Finance news

• Illinois sells $480 million in bonds after 20 month hiatus

  14-01-2016 23:43
  
  CHICAGO (Reuters) - Illinois sold $480 million of bonds on Thursday, its first debt issue in nearly two years, with the U.S. municipal market's hunger for higher-yielding assets easing the interest...
  
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• U.S. municipal bond funds post $994.9 million in inflows: Lipper

  14-01-2016 23:29
  
  Jan 14 (Reuters) - - U.S. municipal bond funds reported $994.9 million of net inflows in the week ended Jan. 13, compared with $992.7 million in inflows in the previous week, according to data...
  
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• Morgan Stanley names new fixed-income head in bid to reshape business

  14-01-2016 23:14
  
  (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley named a new head for its fixed-income trading unit as it seeks to turn around the struggling business.
  
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• U.S. stock market strategists not ready for the bear yet

  14-01-2016 23:00 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The 6.0 percent year to date decline in the Standard & Poor's 500 index, prompted by worries about Chinese economic weakness, a decline in oil prices, and a generalized fear of the selling feeding on itself, has put optimists in the position of having to predict really outsized returns from now just to show modest returns for 2016. UBS Wealth Management Global Chief Investment Officer Mark Haefele downgraded U.S. equities to neutral on a 6-month basis last week, after having been overweight
  
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• California Governor Brown pushes big water project amid drought

  14-01-2016 22:58 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Sharon Bernstein SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown warned on Thursday of near-apocalyptic water shortages if his $15 billion plan to divert water from a Northern California river for use elsewhere gets bogged down in political and environmental disputes. The plan to remove water north of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the fragile source of much of the state's drinking water, is opposed by many environmentalists, but Brown insisted it was crucial in shorin
  
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• Energy leads Wall Street rebound; S&P has best day since December

  14-01-2016 22:53 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - A rally in battered energy shares led U.S. stocks to rebound on Thursday, while financials rose after upbeat results from JPMorgan Chase & Co.
  
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• Bounce in oil prices lifts energy shares, U.S. stocks

  14-01-2016 22:22 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Lewis Krauskopf NEW YORK (Reuters) - The energy sector led the beaten-up U.S. stock market higher on Thursday as oil prices rebounded from 12-year lows. Gains in stocks and oil also helped push the U.S. dollar higher, while the increases in risk assets reduced demand for safe-haven gold and U.S. government debt. Equity markets have tumbled to start the year as volatility in Chinese shares and the persistent slide in oil made investors jittery about the health of the global economy.
  
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• JPMorgan Chase profits up, upbeat on US economy

  14-01-2016 22:13 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Bolstered by lower costs and a strong performance in consumer lending, JPMorgan Chase reported higher earnings Thursday and offered a generally upbeat appraisal of the US economy. The biggest US bank by assets reported fourth-quarter earnings of $5.4 billion, up 10.2 percent from the year-ago period, lifting annual profits to $24.4 billion, a 12.5 percent increase from 2014. Chief executive Jamie Dimon said the US economy looks "pretty good" in spite of the hit to the oil industry from falling c
  
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• Canada's Morneau: Investors should be confident about Canada

  14-01-2016 21:58 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau said on Thursday that foreign investors should be confident about the country, noting that the government has room to invest to stimulate the economy. "We believe that outside investors should be confident about Canada," Morneau told reporters in response to a question about the Canadian dollar, which has hit a 12-year low. "We have the room to make some significant investments to stimulate our economy and create a more productive Canada over the long term.
  
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• Goldman Sachs to pay $15 million to settle SEC stock lending case

  14-01-2016 21:54
  
  (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs & Co will pay $15 million to settle civil charges that its securities lending practices violated federal regulations, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on...
  
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• Dollar cheered by gains in U.S. stocks, oil prices

  14-01-2016 21:54 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - The dollar rose on Thursday, bolstered by gains in the U.S. stock market and a rebound in oil, suggesting that the Federal Reserve may not be as constrained to push ahead with its plan to raise interest rates several times this year. Oil prices have been volatile the first two weeks of the year, but on Thursday, U.S. crude futures were up more than 2 percent. "In that environment, we're seeing the funders (euro, yen) underperform and the high-beta
  
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• Oil prices bounce, boosting energy shares, U.S. stocks

  14-01-2016 21:06 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Lewis Krauskopf NEW YORK (Reuters) - The energy sector led the beaten-up U.S. stock market higher on Thursday as oil prices rebounded from 12-year lows. Gains in stocks and oil also helped push the U.S. dollar higher, while the increases in risk assets reduced demand for safe-haven gold and U.S. government debt. Equity markets have tumbled to start the year as volatility in Chinese shares and the persistent slide in oil made investors jittery about the health of the global economy.
  
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• Even as oil price sinks, PM Trudeau is 'optimistic' about economy

  14-01-2016 20:28 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Alastair Sharp KITCHENER, ONTARIO (Reuters) - Canada's prime minister said on Thursday he was "optimistic" about the country's economy and its potential for growth through innovation and diversification, even as it has been hurt by tumbling oil prices. "I'm tremendously optimistic about the Canadian economy," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters after touring Google's offices in southern Ontario. "We have work to do, there's no question about it, but we got elected on a very straightf
  
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• N. Korea slams World Economic Forum for revoking invitation

  14-01-2016 19:07 via news.yahoo.com
  
  SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Thursday criticized organizers of the World Economic Forum in Davos for revoking an invitation to its delegation in the wake of a nuclear test.
  
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• The Devil's Due: China Could Send S&P 500 Below 666

  14-01-2016 19:04 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Like when the S&P 500 bottomed at 666 on March 6, 2009 (03/06/09) during the last bear market. Now, noted bear Albert Edwards at Societe Generale warns: Stocks are headed even lower, revisiting 666 on the way to the hellish price destruction that lies below. Related: Is China or the Middle East a Bigger Threat to Stocks?
  
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• Wall Street rallies as oil prices rebound

  14-01-2016 18:59 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. stocks rallied strongly on Thursday, with the S&P 500 crossing a key technical level, as a rebound in oil prices boosted energy companies. All 10 major S&P sectors were higher. Exxon and Chevron were up about 1 percent, giving the biggest boosts to the S&P 500 and the Dow.
  
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• UPDATE 3-EU Parliament delays vote on new car pollution limits

  14-01-2016 18:59
  
  * Rejection means lengthy delay to draft new rules (Recasts and adds lawmaker quotes)
  
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• JPMorgan's Dimon sees no US recession

  14-01-2016 18:57 via news.yahoo.com
  
  JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon said Thursday the US economy looks "pretty good" and growth, though slowing, would not end up in recession. "We're not forecasting a recession," Dimon said in a conference call with analysts after the bank reported fourth-quarter earnings that topped expectations. "We think the US economy looks pretty good at this point," Dimon said, adding that he expects broader US credit quality to deteriorate beyond the downturn seen in the oil sector amid falling c
  
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• UPDATE 4-Renault searched in emissions probe, says no sign of defeat devices

  14-01-2016 18:25
  
  * Renault, foreign brands emissions over limit-minister (Adds minister's comments)
  
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• Average US rate on 30-year mortgage falls to 3.92 percent

  14-01-2016 17:57 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates fell this week amid continued turbulence in global stock markets.
  
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• Britain's FTSE recovers ground after hitting lowest level in nearly 5 months

  14-01-2016 17:56 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Britain's top share index fell to its lowest level in almost five months on Thursday, hit by falls in downgraded travel and leisure stocks, though an oil price recovery and strength on Wall Street helped ...
  
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• U.S. shares gain as oil prices bounce off 12-year lows

  14-01-2016 17:54 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Lewis Krauskopf NEW YORK (Reuters) - The energy sector led gains in U.S. shares on Thursday led by and European shares pared losses as oil prices rebounded from 12-year lows. Gains in stocks and oil also helped push the U.S. dollar higher, while the rebound in risk assets reduced demand for safe-haven gold and U.S. government debt. Equity markets have tumbled to start the year as volatility in Chinese shares and the persistent slide in oil made investors jittery about the health of the global
  
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• UPDATE 4-Germany's Bilfinger contemplates break-up

  14-01-2016 17:36
  
  * Offers value unit at about 1.7 billion euros - source (Adds unit valution, adviser's name)
  
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• UPDATE 2-Fiat Chrysler shares hit by report of U.S. lawsuit

  14-01-2016 17:35
  
  * Shares fall 11 pct in Milan, suspended twice for volatility
  
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• Dollar advances on gains in U.S. stocks, oil prices

  14-01-2016 17:35 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - The dollar rose on Thursday, bolstered by gains in the U.S. stock market and a rebound in oil prices, suggesting that the Federal Reserve will not be as constrained to push ahead with its plan to raise interest rates several times this year. Oil prices have been volatile the first two weeks of the year, but on Thursday, U.S. crude futures were up 3.8 percent at $31.63. "The big picture is really about risk," said Lee Ferridge, head of macro strate
  
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• World Economic Forum warns of growing array of global risks

  14-01-2016 17:33 via news.yahoo.com
  
  LONDON (AP) — The global economy faces an array of risks, from natural disasters related to climate change to the rise of the Islamic State group and increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks, according to experts polled by the World Economic Forum, which organizes the annual gathering of political and business leaders in the Swiss resort of Davos.
  
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• High-end hotels roll out the red carpet for Fido

  14-01-2016 17:13
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - When Sophie travels to Paris, there is only one place to stay: The Castille, a five-star boutique hotel on the Rue Cambon, in the heart of the city's fashion district near the...
  
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• Romania village wins protected status, blocking Canada mine plans

  14-01-2016 17:07 via news.yahoo.com
  
  A Romanian village where a Canadian firm is planning a controversial open-cast goldmine has been declared a site of historical interest, granting it protection from mining activity, the culture ministry said Thursday. "Rosia Montana village has been designated a place of historic site of national interest which has a radius of two kilometres (just over a mile)," said Adrian Balteanu, the ministry's adviser on cultural heritage. The step is a new blow for Canada's Gabriel Resources which has been
  
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• Late rains bring some hope to South Africa's parched maize belt

  14-01-2016 16:58 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Ed Stoddard WESSELSBRON, South Africa (Reuters) - South African farmer Chris Schoonwinkel is taking a gamble: two months late, he is planting maize in a pair of his fields, pinning his hopes on a mid-summer rain. For Schoonwinkel and other farmers, these mid-summer rains may be too little, too late as the South African countryside bakes under the worst drought in over a century. Africa's most advanced economy, usually a maize exporter, may need to import 5 million tonnes this year, roughly ha
  
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• Wall Street up strongly as tech selloff fades

  14-01-2016 16:57 via news.yahoo.com
  
  At 10:40 a.m. ET (1540 GMT) the Dow Jones industrial average was up 192.51 points, or 1.19 percent, at 16,343.92. The S&P 500 was up 21.7 points, or 1.15 percent, at 1,911.98 and the Nasdaq Composite index was up 45.11 points, or 1 percent, at 4,571.18. "We've seen such a strong selloff and moved into correction territory for the year, there's more of a 'sentiment-in-momentum' trade that is underway rather than a focus on fundamentals," Bill Northey, chief investment officer of the private c
  
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• South Africa suffers driest year on record in 2015

  14-01-2016 16:53 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Ed Stoddard JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa suffered its driest year on record in 2015, the national weather service said on Thursday, as a drought that has threatened the vital maize crop and hit economic growth showed no sign of abating. Africa's most advanced economy, usually a maize exporter, may need to import as much as 5 million tonnes this year, roughly half its requirements, the country's largest producer group said last week. The dry, hot conditions are expected to persist unt
  
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• Nigeria stocks hit 3-1/2-year low as funds sell on naira woes

  14-01-2016 16:50 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Nigeria's share index tumbled 3.4 percent on Thursday and hit its lowest point in almost 3-1/2 years, spooked by the weak outlook for the currency, traders said. The share index, which has the second-biggest weighting after Kuwait on the MSCI frontier market index, has fallen for five straight days, sliding below the psychologically important 25,000 point line not seen since September 2012. Currency and stock markets in Africa's biggest economy have been hit hard by the fall in the price of crud
  
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• Fed's Bullard says weak commodities more about supply than demand

  14-01-2016 16:28 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The rout on global commodity markets is not a reflection of weak global demand as much as a predictable supply response to rising prices, St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said on Thursday. Markets interpreting the fall in oil as a reflection of a weak global economy are overreacting, he said. Only a small component of the movements in commodities can be attributed to global demand," he said.
  
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• JPMorgan Chase's earnings rise 9 percent, beat estimates

  14-01-2016 16:17 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — Banking giant JPMorgan Chase & Co. said Thursday that its fourth-quarter profits rose 9 percent from a year earlier, helped by strong performance in its consumer banking division and lower legal expenses.
  
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• Momentum fading for global economic growth and inflation: poll

  14-01-2016 16:13 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Rahul Karunakar BENGALURU (Reuters) - Economic growth is losing momentum across emerging and developed economies as is inflation, with trouble in China now the biggest worry for 2016, according to the overwhelming majority of hundreds of economists polled by Reuters around the world. Elwin de Groot, senior market economist at Rabobank, warned that the world could no longer rely on China for support, as it did after the global crisis erupted on financial markets in 2007-08 and spread to develo
  
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• Asia and Europe hit by fresh selloff

  14-01-2016 16:05 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Another fierce selloff gripped Asia and Europe on Thursday as investors seized on tumbling oil prices and intensifying concerns over the darkening world outlook. Heavy Wall Street losses on Wednesday cut short a two-day rally and smothered hopes of a sustained turnaround on battered global markets, although US stocks opened flat on Thursday. Oil collapsed this week to 12-year lows below $30 a barrel, wracked by oversupply and demand fears linked to China's economic slowdown, sending shockwaves a
  
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• UPDATE 1-GoPro stock seen staying grounded until drones take flight

  14-01-2016 15:37
  
  Jan 14 (Reuters) - GoPro Inc's disappointing fourth-quarter revenue forecast showed that its action cameras are losing traction with customers, with analysts expecting the company's fortunes to turn...
  
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• S. Korea cuts growth outlook for 2016

  14-01-2016 15:36 via news.yahoo.com
  
  South Korea's central bank on Thursday cut its economic growth outlook for 2016 to three percent, citing lingering "uncertainties" over a slowdown in key export markets and the won currency. Volatility on China's financial markets was also causing shockwaves, Governor Lee Ju-Yeol told reporters, adding that while "the Chinese risk is not unexpected", global bourses are "reacting dramatically to the huge swings that are beyond expectation". After its monthly monetary police meeting, at which it l
  
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• Fed to hike rates three times in 2016, economic outlook subdued: poll

  14-01-2016 15:33 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The Federal Reserve will raise interest rates only three times this year as it faces a more subdued outlook for both the U.S. and world economies, a Reuters poll of economists found. The world's largest economy is a bulwark for an increasingly shaky global one, and has the most immediate positive prospects for generating inflation with a very low unemployment rate and a solid pace of private hiring. The poll of over 90 economists found the U.S. economy will grow 2.5 percent in 2016, the same as
  
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• UPDATE 2-Best Buy lowers sales outlook after holiday sales drop

  14-01-2016 15:29
  
  Jan 14 (Reuters) - Best Buy Co Inc said it expected its U.S. sales to fall by about 1.5 percent in the current quarter after weak demand for mobile phones during the holiday season, pushing its...
  
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• Oil to drag on Canada economy but no recession or rate cut: poll

  14-01-2016 15:28 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Stubbornly low oil prices will weigh on the Canadian economy in 2016, but no recession or further interest rate cut by the Bank of Canada are expected this year, a Reuters poll found. The survey of more than 40 analysts showed Canada's economy is forecast to grow 1.8 percent this year and 2.2 percent the next, a slight downgrade from the 2.0 percent forecast for 2016 in October's poll.
  
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• JPMorgan caps year with better-than-expected results

  14-01-2016 14:45 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Shares of JPMorgan - the first big U.S. lender to report since the Federal Reserve raised its key interest rate for the first time in nearly a decade in mid-December - were up 1.9 percent in premarket trading on Thursday. JPMorgan's total non-interest expenses fell 7.4 percent to $14.26 billion in the quarter, while legal expenses fell to $644 million from $1.1 billion. Cost-saving efforts at JPMorgan go as far as plans to eliminate support for BlackBerrys and requiring that some employees pay f
  
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• Europe slumps as French car crash adds to oil spill

  14-01-2016 14:43 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Marc Jones LONDON (Reuters) - Share markets and heavily commodity-dependent currencies took a fresh beating on Thursday, having been floored again by the latest plunge in oil prices, this time to below $30 a barrel. MSCI's 46-country world index was down for its 10th day in the last 11 and Europe took another 2 percent hit, as worries that French carmakers were being dragged into the emissions scandal sent the likes of Renault down as much as 20 percent. The oil pressure woes had seen heavy s
  
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• GLOBAL MARKETS - Europe slumps as French car crash adds to oil spill

  14-01-2016 14:33 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Marc Jones LONDON (Reuters) - Share markets and heavily commodity-dependent currencies took a fresh beating on Thursday, having been floored again by the latest plunge in oil prices, this time to below $30 a barrel. MSCI's 46-country world index was down for its 10th day in the last 11 and Europe took another 2 percent hit, as worries that French carmakers were being dragged into the emissions scandal sent the likes of Renault down as much as 20 percent. The oil pressure woes had seen heavy s
  
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• GoPro stock seen staying grounded until drones take flight

  14-01-2016 14:26
  
  Jan 14 (Reuters) - Gopro Inc's disappointing fourth-quarter revenue forecast showed that its action cameras are losing traction with customers, with analysts expecting the company's fortunes to turn...
  
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• Indonesia cuts interest rate for first time in nearly a year

  14-01-2016 14:18 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Indonesia's central bank cut its key interest rate Thursday for the first time in nearly a year, in a bid to boost lagging growth in Southeast Asia's largest economy. Bank Indonesia cut the rate by 25 basis points to 7.25 percent.
  
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• Britain's FTSE falls to lowest level in nearly five months

  14-01-2016 14:06
  
  * FTSE nearly 20 pct below last year's record high (Adds quote, detail)
  
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• Renault says factories probed, no defeat device found so far

  14-01-2016 13:38
  
  PARIS, Jan 14 (Reuters) - French carmaker Renault said on Thursday that fraud investigators were looking at the way it uses exhaust emissions technology in an additional probe of parts and factories...
  
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• Peugeot says no anomalies in emissions' tests

  14-01-2016 13:35
  
  PARIS, Jan 14 (Reuters) - French carmaker Peugeot said on Thursday emission tests carried out by the Energy Ministry on its cars showed no anomalies and that it had not been subject to searches by...
  
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• European Central Bank divided over China risks

  14-01-2016 13:34 via news.yahoo.com
  
  FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Policymakers at the European Central Bank disagreed at their last meeting over how big a threat turmoil in China and other emerging markets posed to Europe's modest economic recovery.
  
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