Finance news

• U.S. lawmakers likely to nix changes to debt restructuring law: source

  15-12-2015 23:35
  
  WASHINGTON/NEW YORK/CHICAGO (Reuters) - Lawmakers are likely to scrap a revision to certain legal protections for bondholders from a spending bill that was under negotiation, a congressional aide...
  
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• Wall Street gains ahead of Fed as energy, bank shares jump

  15-12-2015 22:44 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. stocks rose broadly on Tuesday but ended far off their session highs ahead of Wednesday's interest rate decision from the Federal Reserve. Higher underlying inflation in November cemented market bets that the Fed will raise rates after its two-day meeting. Bank stocks, which will likely benefit from higher rates, were among the market leaders with a 2.4-percent advance on the S&P financial sector index .
  
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• Obama names new senior adviser on international economics

  15-12-2015 22:40 via news.yahoo.com
  
  President Barack Obama said on Tuesday he had tapped Adewale Adeyamo to be his deputy national security adviser for international economics, a position that involves coordinating U.S. participation in the annual G7 and G20 summits. Adeyamo, who is currently director of the White House National Economic Council, will replace the outgoing deputy national security adviser, Caroline Atkinson, who has served since 2013 as the president's senior international economic adviser. Atkinson played a key ro
  
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• Pimco looks at junk bond investments after sell-off: CIO Ivascyn

  15-12-2015 22:39
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dan Ivascyn, the group chief investment officer at Pimco, one of the world's largest bond asset management firms, said investors have been overreacting to the credit turmoil...
  
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• Wall Street closes up with energy, financials

  15-12-2015 22:23 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rallied broadly on Tuesday, led by energy and financial shares ahead of Wednesday's interest rate decision from the Federal Reserve.
  
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• Fed opens meeting to put an end to crisis era policy

  15-12-2015 22:17 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Howard Schneider WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Eight years after a devastating recession opened an era of loose U.S. monetary policy, the Federal Reserve on Tuesday began a two-day meeting at which it is expected to turn in the other direction and raise rates in an increasingly normal economy. The decision will be released on Wednesday at 2 p.m. (1900 GMT), with markets prepared for an initial 25 basis point "liftoff" that would move the Fed's target rate from the zero lower bound to a range of betw
  
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• Japan shares lose allure as volatility, correlation rise

  15-12-2015 22:07 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Hideyuki Sano and Tomo Uetake TOKYO (Reuters) - Some long-term foreign funds are cutting exposure to Japanese stocks due to rising volatility and a high correlation to other markets that has made them less useful as a hedge to investors. The more pessimistic view of Japan's stock market, revived by a run of poor economic data, has raised questions about the sustainability of a three-year long rally fueled by the stimulative effects of loose monetary policy or Abenomics. "Macro drivers such as
  
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• UPDATE 1-Facebook debuts Yelp-like feature to find local businesses

  15-12-2015 22:00
  
  Dec 15 (Reuters) - Facebook Inc has quietly debuted a feature that helps users find local businesses based on customer reviews, bringing it in direct competition with similar services from Yelp Inc...
  
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• How to avoid failing at your crowdfunding campaign

  15-12-2015 21:50
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - When Morna Murphy Martell launched her first-ever crowdfunding campaign this year, she had high hopes.
  
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• Swiss banks to pay $130 million, avoid charges on aiding U.S. tax evasion

  15-12-2015 21:26
  
  (Reuters) - Three Swiss banks, including a unit of France's Crédit Agricole SA , will pay a total of more than $130 million to the U.S. Justice Department to avoid possible prosecution for helping...
  
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• UPDATE 2-Canada still has options to cut housing risk -cenbank head

  15-12-2015 20:53
  
  OTTAWA, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Canada's government still has measures in its arsenal to reduce housing market risks if necessary, the head of the Bank of Canada said on Tuesday, though the country's...
  
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• UPDATE 1-U.S. looks to expand financing in underserved housing markets

  15-12-2015 20:49
  
  WASHINGTON, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac must by law do more in underserved markets, their federal conservator said on Tuesday, unveiling a proposal that...
  
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• UPDATE 1-Greek parliament approves reforms to unlock bailout funds

  15-12-2015 20:48
  
  ATHENS, Dec 15 (Reuters) - The Greek parliament approved a bill on Tuesday containing reforms demanded by the country's international lenders in exchange for 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) of bailout...
  
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• Old decision on GSEs may hamper Fed's rate-hike effort

  15-12-2015 20:45
  
  NEW YORK, Dec 15 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve's decision a decade ago to curb borrowing by federal mortgage agencies may end up haunting the U.S. central bank in its attempt to drain cash from the...
  
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• Why Volatility Shouldn’t Scare You Out of the Stock Market

  15-12-2015 20:36 via news.yahoo.com
  
  As the markets continue their late-year roller-coaster ride, investors are starting to make portfolio moves — and that could end up costing them in the long term. Nearly three-quarters of investors expect the market swings to continue in 2016, according to a new Wells Fargo/Gallup survey, with 16 percent expecting high volatility. Among those who expect volatility, 44 percent are getting in touch with their financial advisors, 30 percent plan to buy stocks at low prices and 15 percent are
  
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• Brazil presidential spokesman says growth more important than fiscal goal

  15-12-2015 20:26
  
  SAO PAULO, Dec 15 (Reuters) - President Dilma Rousseff's spokesman Edinho Silva said on Tuesday that Brazil's return to growth is more important than the fiscal savings target in next year's budget...
  
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• Greek parliament passes reforms in exchange for bailout funds

  15-12-2015 20:05
  
  ATHENS, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Greece's parliament approved a bill on Tuesday with reforms demanded by the country's international lenders in exchange for 1 billion euros ($1.10 billion) of bailout funds...
  
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• UPDATE 3-Pressure mounts on Italy's Renzi as bank rescue furore grows

  15-12-2015 19:57
  
  * Renzi says some bank clients may have suffered fraud (Adds PM Renzi)
  
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• Malawi faces worsening food shortage, UNICEF says hunger looms

  15-12-2015 19:55 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Magdalena Mis LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The United Nations children's agency (UNICEF) said on Tuesday it feared hunger in Malawi, which is struggling with food shortages, a long drought and other effects of El Nino, and a stagnant economy. UNICEF has launched mass screening for malnutrition in children under five across 25 districts, or 90 percent of the country, amid reports that food shortages and rising prices are causing increasing hunger. "Although official figures are saying
  
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• GLOBAL MARKETS-Equities climb as oil bounces; Fed decision nears

  15-12-2015 19:55
  
  * Dollar advances after inflation data (Adds close of European markets, updates prices)
  
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• Bernier plans to announce Puerto Rico governor bid Wednesday - source

  15-12-2015 19:50
  
  SAN JUAN, Dec 15 (Reuters) - David Bernier, who recently stepped down as Puerto Rico's secretary of state, is planning to announce his candidacy for governor of the island on Wednesday, a source with...
  
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• UPDATE 3-Arch Coal to delay bond interest payment as bankruptcy looms

  15-12-2015 19:35
  
  Dec 15 (Reuters) - Arch Coal Inc, the second-largest coal miner in the United States, delayed a $90 million interest payment that was due Tuesday, pushing back a widely expected bankruptcy...
  
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• UPDATE 1-Credit Suisse sees Brazil M&A volumes stable next year

  15-12-2015 19:28
  
  SAO PAULO, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Mergers and acquisitions activity in Brazil measured in deal value will remain stable next year even as the steepest recession in a quarter century weighs down...
  
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• White House says no excuse for budget deal not being completed quickly

  15-12-2015 19:25
  
  WASHINGTON, Dec 15 (Reuters) - There is no excuse for not quickly completing a spending bill being negotiated by U.S. lawmakers to finance the government through September 2016, White House spokesman...
  
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• US Senator Orrin Hatch: Lawmakers consider help for Puerto Rico

  15-12-2015 19:15
  
  WASHINGTON, Dec 15 (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers are considering helping Puerto Rico with its debt crisis at least until February, as part of negotiations over a $1.15 trillion bill to keep the U.S....
  
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• Bank of England deputy says Fed rate rise would be "good sign"

  15-12-2015 19:13
  
  LONDON, Dec 15 (Reuters) - A decision by the U.S. Federal Reserve to raise interest rates on Wednesday would be "a good sign" as it would indicate confidence in the American economy, Bank of England...
  
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• BRIEF-Bank of Canada's Poloz: economic positives will dominate in 2016

  15-12-2015 18:49
  
  Dec 15 (Reuters) - Bank of Canada's Poloz holds a press conference following the release of the Financial System Review.
  
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• Brazil speaker Cunha says he will not resign after police raids

  15-12-2015 18:06
  
  BRASILIA, Dec 15 (Reuters) - The speaker of the lower house of Brazil's Congresss, Eduardo Cunha, said on Tuesday that he did not intend to step down and was "absolutely innocent" following police...
  
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• Wall Street up as oil recovers; Fed in focus

  15-12-2015 18:01 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Wall Street was on track for a second day of gains on Tuesday as energy stocks rose in tandem with recovering oil prices, and a day before a widely expected interest-rate hike by the Federal Reserve in nearly a decade. "Investors seem to be at the crossroads of optimism and concern, with sentiment today leaning toward optimism," said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management in Minneapolis. Bank stocks rose on the expectation of improving interest income from higher r
  
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• 10 Things That Will Cost Less in 2016

  15-12-2015 18:00 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Gas prices were again flirting with $2 per gallon this December, and analysts say we could see prices as low as $1.79 this winter. Gold At an average $1,156 per ounce this year, gold is down more than 40 percent since its 2011 peak, according to The Wall Street Journal. The expected rate increase by the Fed as well as a stronger dollar internationally will keep an umbrella on the price of gold next year, depressing prices to an average $1,114 per ounce, according to bank polled by The
  
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• UPDATE 2-Democrats say oil dispute holding up U.S. funding bill

  15-12-2015 17:54
  
  WASHINGTON, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Talks among congressional leaders on a $1.15 trillion bill to keep the U.S. government funded were being held up by a dispute over energy policy with Republicans...
  
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• EU expected to agree on extending Russian sanctions on Friday

  15-12-2015 17:51 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Robin Emmott and Alastair Macdonald BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union is set to agree a six-month extension of its economic sanctions on Russia on Friday, once Italy's prime minister has discussed the issue with his fellow leaders at a summit in Brussels, diplomats said on Tuesday. Italy's Matteo Renzi has been seeking to raise the issue of the sanctions, imposed on Moscow last year over the Ukraine conflict, since last week, when Rome unexpectedly held up approval by EU envoys after an
  
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• UPDATE 1-Magnum Hunter latest oil producer to seek bankruptcy

  15-12-2015 17:46
  
  Dec 15 (Reuters) - Oil and gas producer Magnum Hunter Resources Corp and its affiliates filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday to carry out a debt-cutting plan as a prolonged slump in...
  
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• Deutsche Bahn to decide asset sales in February at earliest - report

  15-12-2015 16:13 via news.yahoo.com
  
  State-owned German rail operator Deutsche Bahn [DBN.UL] will decide on a partial sale of its Arriva and Schenker businesses in February at the earliest, the daily Stuttgarter Zeitung reported on Tuesday, citing company sources. Deutsche Bahn, which put plans for a stock market flotation on ice in 2008, is set to announce a sweeping restructuring this week and is looking at ways to raise money in the face of increasing competition from foreign railway groups and domestic long-distance bus lines.
  
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• African Development Bank approves $1.5 billion loan to Egypt

  15-12-2015 15:43 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a $1.5 billion loan to Egypt to be paid out over three years, International Cooperation Minister Sahar Nasr told Reuters on Tuesday. The first $500 million of the loan will arrive within days, said Nasr, and will go toward the government's economic development programme and national projects. "We have a competitive economic reform programme that started more than a year back and based on that we are taking the first tranche,” Nasr, a former
  
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• 3M lowers full-year earnings forecast

  15-12-2015 15:41 via news.yahoo.com
  
  ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — 3M is lowering its full-year earnings forecast, citing continued slow growth of the global economy.
  
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• Wall Street opens higher as oil recovers

  15-12-2015 15:35 via news.yahoo.com
  
  REUTERS - U.S. stocks opened higher on Tuesday as crude oil prices recovered from near 11-year lows and ahead of a widely expected increase in interest rates later in the week. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.53 points, or 0.01 percent, to 17,366.97, the S&P 500 gained 8.91 points, or 0.44 percent, to 2,030.85 and the Nasdaq Composite index added 38.21 points, or 0.77 percent, to 4,990.44. (Reporting By Sudarshan Varadhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)
  
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• Canadian factory sales drop for third month in a row

  15-12-2015 14:54 via news.yahoo.com
  
  OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian manufacturing sales dropped by an unexpectedly larger 1.1 percent in October, marking a third consecutive monthly fall, on broad-based weakness, Statistics Canada said on Tuesday. Market analysts polled by Reuters had forecast sales would shrink by 0.5 percent from September. It was the first time Canada had posted three consecutive month-on-month declines since July 2012. The report added to other data showing Canada's economy is struggling to shake off the effects o
  
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• ANC rallies round Zuma, says no plans to dismiss him as President

  15-12-2015 13:29 via news.yahoo.com
  
  South Africa's ruling African National Congress said on Tuesday it did not support calls for President Jacob Zuma to stand down after his appointment of an unknown backbencher as finance minister last week sent shockwaves through financial markets. Zuma had appointed David van Rooyen, a former mayor, to replace the widely respected Nhlanhla Nene last Wednesday, a move that sparked a selling frenzy in the rand, bonds and stock market. Zuma's dramatic U-turn caused a relief rally in South African
  
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• Climate deal typo hiccup solved 'in a small room,' France says

  15-12-2015 12:38 via news.yahoo.com
  
  A last minute dispute over an apparent typing error in last weekend's global climate deal in Paris was solved "in a small room" and thanks to trust established during the talks, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Tuesday. After two weeks of intense negotiations, the deal was almost derailed in the final hours when the more legally binding word 'Shall' appeared in one of the articles in the place of 'Should.' The last-minute change in text article 4.4 of the COP 21 agreement aimed at
  
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• German investor sentiment robust at year-end

  15-12-2015 12:32 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Investor sentiment in Germany is still on the increase, amid confidence that Europe's biggest economy is robust enough to withstand the refugee crisis and the economic slowdown in China, a leading survey said Tuesday. The investor confidence index calculated by the ZEW economic institute rose for the second month in a row to 16.1 points in December, after a 10.4 points increase in November, the think tank said in a statement. "The large influx of refugees is above all a major challenge facing po
  
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• Janet Yellen: An orthodox economist for unorthodox times

  15-12-2015 12:07 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Jason Lange WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Janet Yellen is guiding the Federal Reserve towards its first rate rise in a decade armed with traditional economic models that some economists worry could fail her in a world of massive money printing and near zero rates. If she is right, Yellen, who has already presided over the end of the Fed's bond-buying stimulus program, will cement her reputation and that of her "dashboard" that relies on long-established relationships between jobs, wages and prices.
  
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• Canadian small business lending picks up in October: PayNet

  15-12-2015 11:03 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Commercial borrowing by small businesses in Canada climbed in October, data from PayNet showed on Tuesday, a sign that companies in the energy-dependent economy are adjusting to sharply lower oil prices and showing signs of expanding once more. PayNet's Canadian small business lending index rose to 140.8 from September's 135.7. The data is collected by small business credit rating agency PayNet as reported by lenders.
  
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• Fires cost Indonesia $16 bn, twice the tsunami bill: World Bank

  15-12-2015 10:35 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Indonesia's economy took a $16-billion hit this year from forest fires that cloaked Southeast Asia in haze, more than double the sum spent on rebuilding Aceh after the 2004 tsunami, the World Bank said Tuesday. In a quarterly update on the Indonesian economy, the World Bank said the fires had devastated 2.6 million hectares (6.4 million acres) of forest and farmland across the archipelago from June to October. The cost to Southeast Asia's biggest economy is estimated at 221 trillion rupiah ($16.
  
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• One percent of China billionaires jailed for bribery, other crimes: report

  15-12-2015 09:53 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Shu Zhang and Matthew Miller BEIJING (Reuters) - Just over one percent of Chinese billionaires identified by the Hurun Report as the country's richest over the past 17 years have been jailed, charged or even executed mainly for bribery, embezzlement or economy-related crimes, the publication said. On its website, the Hurun Report said 35 of the more than 3,000 billionaires that have featured on its annual Hurun Rich List, dubbed by local media as a "slaughter list" since it was launched in 19
  
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• South Africa's rand gives up some gains, stocks firm

  15-12-2015 09:05 via news.yahoo.com
  
  South Africa's rand gave up some of the gains it had made following the appointment of a widely-respected finance minister, as investor confidence remained shaky on Tuesday after nearly a week of financial turmoil. The currency had jumped more than 5 percent the previous day after President Jacob Zuma named Pravin Gordhan, in a dramatic U-turn days after dismissing finance minister Nhlanhla Nene last week and replacing him with a little-known lawmaker. Ratings agency Fitch said on Monday that th
  
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• London pre-open: Stocks seen higher as FOMC meeting looms

  15-12-2015 08:42 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (ShareCast News) - London stocks are set to open higher, rebounding from the previous session's oil-led losses following a positive session on Wall Street.
  
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• South Sudan shifts to floating exchange rate: minister

  15-12-2015 08:03 via news.yahoo.com
  
  South Sudan has abandoned its official exchange rate and moved to a floating rate, the finance minister of the war-torn country said late on Monday. South Sudan, which gained independence from Sudan in 2011 only to fall into civil war two years ago, has seen its currency steadily weakening on the unofficial market, even as the central bank held on to a steady rate of 2.95 South Sudanese pounds to the U.S. dollar. "I am today announcing the important measures to reform our exchange rate policy,"
  
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• Hyundai Motor chairman says auto market 2016 outlook 'not bright'

  15-12-2015 07:32 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The outlook for the global auto market is "not bright" next year, Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Mong-koo said on Tuesday, indicating 2016 will be another challenging year for the world's fifth-largest automaker. Speaking to the heads of the automaker's overseas units, Chung said growth this year was constrained by a weak global economy, the economic slowdown in the world's second-largest auto market China and a decline in emerging market demand. "Considering many leading indicators, the out
  
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• Fed's Yellen: an orthodox economist for unorthodox times

  15-12-2015 07:07 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Jason Lange WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Janet Yellen is guiding the Federal Reserve towards its first rate rise in a decade armed with traditional economic models that some economists worry could fail her in a world of massive money printing and near zero rates. If she is right, Yellen, who has already presided over the end of the Fed's bond-buying stimulus program, will cement her reputation and that of her "dashboard" that relies on long-established relationships between jobs, wages and prices.
  
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