Finance news

• Cuba seals 'historic' debt pact with Paris Club

  12-12-2015 23:30 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Cuba on Saturday concluded a "historic accord" over debt that was not paid to foreign creditors for the last 25 years, French Finance Minister Michel Sapin announced. "This accord helps to definitively resolve the issue of Cuba's medium-term debt... which has not been honoured since the 1980s," he said in a statement. The cumulative interest amounting to $4 billion (3.6 billion euros) will be waived while the unpaid debt of $2.6 billion to France will be paid by Cuba over a period of 18 years, d
  
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• With landmark climate accord, world marks turn from fossil fuels

  12-12-2015 21:58 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Alister Doyle and Barbara Lewis PARIS (Reuters) - The global climate summit in Paris agreed a landmark accord on Saturday, setting the course for a historic transformation of the world's fossil fuel-driven economy within decades in a bid to arrest global warming. After four years of fraught U.N. talks often pitting the interests of rich nations against poor, imperiled island states against rising economic powerhouses, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius declared the pact adopted to the sta
  
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• Global climate conference adopts historic deal

  12-12-2015 19:32 via news.yahoo.com
  
  PARIS (Reuters) - A global climate conference on Saturday adopted an international accord aimed at transforming the world's fossil fuel-driven economy within decades and slowing the pace of global warming. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius banged down his gavel to rapturous applause, signaling the deal was agreed by nearly 200 nations. (Reporting by Alister Doyle and Barbara Lewis)
  
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• Houston goes to polls to elect new mayor

  12-12-2015 15:37 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Voters in Houston, the fourth most-populous U.S. city, went to the polls on Saturday to elect a mayor with Sylvester Turner, a veteran lawmaker seeking to expand economic opportunities, facing Bill King, a businessman pledging to fix city finances. Polls have shown the race to be a dead heat between Turner, a powerful Democrat in the Republican-dominated state legislature, and King, a Republican lawyer and businessman who calls himself "unapologetically moderate". Turner, supported by public sec
  
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• Factbox: How the world found common ground in landmark climate accord

  12-12-2015 15:10 via news.yahoo.com
  After four years of global negotiations, two weeks of intense talks and more than a few sleepless nights, climate officials from almost 200 nations meeting in Paris are on the cusp of a landmark accord to arrest climate change. On Saturday, hosts France released the final text of a "Paris Outcome", this one devoid of the bracketed text that represented the sticking points yet to be resolved. Written in the opaque legal language that has evolved from more than two decades of U.N. climate talks, t
  
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• Japan and India agree bullet train, nuclear deals

  12-12-2015 14:16 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Japan will build India's first bullet train under a sweeping tally of agreements made following talks in New Delhi Saturday, deepening a partnership Prime Minister Narendra Modi said would "shape the course of Asia". The Indian premier spoke warmly of his friendship with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the power of their political alliance, after agreeing deals on the $15 bn high-speed train, defence technology and civil nuclear cooperation. Both Modi and Abe are right-wing nationalists a
  
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• France issues climate draft to guide shift from fossil fuels

  12-12-2015 13:49 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Hosts France issued a 31-page draft text of a deal to combat climate change on Saturday, hoping to secure adoption within hours from 195 nations and mark a turning point for the global economy away from fossil fuels. Officials have been meeting the French capital since Nov. 29, seeking to craft the strongest deal yet to bind both rich and poor nations to curb greenhouse gas emissions. -- Parties aim to reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible, recognizing that peaking
  
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• World climate accord hailed as turning point from fossil fuels

  12-12-2015 13:11 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Richard Valdmanis and Valerie Volcovici PARIS (Reuters) - French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius presented a landmark global climate accord on Saturday, a "historic" measure for transforming the world's fossil fuel-driven economy within decades and turn the tide on global warming. At the tail end of the hottest year on record and after four years of fraught U.N. talks often pitting the interests of rich nations against poor, imperiled island states against rising economic powerhouses, Fabius
  
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• China industrial output rebounds after stimulus

  12-12-2015 11:21 via news.yahoo.com
  
  China's industrial production surprised Saturday with its best showing since June, the latest indication that government stimulus measures may be driving a mild recovery in the world's second largest economy. Output at factories, workshops and mines increased 6.2 percent last month from a year ago, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said, the first increase since August and a significant jump from October's figure of 5.6 percent. The figures, which came on robust production of automobiles,
  
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• U.S. pledges $1.2 billion aid for Mozambique

  12-12-2015 10:55 via news.yahoo.com
  
  MAPUTO (Reuters) - The United States will grant Mozambique $1.2 billion in aid to fund projects in healthcare, food production and education under a five-year agreement signed this week. The money would also be used to improve governance and deepen democracy, a statement posted on the Mozambican government website said. Growth in the Mozambican economy is expected to slow to 6.5 percent this year, from 7.5 percent in last year as investors delay initiating investments in the recently discovered
  
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• South African rand hits record low, bank stocks dive after minister's sacking

  12-12-2015 10:44 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Mfuneko Toyana and Zandi Shabalala JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's rand weakened to a record low on Friday, slumping more than 3 percent in the wake of this week's sacking of the finance minister, while banks led stocks lower. President Jacob Zuma sacked Nhlanhla Nene late on Wednesday in favour of a relatively unknown lawmaker, David van Rooyen, unnerving investors in an ailing economy whose investment grade status is already at risk. The sacking of Nene, a veteran civil servant in t
  
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• On brink of climate deal, nations set turning point from fossil fuels

  12-12-2015 10:37 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Richard Valdmanis and Valerie Volcovici PARIS (Reuters) - Climate negotiators in Paris appeared on the verge of clinching a landmark accord on Saturday to transform the world's fossil fuel-driven economy within decades and turn the tide on global warming. At the tail end of the hottest year on record and after four years of fraught U.N. talks often pitting the interests of rich nations against poor, imperiled island states against rising economic powerhouses, France's foreign minister will pr
  
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• China economy shows signs of steadying, more policy support needed

  12-12-2015 10:06 via news.yahoo.com
  
  China's activity data was stronger than expected in November, with factory output growth picking up to a five-month high, signaling that a flurry of stimulus measures from Beijing may have put a floor under a fragile economy. "Real interest rates are still high due to falling producer prices," Wang Jun, senior economist at the China Centre for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE), a Beijing-based think-tank. Factory output grew an annual 6.2 percent in November, data from the National Bureau
  
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• Japan and India sign bullet train, nuclear deals

  12-12-2015 08:32 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Japan and India agreed several high-profile deals Saturday on high-speed rail, defence technology, and a memorandum of understanding on civil nuclear cooperation, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said. "This enterprise will launch a revolution in Indian railways and speed up India's journey into the future," Modi said of plans for a Japanese-made bullet train to link the cities of Mumbai and Ahmedabad. "It will become an engine of economic transformation in India," he said.
  
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• In final push for climate deal, nations seek turning point from fossil fuels

  12-12-2015 08:24 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Richard Valdmanis and Valerie Volcovici PARIS (Reuters) - At the tail end of the hottest year on record, climate negotiators in Paris will aim on Saturday to seal a landmark accord that will transform the world's fossil fuel-driven economy within decades and turn the tide on global warming. After four years of fraught U.N. talks often pitting the interests of rich nations against poor, imperiled island states against rising economic powerhouses, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius will pre
  
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• China industrial output at highest level since June

  12-12-2015 08:17 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Industrial production growth in China rose in November to its highest level since June, official data showed Saturday, a bright spot for the world's second-largest economy as it struggles with slowing growth. Output at factories, workshops and mines increased 6.2 percent last month from a year ago, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said, the first increase since August and a significant jump from October's figure of 5.6 percent. The figures, which came on robust production of automobiles,
  
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• China factory output strengthens, investment up in sign of stabilizing economy

  12-12-2015 07:13 via news.yahoo.com
  
  China's activity data was stronger than expected in November, with factory output growth picking up to a five-month high, signaling that a flurry of stimulus measures from Beijing may have put a floor under a fragile economy. Factory output grew an annual 6.2 percent in November, the National Bureau of Statistics(NBS) showed, quickening from October's 5.6 percent and beating expectations of 5.6 percent. Growth in China's fixed-asset investment, one of the main drivers of the economy, rose 10.2 p
  
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• Police arrest former Ping An Securities exec: media

  12-12-2015 06:47 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Chinese police have arrested a former chief of one of China's top investment banks, according to reports, the latest move against leading businessmen in the world's second largest economy following a market crash earlier this year. Authorities held Xue Rongnian, who headed Ping An Securities from 2008 to 2011, on suspicion of insider trading in connection to two cement businesses, respected business magazine Caixin reported Friday. In 2013, China's securities regulator disciplined Xue, following
  
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• In final push for landmark climate deal, end of fossil fuel era nears

  12-12-2015 05:08 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Alister Doyle and Barbara Lewis PARIS (Reuters) - At the tail end of the hottest year on record, climate negotiators in Paris will aim on Saturday to seal a landmark accord that will transform the world's fossil fuel-driven economy within decades and turn the tide on global warming. After four years of fraught U.N. talks often pitting the interests of rich nations against poor, imperiled island states against rising economic powerhouses, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius will unveil the
  
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• Volatility the surest bet in stocks after Fed meets

  12-12-2015 02:32 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Stock market investors are ready for the first U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate hike in nearly a decade next week, but they may not be fully prepared for all of the nuanced remarks likely to accompany that announcement. If the Fed lays out an aggressive schedule of future rate increases, stock markets could become very volatile and even plummet, say strategists who expect a market-calming central bank announcement detailing the patience of policymakers. Activity in the options market suggests
  
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• Goldman reigns supreme in record M&A year

  12-12-2015 00:07 via news.yahoo.com
  
  As iconic brands are snapped up and corporations merged and swallowed in a record-breaking whirl of deals, there has been one constant: Goldman Sachs Group Inc . The Wall Street firm is once again top dog in the global M&A rankings, having advised on transactions worth close to $1.7 trillion (£1.1 trillion) this year, more than the annual economic output of Australia, including Friday's $130 billion tie-up between U.S. chemical giants DuPont and Dow Chemical Co . Goldman's No 1 status
  
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