his spokesman said, blaming a mix-up in his office for the error. Mugabe had delivered the same speech during a state of the nation address on Aug. 25, in which he pinned his hopes on China to help revive Zimbabwe's struggling economy. "The mix-up happened in his secretarial office.
  
  Read more

• How to evaluate the costs of studying abroad

  15-09-2015 15:31
  
  (Reuters) - Studying abroad may be an alluring idea in college. But the cost makes it a reality for only about 300,000, or 1 percent, of students each year, according to NAFSA: Association of...
  
  Read more

• U.S. factory output declines on sharp drop in auto production

  15-09-2015 15:18 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. manufacturing output contracted more than expected in August, dragged down by a sharp fall in auto production that could moderate economic growth in the third quarter. American factories churned out 0.5 percent fewer goods last month, the Federal Reserve said on Tuesday.
  
  Read more

• Wall Street set to open little changed as investors await Fed

  15-09-2015 15:02 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. stocks were set to open little changed on Tuesday as concerns about growth in China made investors more cautious ahead of this week's Federal Reserve meeting, which will decide on the first interest rate increase since 2006. Chinese stocks dropped almost 4 percent on Tuesday, denting hopes that a slew of stimulus measures by Beijing over the past three months had brought some stability to the market. "It's all about caution today," said Andy Sullivan, a portfolio manager with Swiss investme
  
  Read more

• Zambia cenbank says concerned local business charging in forex

  15-09-2015 14:50 via news.yahoo.com
  
  LUSAKA (Reuters) - The Bank of Zambia is concerned that some businesses are charging for local goods in foreign currency, undermining efforts to stabilise the economy and putting pressure on the kwacha exchange rate, it said on Tuesday. The bank issued the statement after the kwacha had fallen 1 percent to 9.9400 against the dollar, in what traders said was panic demand partly sparked by concerns over job losses in the mining sector.
  
  Read more

• Autos and restaurants push US retail sales higher in August

  15-09-2015 14:44 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans stepped up their spending on cars, restaurant meals, groceries and clothing in August, suggesting that consumers will help sustain U.S. economic growth despite a broader global slowdown.
  
  Read more

• Sierra Leone economy to shrink one-fifth in 2015 amid mining crisis: IMF

  15-09-2015 14:41 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Sierra Leone's economy will contract by 21.5 percent this year, following growth of 4.6 percent in 2014, due to a crisis in the mining sector triggered by a collapse in iron ore prices and the impact of the ongoing Ebola epidemic, the IMF said. A shortfall in government revenues due to a halt in mining production will push the budget deficit to 4.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
  
  Read more

• Zimbabwe parliament suspends broadcast of Mugabe speech

  15-09-2015 14:29 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Zimbabwe's parliament suspended live television and radio broadcasting of a speech by President Robert Mugabe on Tuesday after the main opposition party threatened to disrupt the event. Opposition groups booed and heckled Mugabe about the deteriorating economy in August during his state of the nation address in parliament. Innocent Gonese of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) told parliament that the MDC would disrupt proceedings to protest against anonymous death threats to opp
  
  Read more

• China falls drag stocks back into red

  15-09-2015 14:27 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Patrick Graham LONDON (Reuters) - Concerns over China kept financial markets on edge on Tuesday, with an underwhelmed reaction to recent data and Beijing's efforts at corporate reform pushing Asian stocks lower and keeping any gains in Europe minimal. Wall Street was set to open flat, with investors avoiding firmer bets ahead of the first meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve in years at which a possible rise in interest rates has been a live issue. "It's all about caution today," said Andy Sul
  
  Read more

• GLOBAL MARKETS-China falls drag stocks back into red

  15-09-2015 14:21 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Concerns over China kept financial markets on edge on Tuesday, with an underwhelmed reaction to recent data and Beijing's efforts at corporate reform pushing Asian stocks lower and keeping any gains in Europe minimal. Wall Street was set to open flat , with investors avoiding firmer bets ahead of the first meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve in years at which a possible rise in interest rates has been a live issue. "It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) 's all about caution today," said Andy Sullivan, a p
  
  Read more

Follow @FinanceUSA_News on Twitter!