Finance news

• Sete Brasil shareholders may file for bankruptcy -sources

  19-02-2016 23:59
  
  SAO PAULO, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Shareholders of Sete Brasil
  Participações SA may file for bankruptcy protection if Brazilian
  state-controlled oil producer Petróleo Brasileiro SA, the rig
  builder's sole...
  
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• Global stocks slip after good week, as oil prices lose gains

  19-02-2016 23:01 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Chuck Mikolajczak NEW YORK (Reuters) - Major world stock markets slipped on Friday, but still had their best week this year, as crude oil prices stabilized. Yields on short-dated U.S. bond yields rose though after U.S. inflation data raised the possibility the Federal Reserve may raise interest again earlier than anticipated. Crude oil prices slipped also on Friday but still posted gains for the week for the first time this month.
  
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• ISS recommends Viacom investors withhold support for six directors

  19-02-2016 23:00
  
  BOSTON (Reuters) - Proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services on Friday recommended Viacom Inc investors withhold support for six of the media company's directors, citing concerns about their...
  
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• Fairfax's Watsa sounds caution on global economy, equities

  19-02-2016 22:51
  
  TORONTO (Reuters) - Prem Watsa, the head of Fairfax Financial Holdings and a well known contrarian investor, said on Friday he is concerned about the global economy, pointing to record low bond...
  
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• Wall Street ends flat, indexes post best week of 2016

  19-02-2016 22:40 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The Nasdaq rose, helped by a 7 percent jump in Applied Materials shares after the chip equipment provider gave a strong profit and revenue forecast for the current quarter. Buoyed by big gains on Tuesday and Wednesday, the major indexes posted their best weekly performances this year, with the Nasdaq tallying its strongest week since July. The S&P 500 remains down 6.2 percent this year, however, hurt by oil's prolonged slide and fears of China-led slowdown in the global economy.
  
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• Yahoo, under fire by investors, takes steps for possible sale

  19-02-2016 22:39
  
  (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc , under pressure from impatient investors, took steps on Friday to handle the possible sale of parts of the struggling Internet company.
  
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• Opaque U.S. panel hones in on China deals for third year

  19-02-2016 22:35
  
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China led the pack of countries whose planned U.S. acquisitions and investments for the 2014 fiscal year were probed for U.S. security implications, making it the most...
  
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• S&P warns it may cut Icahn Enterprises to junk status, stock falls

  19-02-2016 22:33 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Svea Herbst-Bayliss BOSTON (Reuters) - U.S. ratings agency Standard & Poor's warned on Friday it may cut the credit rating of billionaire investor Carl Icahn's Icahn Enterprises to junk status after the portfolio absorbed heavy commodity sector losses in the last few months. S&P placed its triple-B-minus issuer credit rating and senior unsecured debt rating of Icahn Enterprises on "CreditWatch with negative implications," the agency said in a statement. The news weighed on Icahn Enter
  
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• Exclusive: Vanguard offers fresh backing for 'proxy access' reforms

  19-02-2016 22:29
  
  BOSTON (Reuters) - Top U.S. mutual fund company Vanguard Group will be more likely to support measures giving shareholders new power over the makeup of corporate boards, a boost for reformers heading...
  
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• Focus sharpens on Fed after hot inflation data

  19-02-2016 22:22 via news.yahoo.com
  
  With next week's calendar full of economic data releases and speeches by economic policymakers, investors have been poised to watch the Federal Reserve for clues about the U.S. central bank's next move, but an unexpectedly hot reading on inflation on Friday will further sharpen that focus. After coming into 2016 with an expectation of three or four interest rate hikes through the year, market participants recently were viewing the Fed as likely raising interest rates once, if at all, in light of
  
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• Wall Street inches lower on oil, weak earnings

  19-02-2016 22:07 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street dipped on Friday, hurt by a renewed drop in oil prices and disappointing earnings from Nordstrom, but the major indexes still posted their best weeks of the year. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 23.08 points, or 0.14 percent, to 16,390.35, the S&P 500 lost 0.21 points, or 0.01 percent, to 1,917.62 and the Nasdaq Composite added 16.89 points, or 0.38 percent, to 4,504.43. (Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)
  
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• Firming U.S. inflation keeps Fed rate hike on the table

  19-02-2016 22:06 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Rising rents and healthcare costs lifted underlying U.S. consumer price inflation in January by the most in nearly 4-1/2 years, providing support for the view that the Federal Reserve could gradually raise interest rates this year as forecast. The Labor Department said on Friday its Consumer Price Index, excluding the volatile food and energy components, increased 0.3 percent last month, the biggest gain since August 2011, following a 0.2 percent rise in
  
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• Yen gains vs euro, dollar as oil, stocks falter anew

  19-02-2016 21:41 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - The yen rose sharply against the euro and dollar on Friday after yet another downbeat session for oil prices and stock markets worldwide, underscoring worries about global growth. Analysts said declining oil and equities took the shine out of the dollar. U.S. data this week has been generally positive, however, helping the dollar index post its best weekly performance in about two months.
  
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• Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway avoids S&P rating downgrade

  19-02-2016 21:33 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Standard & Poor's on Friday left its "AA" credit ratings for Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc alone, saying the company's growing diversification and "modest" financial risks meant a downgrade was not necessary. Berkshire had been put on review for a possible downgrade on Aug. 11, on concern about Buffett's decision to deploy a large amount of cash toward last month's $32 billion acquisition of industrial parts maker Precision Castparts Corp. But S&P analyst Laline Carvalho said B
  
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• Oil slide drags on Wall Street; S&P poised for best week of 2016

  19-02-2016 20:59 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The Nasdaq edged higher, helped by a 7.9 percent rise in Applied Materials after the chip equipment provider gave a strong profit and revenue forecast for the current quarter. The S&P 500 remains down 6.4 percent this year, hurt by oil's prolonged slide and fears of China-led slowdown in the global economy. Oil prices, which have been tightly tied to the performance of equities, fell 4 percent as record high U.S. crude stockpiles heightened supply concerns.
  
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• UPDATE 4-Deere posts lower quarterly earnings, cuts full-year outlook

  19-02-2016 20:26
  
  Feb 19 (Reuters) - Deere & Co cut its fiscal-year sales and profit outlook and reported lower quarterly earnings on Friday as farmers' declining income weakened demand for agricultural equipment, and...
  
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• Exclusive: Terex stops Konecranes merger integration work

  19-02-2016 20:22
  
  (Reuters) - Terex Corp , the U.S. crane maker that has received a $3.3 billion acquisition offer from China's Zoomlion , said on Friday it had halted all work on its integration with Finland's...
  
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• Global stocks retreat as oil weakness resurfaces

  19-02-2016 19:58 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Chuck Mikolajczak NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global equity markets retreated on Friday, but were off earlier lows as oil prices weakened, while short-dated U.S. bond prices rose after economic data raised the possibility of an interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve this year. Advances earlier in the week were sparked by moves by oil producers, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, to cap output were erased after a record buildup in U.S. crude stockpiles kindled worries over persisting global oversu
  
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• Irish main opposition leader predicts stable government

  19-02-2016 19:39 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Padraic Halpin DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland has enough parties sharing the center ground to form a stable government after elections next week, the leader of the main opposition party said on Friday, rejecting any comparison with Spain's election deadlock. Ireland risks the prospect of a post-election stalemate with the two dominant parties, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, insisting they will not enter an unprecedented coalition that polls suggest would offer the only hope of a stable government. Sp
  
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• Buffett's Berkshire avoids S&P rating downgrade

  19-02-2016 19:19 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Standard & Poor's on Friday left intact its "AA" credit ratings for Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc , saying the company's diversification and "modest" financial risk justify the high grade. Berkshire had been put on review on Aug. 11 for a possible downgrade on concern about Buffett's decision to deploy a large amount of cash toward the $32 billion acquisition of industrial parts maker Precision Castparts Corp. But S&P analyst Laline Carvalho said Berkshire's ratings were suppor
  
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• Goldman's Holmes to take on role as head of bank's leadership program

  19-02-2016 19:09
  
  (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc named Dane Holmes, the global head of investor relations, as the head of its Pine Street leadership program.
  
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• Brazil orders release of senator in corruption probe

  19-02-2016 19:06 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Brazil Supreme Court Judge Teori Zavascki on Friday ordered the release of ruling party Senator Delcidio do Amaral, who has been jailed since November and faces charges of obstructing a massive corruption investigation, a court representative said. Amaral's arrest, part of the ongoing probe into kickbacks around state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA, complicated President Dilma Rousseff's effort to pass unpopular austerity measures. The senator had been her main negotiator on economic pol
  
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• S&P 500, Dow slip on oil; data stokes rate hike talk

  19-02-2016 19:02 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The Nasdaq eked out a gain, led by heavyweights Amazon and Facebook and as Applied Materials jumped 9.4 percent on the chip equipment provider's buoyant forecast. Seven of the 10 major S&P sectors were lower.
  
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• Steinhoff joins battle with Sainsbury's for Home Retail

  19-02-2016 19:00
  
  LONDON (Reuters) - South African-based furniture retailer SteinhoffInternational has made a rival offer to buy Britain's Home Retail , the owner of the Argos group of catalog-based stores which...
  
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• Fridges and flour: Syrian refugees boost Turkish economy

  19-02-2016 18:49 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Nevzat Devranoglu ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey's 2.6 million Syrian refugees may be straining the housing and jobs systems, but they're also fuelling economic growth. The world's largest refugee population has had a positive impact on Turkish output, economists and government officials say. The government also says it has spent almost $10 billion since the start of the conflict, mostly on refugee camps, pumping more cash into goods and services.
  
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• Russia could cut defense procurement spending: sources

  19-02-2016 18:31 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Margarita Papchenkova, Lidia Kelly and Darya Korsunskaya MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian government is considering a 5 percent cut in defense procurement spending this year, sources say, showing not even Vladimir Putin's plan to restore Moscow's military might is immune to the pain of a slowing economy. The president has made beefing up the military a national priority, and the fact it is up for discussion is a sign that no area is safe from budget cuts as Russia begins a second year of recess
  
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• NYSE drops proposal to flag 'aberrant' trading in ETFs: regulators

  19-02-2016 18:24 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The exchange in late January dropped a request with federal regulators that would have let it discourage traders and market-data companies from relying on ETF prices "that the exchange determines to be inconsistent with the prevailing market," the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said in a filing on Thursday. NYSE's Arca exchange is a primary listing and trading venue for the $3 trillion global ETF market, and it has been scrutinized closely for its response to a lopsided trading session
  
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• FTSE slips on oil, records best week of 2016

  19-02-2016 18:04
  
  LONDON, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index fell on Friday as energy stocks came under pressure again from dropping oil prices, although the index recorded its best weekly performance since...
  
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• UPDATE 1-Brazil eyes Abengoa intervention after default, papers say

  19-02-2016 17:50
  
  SAO PAULO, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Brazil's government is
  studying the option of intervening in Spanish multinational
  Abengoa SA, after the company failed to honor 375
  million reais ($93 million) it owed...
  
  Read more

• Global stocks knocked back as oil rally falters

  19-02-2016 17:15 via news.yahoo.com
  
  LONDON (Reuters) - A faltering oil price rally pushed back European stocks and sent benchmark German Bund yields below 0.20 percent on Friday as worries about the global economic outlook returned to prominence.
  
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• U.N.'s climate chief to quit, praises Paris agreement

  19-02-2016 16:41 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Alister Doyle PARIS (Reuters) - The U.N.'s climate chief said on Friday she will step down in July, at the end of a six-year term, and praised governments for reaching a 195-nation deal in Paris in December to shift the world economy from fossil fuels to cleaner energies. Christiana Figueres, a 59-year-old Costa Rican, said she would not accept any extension of her term as head of the Bonn-based U.N. Climate Change Secretariat after what she called the historic Paris Agreement. "We now move i
  
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• Aggressive policy required to lower inflation: S.African cbank deputy governor

  19-02-2016 16:26 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Aggressive monetary policy action is required in a short space of time to bring inflation back into target range, Kuben Naidoo, a South Africa Reserve Bank Deputy Governor said on Friday. In its first meeting of 2016, the Reserve Bank hiked interest rates by 50 basis points to 6.75 percent as it sought to keep inflation below its 6 percent target despite weak economic growth. "The cost of bringing inflation back into the target range once inflation expectations have become dislodged is high.
  
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• Deere's 1Q results top estimates, but cuts full-year outlook

  19-02-2016 16:24 via news.yahoo.com
  
  MOLINE, Ill. (AP) — Deere cut its full-year earnings forecast Friday even as the agricultural equipment maker beat Wall Street's expectations for the first quarter. It has been dealing with weak sales of farm and construction equipment.
  
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• Yen advances vs euro, dollar as oil, stocks falter anew

  19-02-2016 16:19 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - The yen rose against the euro and dollar on Friday after yet another downbeat session for oil prices and stock markets worldwide, underscoring worries about global growth. The dollar, however, gained overall after higher than-expected U.S. inflation data for January helped keep interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve a possibility this year. U.S. data this week has been generally positive, with the dollar index on track for its best weekly perf
  
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• Germany doubles arms exports in 2015

  19-02-2016 16:05 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Germany doubled its arms exports last year to around eight billion euros ($8.9 billion), government figures showed on Friday, in contradiction to Berlin's pledge to rein in the amount of weapons Europe's biggest economy sells abroad. The increase was driven largely by "special factors," Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel explained when presenting the data. The economy ministry is in charge of approving arms exports and Gabriel had promised to limit them when he took up his position at the end of 20
  
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• BRIEF-Koumbas Group approves dissolution and liquidation of company

  19-02-2016 15:46
  
  * Approves dissolution and liquidation of companySource text: bit.ly/1Vs4AlL
  Further company coverage:
  (Gdynia Newsroom)
  
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• Worldwide M&A activity falls 23 percent, but U.S. has a flurry

  19-02-2016 15:23
  
  LONDON (Reuters) - Worldwide mergers and acquisitions deals have fallen 23 percent to $336 billion so far this year compared with last year, but cross-border activity by amount targeting U.S.-based...
  
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• DuPont, Dow set home towns for units to be spun off

  19-02-2016 15:03
  
  (Reuters) - DuPontand Dow Chemical Cosaid two of the three units to be created and spun off following the companies' mega-merger will be based in DuPont's home town, and one in Dow's home town.
  
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• Yahoo board forms committee to review options

  19-02-2016 14:56 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — Yahoo's board has created a committee of independent directors and hired a trio of economic advisers in its long-running bid to redefine itself.
  
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• Italy sees fewest births ever in 2015, population drops

  19-02-2016 14:47 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Fewer babies were born in Italy in 2015 than in any year since the modern state was founded 154 years ago, and the population shrank for the first time in three decades, data showed on Friday. With the economy stagnating, the slump in productivity has increasingly affected potential parents as well over the past five years, national statistics office ISTAT said. "Just as the lack of positive prospects for manufacturers puts a brake on investments, difficulties young couples face, above all with
  
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• Chinese logistics firm ZTO Express plans U.S. IPO - WSJ

  19-02-2016 14:47 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Adds IFR report on ZTO's Hong Kong IPO plan; also adds companyand IPO market background) Feb 19 (Reuters) - Logistics company ZTO Express is planninga U.S. initial public offering that could be the biggest U.S.listing by a Chinese company since ecommerce giant Alibaba GroupHolding Ltd's $25 billion IPO, the Wall Street Journalreported. Shanghai-based ZTO Express could raise between $1 billionand $2 billion by later this year or early 2017, the Journalreported, citing people familiar with the ma
  
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• Kenya's remittances rise 8.4 pct in 2015 to record $1.54 billion

  19-02-2016 14:42 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Cash from abroad is a major source of foreign exchange for the import-dependent economy, along with earnings from tea, tourism and horticulture. Last year's remittances offered much-needed support to the Kenyan shilling, which fell close to its record low of 107 per dollar last September before stabilising.
  
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• Google accounts show 11 billion euros moved via low tax 'Dutch sandwich' in 2014

  19-02-2016 14:20 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Toby Sterling and Tom Bergin AMSTERDAM/LONDON (Reuters) - Google moved 10.7 billion euros ($12 billion) through the Netherlands to Bermuda in 2014, as part of a structure which allows it to earn most of its foreign income tax free. Accounts for Google Netherlands Holdings BV published on Thursday show the unit transferred almost all its revenue, mainly royalties from an Irish affiliate through which most non-U.S. revenue is channeled, to a Bermuda-based, Irish-registered affiliate called Goog
  
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• German exports to Russia set to fall to 10-year low

  19-02-2016 14:20 via news.yahoo.com
  
  German businesses are expecting to see a further drop in exports to Russia this year to their lowest level in 10 years, even if companies continue to regard it as a market with enormous potential, a specialist trade organisation found on Friday. German exports to Russia plummeted by 25.5 percent last year, weighed down by the plunging ruble and the economic crisis in Russia, according to data published by the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations. "Compared with the record year in 201
  
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• Berlin says no final decision on delivering patrol boats to Saudi Arabia

  19-02-2016 14:08 via news.yahoo.com
  
  BERLIN (Reuters) - German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said a final decision on the delivery of patrol boats to Saudi Arabia had not yet been made. In January, Gabriel said that Germany might look harder at its arms exports to Saudi Arabia after the Gulf kingdom carried out its biggest mass execution for decades. (Reporting by Gernot Heller; Writing by Michelle Martin; Editing by Noah Barkin)
  
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• Fewer poor in Latin America but indigenous people still lag others: World Bank

  19-02-2016 14:06 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Latin America's indigenous peoples have benefited less than other people from the region's economic boom in the first decade of this century, according to researchers at the World Bank. Despite such progress indigenous people still represent 14 percent of the region's poor and 17 percent of the extremely poor - while forming less than 8 percent of the population. Jorge Familiar, the bank's vice president for Latin America and the Caribbean, said governments needed to do more to ensure indigenous
  
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• FTSE slips on oil, but set for best week this year

  19-02-2016 13:42
  
  LONDON, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index fell on Friday as energy stocks came under pressure again from dropping oil prices, though the index stayed on track for its best week since...
  
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• Futures lower as oil rally falters

  19-02-2016 13:34 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Crude prices fell about 2 percent, with U.S. crude hovering at $30 per barrel after a record increase in U.S. stockpiles. Oil prices and the stock market have moved in lockstep for much of the year as investors look at demand for energy for a bearing on global economic health. Oil prices rose more than 14 percent in the three days to Thursday after a move by top exporters to freeze oil output at January's levels.
  
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• Stocks knocked back as oil rally falters

  19-02-2016 13:13 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Marius Zaharia LONDON (Reuters) - A faltering oil price rally pushed back European stocks and sent benchmark German Bund yields below 0.20 percent on Friday as worries about the global economic outlook returned to prominence. Sterling dipped as summit talks on changes in Britain's European Union membership dragged on through the night. A record buildup in U.S. crude stockpiles stoked concern about global oversupply, outweighing moves by oil producers, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, to cap
  
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• Brazil eyes Abengoa intervention after default, papers say

  19-02-2016 13:11
  
  SAO PAULO, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Brazil's government is
  studying the option of intervening in Spanish multinational
  Abengoa SA, after the company failed to honor 375
  million reais ($93 million) it owed...
  
  Read more

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