Finance news

• Some 17 percent of Americans have not yet started holiday shopping

  19-12-2015 14:33 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The poll found that 55 percent of American shoppers are cautious about spending due to economic uncertainty, a 17 percentage point increase from a Reuters survey in November but similar to the response in a survey taken at the same time last year. Some 45 percent had not finished shopping this year because they expected stores to offer better prices just before the holidays, the poll showed, and 43 percent believed online shopping would let them purchase everything they need at the last minute.
  
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• Ethiopia industrialisation drive met by violent protests over land

  19-12-2015 08:30 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Aaron Maasho GINCHI, Ethiopia (Reuters) - A government plan to allocate farmland near Ethiopia's capital for new investment has sparked a month of protests and some of the worst civil unrest for a decade, in a poor nation rapidly aiming to industrialise its agrarian economy. Earlier this week a government spokesman put the death toll at five. U.S. President Barack Obama made a similar call when he visited in July, even as he praised the nation's transformation.
  
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• India govt to push for bankruptcy law in Parliament in next 3 days-finmin

  19-12-2015 06:49
  
  MUMBAI, Dec 19 (Reuters) - The Indian government will push
  for a bankruptcy law in parliament in the remaining three days
  of the winter session, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on
  Saturday, hoping...
  
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• Bitcoin's 'blockchain' tech may transform banking

  19-12-2015 06:45 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The technology that drives the shadowy cryptocurrency bitcoin is drawing interest from the established banking industry, which sees a potential to revolutionize the sector. Although bitcoin and related virtual currencies are limited to a small set of transactions and are often associated with the underground economy, the so-called blockchain technology is gaining currency in the financial world. A blockchain is essentially a shared, encrypted "ledger" that cannot be manipulated, offering promise
  
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• GP Investments confirms immediate bid for BTG-backed BR Properties

  19-12-2015 06:10
  
  RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Bermuda-based GP Investments Ltd , Latin America's largest buyout firm, said late on Friday it planned to immediately launch an offer to buy as much as 63 percent of...
  
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• KKR among suitors to buy Sharp's business: Nikkei

  19-12-2015 03:35
  
  TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. buyout firm KKR & Cois among other private equity firms which are interested in investing in Sharp Corp , Nikkei business daily reported Saturday, without citing sources.
  
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• Number of global migrants rises dramatically, especially in Asia: U.N.

  19-12-2015 01:48 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Ellen Wulfhorst NEW YORK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The number of international migrants soared to 244 million this year, an increase of more than 40 percent from the year 2000, as economic need, global markets and a desire for better lives put more people on the move, the United Nations said on Friday. Nearly half of the world's migrants were born in Asia, which has provided the most migrants - 1.7 million people per year - over the last 15 years, followed by Europe, according to a repor
  
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• Sliding oil prices could smudge year-end stocks rally

  19-12-2015 01:39 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Lewis Krauskopf NEW YORK (Reuters) - With Wall Street heading into its usually buoyant year-end period, continued weakness in oil prices presents a major wildcard that could spoil any holiday cheer for stock investors. While the S&P 500 index is down 3 percent this month, December ranks as the best-performing month on average for the index since 1950, according to the Stock Trader's Almanac. The price of crude has closely correlated with the S&P 500 over the past 20 sessions as the co
  
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• Argentina gets 'Macri-economic' shock treatment

  19-12-2015 01:10 via news.yahoo.com
  
  In just a week as Argentina's president, conservative Mauricio Macri has passed drastic economic reforms, drawing praise from foreign investors but angry protests from citizens afraid for their salaries. Macri says a sharp adjustment is needed to make the country competitive, though economists as well as his political opponents warn it will hurt Argentines' purchasing power in the medium-term. "There is a sense of relaxation, aside from the critical economic situation," said political analyst Gu
  
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• Bank of Canada chief: Pointless to try to stop C$ moves

  19-12-2015 01:08 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Leah Schnurr and Randall Palmer OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar and the price of oil move "like a pair of train tracks" and trying to stop exchange rates from shifting could hinder the economy's ability to absorb shocks, Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz said on Friday. Poloz, speaking to Reuters in a year-end interview, also gave a cautiously optimistic view on the economy for 2016. After a softer fourth quarter, he said, "We should see some more persistent acceleration as we go t
  
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• ChemChina sweetens bid for Syngenta to $44 billion: Bloomberg

  19-12-2015 00:15
  
  (Reuters) - State-owned China National Chemical Corp [CNNCC.UL] has raised its offer to buy Syngenta AGby about $2 billion, to $44 billion, proposing a two-stage takeover of the agrochemical...
  
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