Finance news

• Tunisia's youth must shun Islamic extremism, set example: France

  17-03-2016 23:53 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By John Irish TUNIS (Reuters) - France on Thursday called on Tunisia's youth to resist the path of Islamic extremism and set the example for the rest of the region, while Paris vowed to firm up security and economic ties with Tunis as it struggles with rising Islamist militancy. With its free elections and secular history, France's former North African colony has been a target for jihadists looking to upset the young democracy just five years after Tunisians overthrew their autocratic leader Zin
  
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• UPDATE 7-Embattled SeaWorld to stop breeding killer whales

  17-03-2016 23:06
  
  SAN DIEGO, March 17 (Reuters) - SeaWorld said on Thursday it will stop breeding killer whales in captivity, bowing to years of pressure from animal rights activists, but the orcas already at its...
  
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• Cuba offers olive branch ahead of Obama visit but slams embargo

  17-03-2016 22:51 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Cuba made a rare gesture of reciprocity to the United States on Thursday, three days before a historic visit by U.S. President Barack Obama, but the olive branch was wrapped in spiky rhetoric against decades-old economic sanctions. Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said Cuba would remove a 10 percent tax on cash dollars in response to Washington's decision this week to relax stiff currency restrictions - but only after testing the new freedom to trade in greenbacks. It said it would allow U.S. ba
  
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• Ackman sells part of Mondelez stake, has no plans for other sales

  17-03-2016 22:16
  
  BOSTON (Reuters) - Billionaire investor William Ackman adjusted his battered hedge fund portfolio on Wednesday when he sold 20 million shares of snack maker Mondelez International , one day after...
  
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• REIT stocks to get boost from new S&P sector classification

  17-03-2016 22:13 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Shares of Real Estate Investment Trusts should get a bump up this year as mutual fund managers buy ahead of a September move by Standard & Poor's to create a new real estate sector in its classification systems. By some reckoning, fund managers could direct as much as $100 billion at the sector as they try to boost REIT holdings to their market weighting. Standard & Poor's will add real estate as an 11th sector to its Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) structure after the clo
  
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• S&P says it may cut Ackman hedge fund's rating

  17-03-2016 22:12 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Svea Herbst-Bayliss NEW YORK (Reuters) - Billionaire investor William Ackman's already very bad week got worse on Thursday. Rating agency Standard & Poor's said it may cut its BBB rating of Ackman's publicly traded Pershing Square Holdings vehicle in the wake of weak investment returns and a sharp drop in its net asset value. Ackman's Pershing Square oversees roughly $11 billion for wealthy clients, including state pension funds.
  
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• Global commodities, stocks rally as dollar tumbles

  17-03-2016 22:06 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Rodrigo Campos NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar index dropped to a five-month low on Thursday while shares on Wall Street rallied to lead global equities higher as a dovish U.S. Federal Reserve emboldened investors to take on more risk. The S&P 500 briefly turned positive for the year and closed at its highest since Dec. 31, led by the materials and energy sectors. The Dow industrials ended above its 2015 closing level for the first time this year. ...
  
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• Commodities, stocks rally as dollar tumbles

  17-03-2016 22:03 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Rodrigo Campos NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar index dropped to a five-month low on Thursday while shares on Wall Street rallied to lead global equities higher as a dovish U.S. Federal Reserve emboldened investors to take on more risk. The S&P 500 briefly turned positive for the year and closed at its highest since Dec. 31, led by the materials and energy sectors. The Dow industrials ended above its 2015 closing level for the first time this year. ...
  
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• Germany's Economy Minister aims to get Russia sanctions lifted

  17-03-2016 21:41 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Germany's Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel called on Thursday for the European Union to try to create conditions by this summer to lift sanctions imposed against Russia over the Ukraine crisis. "That must be our common goal," said Gabriel, whose Social Democrats (SDP) share power with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives. The West imposed sanctions on Russia two years ago over its annexation of Crimea and support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.
  
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• Check your fund manager’s privilege: James Saft

  17-03-2016 21:38
  
  (Reuters) - You might want to consider firing your money manager in favor of a woman or someone from a less wealthy background.
  
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• Dollar tumbles as market responds to dovish Fed

  17-03-2016 21:18 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Dion Rabouin NEW YORK (Reuters) - The dollar tumbled against major currencies on Thursday, extending declines triggered by Wednesday's Federal Reserve statement showing the U.S. central bank would likely take longer to raise rates than some had thought. The dollar was down more than 1 percent against the euro, yen and Swiss franc, as markets took a more dovish view of Fed Chair Janet Yellen's post-meeting press conference. Yellen said during the conference that "caution is appropriate" when i
  
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• ECB's Draghi urges EU leaders to adopt deeper reforms

  17-03-2016 21:11 via news.yahoo.com
  
  European Central Bank head Mario Draghi urged EU leaders on Thursday to embrace even deeper reforms and pull their weight in turning around the lacklustre European economy. Draghi was speaking after talking to the EU's 28 leaders on the economy at a summit overshadowed by crucial talks with Turkey on solving the migrant talks. "I made clear that... monetary policy has been really the only policy driving the recovery in the last few years, it cannot address some basic structural weaknesses of the
  
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• Swiss watchmakers face another challenging year

  17-03-2016 21:09 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Silke Koltrowitz BASEL, Switzerland (Reuters) - Swiss watchmakers are braced for another difficult year as economic woes in major markets curb consumers' appetite for pricey timepieces, industry executives said on Thursday. Sales in Hong Kong, the biggest market for Swiss watches, have been depressed as China's economic slowdown and Beijing's anti-corruption campaign have hurt spending by mainland Chinese, which shows no signs of rebounding. Zenith, the upmarket watch brand owned by LVMH , se
  
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• Deduct this, but not that

  17-03-2016 21:00
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - When you dump out your shoe box full of receipts on the kitchen table to do your taxes, sorting out what is deductible and what is not can be the biggest puzzle.
  
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• Prominent BlackRock strategist Koesterich moving to new role: memo

  17-03-2016 20:48
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Russ Koesterich, who was BlackRock Inc's global chief investment strategist, has left that role and is joining the team responsible for the $47 billion BlackRock Global...
  
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• Lula, Brazil's tarnished hero, loses more luster in return to government

  17-03-2016 20:47 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Marcelo Teixeira and Pedro Fonseca SAO BERNARDO DO CAMPO/RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Nine years ago, during Brazil's economic boom, Josemar Vieira Oliveira moved from the historically poor northeast to the sprawling industrial suburbs of São Paulo, the country's economic powerhouse. Now the 33-year-old spends his days knocking on factory doors across São Bernardo do Campo, the cradle of Brazil's labor movement and political base for the leader millions like Oliveira once thought
  
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• S&P 500 turns positive for 2016 as commodities rally

  17-03-2016 19:36 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The S&P 500 turned positive for the year on Thursday, a day after the Federal Reserve lowered expectations for the number of interest rate hikes this year. The dovish stance from the Fed weighed on the U.S. dollar, which in turn boosted commodity prices across the board. The best performing sectors on the S&P 500 on Thursday were materials and energy .
  
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• Dividend alert: Investors have bid up income stocks to risky levels

  17-03-2016 19:21 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Spooked by the early 2016 stock market selloff and sick of low interest rates, income investors have been bidding up dividend stocks at a feverish pace - so much so that these shares now are priced at levels high enough to worry some money managers. Investors are now paying about $42 for each dollar of dividend they are buying in the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index, while the average since 1935 is roughly $29, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. The dividend yield for the Standard &
  
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• South African reserve bank raises repo rate to tame inflation

  17-03-2016 19:15 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo PRETORIA (Reuters) - South Africa's Reserve Bank raised its benchmark repo rate on Thursday as it tries to tame rising inflation, despite fears about waning economic growth. Central Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago said the monetary policy committee (MPC) remained concerned about the weak growth outlook amid negative business and consumer confidence, but it assessed the risk to the growth outlook to be on the downside.
  
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• Zuma rebuffs suggestions of outside influence in South Africa minister's sacking

  17-03-2016 19:14 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Wendell Roelf CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South African President Jacob Zuma fought back on Thursday against suggestions that a prominent business family might have been behind his abrupt sacking of a finance minister, a move which shook confidence in the country's economic management. Facing calls for his resignation, Zuma tried to deflect questions over his dismissal of Nhlanhla Nene in December, but drew opposition accusations that he had failed to explain his role in a decision which provoked p
  
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• IMF calls on crisis-hit Brazil to bolster economy

  17-03-2016 19:13 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The International Monetary Fund on Thursday called on Brazil to reinforce its economy as the country grapples with a severe political and economic crisis. "Clearly, Brazil is facing a difficult situation and the key for Brazil is to strengthen the economic framework," IMF spokesman Bill Murray said at a news conference. Latin America's biggest economy shrank 3.8 percent in 2015, the largest contraction in 25 years, and is bracing for another year of recession in 2016.
  
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• Wall St gains as FedEx, GE boost industrials

  17-03-2016 18:55 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Wall Street edged up on Thursday as FedEx and GE shares lifted the industrials sector, a day after the Federal Reserve's lowered projection of two interest rate hikes in 2016 pushed the S&P 500 to its highest close this year. The Dow eked out a small profit for 2016, while the S&P 500 was on the verge of crossing over into positive territory for the year. The Fed, which left rates unchanged, pointed to moderate U.S. economic growth and strong job gains but cautioned about risks from an u
  
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• Britain's FTSE outperforms Europe as weaker dollar lifts commodities companies

  17-03-2016 17:47
  
  * Weaker dollar boosts commodities (Updates with closing prices)
  
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• Goldman's European business cuts pay after IPO activity slows

  17-03-2016 17:05 via news.yahoo.com
  
  LONDON (Reuters) - Average pay at Goldman Sachs' European arm fell 15 percent year-on-year as turbulent markets discouraged companies from listing on stock markets, hitting the bank's underwriting business hard.
  
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• UPDATE 1-Caterpillar sees Q1 revenue, profit below Wall Street estimates

  17-03-2016 16:54
  
  March 17 (Reuters) - Caterpillar Inc, the world's No. 1 maker of construction and mining equipment, forecast first-quarter profit and revenue well below Wall Street expectations on Thursday,...
  
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• U.S. job market tightening; manufacturing sector healing

  17-03-2016 16:38 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose from a five-month low last week, but remained below a level associated with a strengthening labor market as the economy regains momentum after a slow fourth quarter. Other data on Thursday showed factory activity in the mid-Atlantic region expanded in March for the first time in seven months, the latest sign of stability in the distressed manufacturing sector. The data should further allay fears of a looming recession and could keep t
  
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• S&P 500, Dow edge up as materials, energy stocks gain

  17-03-2016 16:28 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The Fed, which left rates unchanged, pointed to moderate U.S. economic growth and strong job gains but cautioned about risks from an uncertain global economy. "The market is trying to digest exactly what's going on with the Fed," said John Burke, chief executive of Burke Financial Strategies in Iselin, New Jersey. Burke said the market was assessing the impact of the rising oil prices on the economy and the Fed's moves.
  
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• Canada's Trudeau says monetary policy impact nearing its limits

  17-03-2016 16:14 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Leah Schnurr OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada should use more fiscal measures to boost the economy rather than relying on monetary policy, the country's prime minister said on Thursday, days before the new government will unveil a budget expected to feature stimulus spending. "We should be using fiscal levers a little more and not just expecting monetary policy to have to fix the challenge we're in," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said during an interview with Bloomberg television. "I think we're app
  
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• France will recapitalise energy giant EDF 'if there's a need'

  17-03-2016 16:02 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The French government stands ready to inject fresh capital into energy giant EDF if necessary, Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday. "If there is a need to recapitalise, we will do so," Macron said during a visit at the Civaux nuclear station in central France. French leaders have publically thrown their support behind the £18-billion ($26 billion, 23 billion euros) project at Hinkley Point in southwest England despite growing concern over its price tag that reportedly prompte
  
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• French foreign minister to meet Libyan PM Friday in Tunis

  17-03-2016 15:49 via news.yahoo.com
  
  PARIS (Reuters) - French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said he plans to meet Libyan Prime Minister-designate Fayez Seraj on Friday to discuss the political situation in Libya and to seek a way forward for the strife-torn country. "I will be meeting Monsieur Seraj," Ayrault told journalists traveling with him on a visit to Tunisia on Thursday. Ayrault hopes to firm up security and economic ties with Tunis as the country struggles with rising Islamist militancy at home, fueled by Islamic Stat
  
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• Osborne running out of wiggle room in budget surplus plan

  17-03-2016 15:39 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By William Schomberg LONDON (Reuters) - Chancellor George Osborne is running out of room to keep his centrepiece budget surplus plan on track without resorting to big tax increases or further deep spending cuts, economists said on Thursday. Osborne delivered an annual budget statement on Wednesday that maintained his target of putting Britain's public finances back in the black by the end of the decade, despite a much weaker outlook for the economy. "If I were the chancellor, it would be keeping
  
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• MIDEAST STOCKS-Egypt surges for fourth day, oil boosts Gulf

  17-03-2016 15:31 via news.yahoo.com
  
  * Euphoria over devaluation lifts Egypt 14 pct this week * EFG Hermes soars on Credit Libanais stake sale * Zain Saudi jumps after Reuters report on possible tower sale * Abu Dhabi's index buoyed by new dividend policy * Heavy trade in Etisalat before FTSE index inclusion By Andrew Torchia DUBAI, March 17 (Reuters) - Egypt's stock market rose sharply for a fourth straight day on Thursday as investors welcomed this week's currency devaluation, while higher oil prices boosted Gulf markets. The Cai
  
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• Embraer consultant says believes CEO knew of bribery: WSJ

  17-03-2016 15:08 via news.yahoo.com
  (Reuters) - A sales consultant told Brazilian prosecutors he believes planemaker Embraer SA's top officials, including Chief Executive Frederico Curado, knew of illicit payments related to the sale of military aircraft to the Dominican Republic, the Wall Street Journal reported. Embraer is under investigation by the U.S. and Brazilian authorities for allegedly bribing officials in the Dominican Republic to secure deals for commercial and defense aircraft. According to official summaries of sales
  
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• Wall Street lower as investors assess outcome of Fed meet

  17-03-2016 15:06 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Wall Street was lower on Thursday, a day after the Federal Reserve's lowered projection of two interest rate hikes in 2016 pushed the S&P 500 to its highest close this year. The Fed, which left rates unchanged, pointed to moderate U.S. economic growth and strong job gains but cautioned about risks from an uncertain global economy. "There's this little bit of rethinking and so, we're looking at a softer opening as some questions arise to the prospects of future growth impacting earnings," sai
  
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• Russia slashes space funding by 30 percent as crisis weighs

  17-03-2016 14:59 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev agreed to slash funding for Russia's space program by 30 percent on Thursday, an effort to reign in state spending in the face of a deepening economic crisis. Approving a plan submitted by Russian space agency Roscosmos in January, Medvedev ordered Russia's space program budget for 2016-2025 to be cut from 2 trillion rubles ($29.24 billion) to 1.4 trillion rubles. "It is a large program, but we need such big programs, even in circumstances when all is not w
  
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• Protesters clash ahead of swearing-in of Lula in Brazil

  17-03-2016 14:58 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Anthony Boadle BRASILIA (Reuters) - Supporters of leftist leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva clashed briefly with opponents of his Workers' Party on Thursday outside the presidential palace, where he was due to be sworn in as President Dilma Rousseff's chief of staff. Hundreds of anti-government protesters calling for Rousseff's impeachment and Lula's arrest also blocked the central Avenue Paulista in Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city and economic hub. Brazil's currency and stock market gained s
  
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• Caterpillar says comfortable with full year outlook

  17-03-2016 14:45
  
  March 17 (Reuters) - Caterpillar Inc, the world's No. 1 maker of construction and mining equipment, forecast first-quarter profit and revenue well below Wall Street expectations but said it "remained...
  
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• Shell, Aramco U.S. refining breakup lets both pursue ambitious goals

  17-03-2016 14:29
  
  LONDON (Reuters) - The breakup of Royal Dutch Shell's and Saudi Aramco's giant U.S. refining joint venture draws a line under an often rocky relationship and allows Aramco to accelerate an ambitious...
  
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• Sudan threatens to close border with South Sudan again

  17-03-2016 14:28 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Sudan will close its recently reopened border with South Sudan once again if that country persists in its support for armed rebel groups, presidential aide Ibrahim Mahmoud said on Thursday. Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir ordered the opening of his country's border with South Sudan in January for the first time since the south's secession in 2011, paving the way for better economic links between the two nations. The threat to shut the border again comes just one day before peace talks ar
  
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• U.S. jobless claims edge up; current account deficit falls

  17-03-2016 14:07 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 7,000 to a seasonally adjusted 265,000 for the week ended March 12, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Claims have now been below 300,000, a threshold associated with healthy labor market conditions, for 54 weeks, the longest stretch since 1973. Labor market resilience has helped to ease fears the economy could be heading into a recession, which triggered a recent sharp stock market sell-off and subsequent tightening in financial marke
  
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• Is a mandatory U.S. retirement saving plan in your future?

  17-03-2016 13:58
  
  CHICAGO (Reuters) - Make a list of the most toxic words in American politics, and “employer mandate” certainly would be in the top 10. Requiring employers to provide health insurance to workers is...
  
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• Ukraine vows swift end to political crisis, wins EU offer of visa-free travel

  17-03-2016 13:57 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Robin Emmott BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Ukraine's president tried to reassure the European Union on Thursday that his country would soon overcome a political crisis that has rattled Western lenders and he won support for Kiev's cherished goal of visa-free travel in Europe for its citizens. Ukraine's unpopular prime minister, Arseny Yatseniuk, survived a parliamentary vote of no-confidence last month but three parties have quit his coalition and Western creditors who are keeping Ukraine's economy af
  
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• Hutchison offers to sell 30 percent of UK network capacity: source

  17-03-2016 13:47
  
  BRUSSELS - CK Hutchison Holdingshas offered a number of concessions to European regulators in a bid to win approval for its UK mobile network operator Three to buy Telefonica'sO2 UK, including...
  
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• Billionaire Li Ka-shing sounds alarm over Hong Kong's economy

  17-03-2016 12:54 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Clare Jim and Teenie Ho HONG KONG, March 17 (Reuters) - Hong Kong's economy is at its worst in 20 years, billionaire Li Ka-shing said on Thursday, warning that the city's stock market could fall by more than half if the financial hub does not get backing from mainland China. Li, who held court and joked with reporters for more than an hour during an earnings news conference, is the latest person to sound the alarm after Moody's downgraded Hong Kong's sovereign credit rating at the weekend, ci
  
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• Israel's Osem minority shareholders approve Nestle's buyout

  17-03-2016 12:53
  
  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Minority shareholders in Israeli foodmaker Osemapproved Swiss food giant Nestle'sbuyout offer, paving the way for completion of the deal.
  
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• Heineken eyes control of indebted Indian tycoon's brewery

  17-03-2016 12:50
  
  MUMBAI (Reuters) - Heinekenis likely to ask Vijay Mallya, who owes creditor banks more than $1 billion, to step down from the board of United Breweries , India's largest brewer, three people with...
  
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• Caixabank and dos Santos close to agreement on BPI: source

  17-03-2016 12:36
  
  LISBON (Reuters) - Caixabankand Angolan investor Isabel dos Santos are movingtowards a deal for the Spanish bank to buy her stake in Portugal's Banco BPIafter months of wrangling, a source with...
  
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• German minister approves Edeka, Kaiser's supermarket merger

  17-03-2016 12:07
  
  BERLIN (Reuters) - German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel has given the go-ahead for the country's biggest supermarket group Edeka to buy grocery chain Kaiser's, owned by retail group Tengelmann, the...
  
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• Hamptons luxury home sales soften as Wall Street weakness takes a toll

  17-03-2016 11:27 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The market for luxury homes in the Hamptons, the summer playground for Wall Street's wealthiest, is losing some of its luster as financial markets limp along for a second year. The average price of the 10 most expensive homes sold in this cluster of towns, villages and hamlets on Long Island's east end was $35.5 million in 2015, 20 percent lower than the $44.6 million recorded the year before, according to real estate brokers Town & Country Real Estate in East Hampton.
  
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• China's Tencent says no spin-off plan for WeChat messaging app

  17-03-2016 11:22
  
  HONG KONG (Reuters) - China's Tencent Holdings Ltdhas no plans to spin-off its popular mobile messaging app WeChat, Chief Executive Pony Ma told reporters in Hong Kong on Thursday.
  
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