Finance news

• U.S. securities regulator expands use of powerful software: source

  30-09-2015 23:06 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is expanding an effort that allows its staff to search massive amounts of data for signs of insider trading and other securities violations, a person familiar with the matter said. The SEC is awarding a five-year, $90 million contract to privately held Palantir Technologies to provide software for the detection program, the person said. The SEC, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday, has undertaken multiple large
  
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• French budget cuts taxes, aims to bring down deficit

  30-09-2015 22:55 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The French government unveiled its 2016 budget on Wednesday with a plan to reduce taxes while also cutting its public deficit, with an eye on the presidential election the year after. Income tax will be cut by two billion euros ($2.23 billion) in 2016, in line with President Francois Hollande's promise last month to cut taxes "whatever happens". Hollande introduced around 18 billion euros of tax rises at the start of his presidency in 2012, with many of the measures targeting the wealthiest hous
  
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• Global stocks end worst quarter in four years on upbeat note

  30-09-2015 22:44 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Global equities ended their worst quarter since the 2011 euro zone crisis on an upbeat note with a rally on Wednesday on hopes that Wall Street had bottomed and the commodities rout was over, while the dollar also rose. Slower Chinese growth also slammed commodity prices and countries that depend on their export. Peugot rose 6.4 percent and Fiat Chrysler rose 4.8 percent in Europe.
  
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• Australia shares seen higher on commodity bounce

  30-09-2015 22:44 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Australian shares are poised for a positive start on Thursday, tracking a rise on Wall Street, with the heavyweight natural resources sector likely to underpin gains on stronger commodity prices. Global ...
  
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• AB InBev faces delicate balance in structuring SABMiller bid

  30-09-2015 22:41
  
  BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) - A $70 billion debt package being arranged to fund Anheuser-Busch InBev'stakeover of SABMillerstill leaves the world's largest brewer with a tricky balancing act in...
  
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• Wall Street ends worst quarter in four years with a rally

  30-09-2015 22:40 via news.yahoo.com
  
  For much of the third quarter, global markets were rocked by fears of slowing growth in China and uncertainty over timing for a U.S. Federal Reserve hike of interest rates. Although the market's recent rout has forced many strategists to slash expectations, a Reuters poll showed the S&P 500 is expected to end 2015 roughly 11 percent above current levels.
  
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• UPDATE 3-Twitter likely to name Dorsey permanent CEO - Re/code

  30-09-2015 22:12
  SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Twitter Inc co-founder and interim Chief Executive Jack Dorsey is expected to be named permanent CEO as early as Thursday, while keeping his job as the head of...
  
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• Fed OKs M&T's acquisition of Hudson City Bancorp

  30-09-2015 21:51
  
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve said on Wednesday it had approved M&T Bank Corp'sacquisition of Hudson City Bancorp Inc , three years after the deal was first proposed.
  
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• Lagarde: 'reason to be concerned' about global economy

  30-09-2015 21:18 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The International Monetary Fund voiced concern Wednesday about the global economy, weakened by China's slowdown and facing a potential "vicious cycle" from a looming US interest rate hike. The prospect of rising interest rates in the United States and China's slowdown are contributing to uncertainty and higher market volatility," IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said in a speech in Washington, according to the prepared text. Lagarde also pointed to the "sharp deceleration" in the growth o
  
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• Chipmaker Synaptics rejects Chinese firm's offer: Bloomberg

  30-09-2015 21:18
  (Reuters) - Touchscreen chip maker Synaptics Inc rejected an offer from a Chinese investment group valuing the company at nearly $4 billion, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
  
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• China's Tsinghua to buy Western Digital stake in U.S. tech push

  30-09-2015 21:18
  (Reuters) - China's state-backed Tsinghua Holdings Co Ltd [TSHUAA.UL] plans to buy a 15 percent stake in U.S. data storage company Western Digital Corp, a deal that could draw regulatory scrutiny...
  
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• Canada to pay farmers for any losses under trade deal: minister

  30-09-2015 21:15 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Rod Nickel WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - Canadian farmers will receive government compensation for any losses resulting from a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, the country's agriculture minister said on Wednesday in a discussion about the nation's protected farm sectors. The United States, New Zealand and Australia want Canada to start dismantling a system of supply and import controls over dairy, poultry and eggs that keep domestic prices high and foreign producers at bay. Trade
  
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• UPDATE 4-China's Tsinghua to buy Western Digital stake in U.S. tech push

  30-09-2015 21:12
  * Western Digital shares rise 16 pct (Adding Breakingviews link, comment on potential scrutiny)
  
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• Fed's Yellen does not comment on policy in brief remarks to bank group

  30-09-2015 21:01 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen did not comment on the U.S. economy or monetary policy in brief welcoming remarks to a community banking symposium on Wednesday. It was Yellen's first public appearance since a health scare last week in Massachusetts in which she stumbled over her words and struggled to complete a nearly hour-long speech. The Fed said at the time she suffered from dehydration after a long day, and was cleared by an emergency medical technician to proceed with a planned dinner t
  
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• Twitter likely to name Dorsey permanent CEO: Re/code

  30-09-2015 20:59 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Snagging the top job at Twitter would be a triumphant return to the helm of the microblogging service that Dorsey helped invent but from which he was previously fired as CEO in 2008. News reports have said that Dorsey, who at times has expressed interest in careers from fashion designer to New York City mayor, struggled to manage frequent outages during a period of exploding growth at the service. Wall Street investors reacted positively, briefly sending Twitter's shares up as much as 6.8 percen
  
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• Wall Street higher but set for worst quarter in four years

  30-09-2015 20:56 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday as investors picked up beaten-down stocks, but all three major indexes were on track for their worst quarter since 2011. Adding to the uncertainty, the U.S. Federal Reserve held off on raising interest rates at its September meeting. Investors will be keen to put the bruising quarter behind them and look ahead to the third-quarter earnings season, which begins next week.
  
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• IMF chief says global economy likely to be weaker this year

  30-09-2015 20:00 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday that global growth will likely be weaker this year as the world economy confronts a host of problems, including a refugee crisis in Europe, an economic slowdown in China and a pending rise in U.S. interest rates.
  
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• France launches emissions-cheating probe into VW: source

  30-09-2015 19:43 via news.yahoo.com
  
  France has launched a probe into whether Volkswagen cheated on car emissions in France as it did in the United States, a source close to the French Economy Ministry said on Wednesday. "Following the recognized fraud of a carmarker in the United States ... There is a probe from the DGCCRF (the Directorate General for Competition Policy, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control) that started on Friday and whose goal is to assess if Volkswagen had similar practices (in France)," the source said.
  
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• Citigroup, Ashmore approved to buy Saudi stocks directly -sources

  30-09-2015 19:19 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. bank Citigroup Inc and emerging markets-focused investment manager Ashmore Group have won permission from the Saudi Arabian regulator to invest directly in the local stock market, industry sources said on Wednesday. The kingdom opened its $442 billion equity market, the largest in the Arab world, to direct investment by foreigners on June 15 this year as part of efforts to create jobs and diversify its economy beyond oil. Foreign institutions must obtain licences to invest directly, meeting
  
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• Wall Street higher but market set for worst quarter since 2011

  30-09-2015 19:14 via news.yahoo.com
  
  For most of the third quarter, global markets were rocked by fears of slowing growth in China. Adding to the uncertainty, the U.S. Federal Reserve held off on raising interest rates at its September meeting. Investors will be keen to put the bruising quarter behind them and look ahead to the third-quarter earnings season, which begins next week.
  
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• Wright Medical Group, Tornier win U.S. approval to merge

  30-09-2015 18:19
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Wright Medical Group and Tornier NV have won U.S. antitrust approval for their merger on condition that they sell certain assets related to replacement ankle and toe joints,...
  
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• Political surprise in eurozone - austerity is a vote-winner

  30-09-2015 18:14 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Paul Taylor ATHENS (Reuters) - Upending conventional wisdom, there is now a strong chance that all the European governments that have accepted or implemented unpopular EU/IMF austerity programs may be re-elected in the coming months or remain the strongest political force. From Lisbon and Madrid to Dublin, incumbents are gaining ground in opinion polls while the opposition is split among mainstream and radical parties, reducing the prospect of ousting sitting prime ministers and also encourag
  
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• UK stocks rise after a rough summer, led by Sainsbury's

  30-09-2015 17:57
  * Glencore surges as metal prices recover (Updates prices at close)
  
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• South Africa's NUM union calls coal miners strike

  30-09-2015 17:54 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Ed Stoddard and Peroshni Govender JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said on Wednesday it would ask its members in the coal sector to strike after wage talks collapsed. Africa's most advanced economy, beset by power shortages, relies on coal for its electricity and is also a major exporter to Europe and Asia. Utility Eskom's old and mostly coal-fired power plants struggle to produce enough electricity to meet demand.
  
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• Softness in global economy to extend into 2016 as developing world drags: IMF

  30-09-2015 17:54 via news.yahoo.com
  
  A relentless deceleration in the economies of the developing world will cause global growth to slow this year and only pick up a bit more pace in 2016, the head of the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday. In a speech that previewed a report on global growth due next month, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde held back from giving specific estimates. In a survey of the global economy, she said growth was picking up in the euro area and Japan and still looked robust in the United Sta
  
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• CORRECTED-UPDATE 1-Default on Brazil electricity market grows - traders

  30-09-2015 17:52
  SAO PAULO, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Default on the Brazilian
  electric energy market has spread to critical levels, energy
  traders said on Tuesday, as hydroelectric generators balk at
  hefty bills for which...
  
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• TSX rallies as Valeant rebounds, July GDP data upbeat

  30-09-2015 17:49 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Solarina Ho TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rallied more than 1 percent on Wednesday as higher-than-expected domestic growth data provided a healthy boost to sentiment and as Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc shares rebounded after being battered by charges of price gauging. Canada's economy grew 0.3 percent in July, the second consecutive month of growth after contracting for the first five months of 2015. Toronto-Dominion Bank rose 2.1 percent to C$52.53, and Royal Ban
  
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• Zimbabwe to ban electric water geysers in bid to save power

  30-09-2015 17:27 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Zimbabwe will from next year ban the use of electric water geysers and give users five years to migrate to solar-powered water heaters in a bid to save up to 400 megawatts of electricity, energy officials said on Wednesday. The Southern African country, where six in 10 people have no access to electricity, is experiencing some of its worst power cuts, some lasting up to 24 hours, worsened by the routine maintenance at its two largest power plants. Electricity shortages have been blamed for keepi
  
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• IMF's Lagarde: 'reason to be concerned' about global economy

  30-09-2015 17:13 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The IMF voiced concern Wednesday about the global economy, weakened by China's slowdown and facing a potential "vicious cycle" from a looming US interest rate hike. The prospect of rising interest rates in the United States and China's slowdown are contributing to uncertainty and higher market volatility," IMF managing director Christine Lagarde said in a speech in Washington, according to the prepared text. Lagarde also pointed to the "sharp deceleration" in the growth of global trade and the "
  
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• Softness in global economy to extend into 2016 as developing countries drag: IMF

  30-09-2015 17:11 via news.yahoo.com
  
  A relentless deceleration in the economies of the developing world will cause global growth to slow this year and only pick up a bit more pace in 2016, the head of the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday. In a speech that previewed a report on global growth due next month, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde held back from giving specific estimates. Lagarde said China needs to keep trying to rebalance its economy away from commodity-intensive investment but also must be careful to
  
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• U.S. jobs sector gains, Midwest manufacturing stumbles

  30-09-2015 17:01 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Richard Leong NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. companies hired workers at a solid clip in September, but data showed factory activity in the U.S. Midwest contracted, muddying the economic picture for the Federal Reserve on whether to raise interest rates later this year. U.S. private employers added 200,000 jobs in September, payrolls processor ADP said on Wednesday, the strongest reading since June. In recent days, several top Fed policy-makers including Chair Janet Yellen have said the Fed could r
  
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• UPDATE 1-Poland wants its energy groups to help restructure coal mining

  30-09-2015 16:57
  WARSAW, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Poland wants to include two
  state-controlled utilities and its largest gas distributor in
  saving Europe's largest coal miner, Poland's Kompania Weglowa
  (KW,from the brink...
  
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• New Zealand prime minister sees good chance of wrapping up Pacific trade deal

  30-09-2015 16:45 via news.yahoo.com
  
  New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said on Wednesday he sees a good chance of wrapping up a Pacific trade deal this week and warned political headwinds may scupper the pact if negotiations drag on too long. Trade ministers from the 12 countries negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership gather in Atlanta later on Wednesday in a bid to close the pact, which would cut trade barriers and set common standards for 40 percent of the world economy and be the biggest free trade deal in a generation. Spe
  
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• UPDATE 2-Starboard takes stake in Advance Auto, urges changes

  30-09-2015 16:33
  Sept 30 (Reuters) - Activist investor Starboard Value LP disclosed a 3.7 percent stake in automotive parts retailer Advance Auto Parts Inc on Wednesday and urged the company consider steps including...
  
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• WTO cuts trade growth forecasts as emerging markets slow

  30-09-2015 16:31 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The World Trade Organization cut its forecast for growth in global trade due to emerging markets slowing, and warned an increase in US interest rates and the refugee crisis in Europe could crimp trade growth further. The WTO said falling prices for commodities including oil, and exchange rate fluctuations also led it to cut the forecast for trade growth this year to 2.8 percent from 3.3 percent it forecast in April. Trade had been a major driver of growth in the 1990s and early 2000s, expanding
  
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• Wall Street higher but indexes set for worst quarter since 2011

  30-09-2015 16:20 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Adding to investors' uncertainty, the U.S. Federal Reserve held off on raising rates at its September meeting. The Fed has said it needs to see more improvement in the labor market and be confident that inflation will increase before raising rates.
  
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• Sainsbury's lifts UK stocks after rough summer

  30-09-2015 16:10
  * FTSE 100 up 2.2 pct, slightly underperforms European rebound
  
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• BRIEF-DF Deutsche Forfait: local court approves application for protection proceedings

  30-09-2015 16:10
  * Local court approves application for
  Schutzschirmverfahren(three-month phase of creditor protection)
  with debtor-in-possession statusSource text for Eikon:Further company coverage:
  (Gdynia...
  
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• World Bank cuts Russia forecast, warns of poverty rise

  30-09-2015 15:35 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The World Bank on Wednesday downgraded its outlook for Russia's economy, warning that a biting recession is deepening and will persist into next year, pushing more people below the poverty line. The World Bank predicted the Russian economy will shrink by 3.8 percent in 2015 in its baseline scenario, far worse than its earlier forecast of a 2.7-percent contraction. "This will accelerate an already troubling rise in the poverty rate," said the bank's country director for Russia, Andras Horvai.
  
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• Angola postpones $1.5 bln Eurobond due to weak economy: source

  30-09-2015 15:32 via news.yahoo.com
  
  LUANDA (Reuters) - Angola has delayed plans for a $1.5 billion Eurobond due to challenging economic conditions and has not set a new time frame for the issue, a finance ministry source said on Wednesday. Angola was due to hold a Eurobond roadshow between Sept. 25 and Oct. 5 but it was cancelled after sub-Saharan Africa's third largest economy was hit by subdued oil prices, including a sharp devaluation of the kwanza currency, the source said. The finance ministry declined to comment officially.
  
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• Canada GDP rises for second straight month after five-month fall

  30-09-2015 15:26 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Randall Palmer OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Canadian economy grew for the second straight month in July after contracting for the first five months of 2015, helping cement the idea that a recession was short-lived and providing fodder to the ruling Conservatives ahead of the Oct. 19 election. Statistics Canada reported on Wednesday that real gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.3 percent in July, exceeding the 0.2 percent growth forecast in a Reuters survey of economists. "After a growth stumble
  
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• Kenyan economic growth slows as construction, industry weaken

  30-09-2015 14:51 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By George Obulutsa NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's economic growth slowed to 5.5 percent year-on-year in the second quarter as manufacturing, construction and financial services weakened, the statistics office said on Wednesday. Gross domestic product expanded 6 percent year-on-year in the same period of 2014, Kenya National Bureau of Statistics said. On a quarterly basis, the economy grew a seasonally adjusted 1.7 percent in the second quarter of 2015, compared with 0.6 percent in the first quarter
  
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• Wall Street set to open higher after private sector jobs data

  30-09-2015 14:47 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The ADP National Employment Report showed that private employers added 200,000 jobs in September, up from 186,000 in August. Economists polled by Reuters had expected an addition of 194,000 jobs. The Federal Reserve, which kept interest rates unchanged earlier this month, has said it needs to see more improvement in the labor market and be confident that inflation will increase before raising rates.
  
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• Namibia's GDP growth slows to 4.2 pct in Q2: stats agency

  30-09-2015 14:43 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WINDHOEK (Reuters) - Namibia's economy grew 4.2 percent in the second quarter of 2015 compared with a revised 5.3 percent expansion during the first three months of the year, official data showed on Wednesday. "The slow growth is mostly attributed to the mining and quarrying, manufacturing and fishing sectors that recorded declines in real value added," the Namibia Statistics Office said in a statement.
  
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• Fed's Dudley downplays market 'liquidity' concerns, eyes HFT

  30-09-2015 14:40 via news.yahoo.com
  
  A top Federal Reserve official on Wednesday largely dismissed concerns that bond-market liquidity has sharply diminished in the wake of regulatory reforms, saying other changes like the rise in rapid electronic trading may play a bigger role. William Dudley, president of the New York Fed and a front-line Wall Street supervisor, said one-off "liquidity events" - in which the trading of Treasury and corporate bonds becomes significantly more expensive and difficult - may reflect the complex intera
  
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• Average Apple Watch sells for $529, at top end of estimates - report

  30-09-2015 14:19 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Apple Inc’s new Watch sells for an average of $529, including accessories, at the high end of Wall Street estimates, according to findings by research firm Wristly. Investors are keenly monitoring the performance of Apple's latest invention to see whether it can open up a new source of growth for a company heavily dependent on sales of its iPhone. The figures provided to Reuters by Wristly, which surveyed more than 2,200 Apple Watch owners, sit at the high end of estimates from analysts, m
  
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• Stocks end worst quarter in four years on positive note

  30-09-2015 13:52 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Stocks ended the most bruising quarter in four years on a high note on Wednesday, with a rebound led by the shares most exposed to the global economic slowdown and commodities rout that have rattled investors in recent days. Consumer prices fell across the 19-nation bloc in September, adding pressure on the European Central Bank to inject more policy stimulus sooner rather than later. Shares in mining and trading firm Glencore, which plummeted on Monday along with commodity prices, jumped 10 per
  
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• Eurozone falls back into deflation

  30-09-2015 13:25 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Eurozone inflation unexpectedly fell to negative 0.1 percent in September, data showed Wednesday, suggesting a dangerous spell of falling prices could be returning to Europe. The return to negative territory will add to pressure on the European Central Bank to increase its huge stimulus programme which is meant to ward off deflation and keep the economy on track. Earlier this month, ECB head Mario Draghi warned that inflation in the 19-country eurozone could turn negative in the coming months, e
  
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• France to cut corporate, income taxes in 2016 budget

  30-09-2015 13:16 via news.yahoo.com
  
  PARIS (AP) — The French government will cut taxes for a total of 11 billion euros ($12.3 billion) next year, according to budget plans that aim to loosen up an economy burdened with high unemployment and weak growth.
  
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• Average Apple Watch sells for $529

  30-09-2015 13:08 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Apple's new Watch sells for an average of $529, including accessories, at the high end of Wall Street estimates.
  
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