Finance news

• Obama challenges Communist-led Cuba with call for democracy

  22-03-2016 23:39 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Matt Spetalnick, Jeff Mason and Frank Jack Daniel HAVANA (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama challenged Cuba's Communist government with an impassioned call for democracy and economic reforms on Tuesday, addressing the Cuban people directly in a historic speech broadcast throughout the island. Taking the stage at Havana’s Grand Theater with President Raul Castro in attendance, Obama said he was in Cuba to extend a hand of friendship and "bury the last remnant" of the Cold War in the
  
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• Canada's stimulus budget aims to revive oil-hit economy

  22-03-2016 23:09 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Leah Schnurr OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's new Liberal government on Tuesday unveiled a stimulus budget to revive growth with infrastructure spending and said it would run a deficit nearly three times larger than promised during last year's election. The government said the budget was expected to raise growth 0.5 percent in the first year and 1.0 percent by the second after the party of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned last month an oil price plunge had weakened Canada's economic and fiscal
  
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• Wall Street down but pares losses after Brussels blasts

  22-03-2016 21:44 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Wall Street closed slightly lower on Tuesday, inching back from an initial selloff that followed deadly attacks in Brussels, as declines in consumer and telecom stocks offset a jump in healthcare shares. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the bombings at Brussels airport and a rush-hour metro train that killed at least 30 people and triggered security alerts across Europe. Global risk markets faltered before limping up, while traditional safe havens gold and government bonds firmed as the
  
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• Wall St. down but pares losses after Brussels blasts

  22-03-2016 21:43 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - Wall Street closed slightly lower on Tuesday, inching back from an initial selloff that followed deadly attacks in Brussels, as declines in consumer and telecom stocks offset a jump in healthcare shares.
  
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• 'It's up to you,' Obama tells Cubans; urging political, economic reforms

  22-03-2016 21:23 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Matt Spetalnick, Jeff Mason and Frank Jack Daniel HAVANA (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama challenged Cuba's Communist government with an impassioned call for democracy and economic reforms on Tuesday, addressing the Cuban people directly in a historic speech broadcast throughout the island. Taking the stage at Havana’s Grand Theater with President Raul Castro in attendance, Obama said he was in Cuba to extend a hand of friendship and "bury the last remnant" of the Cold War in the
  
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• UPDATE 2-Liberal U.S. justices lean toward Puerto Rico in debt case

  22-03-2016 20:47
  
  * At issue: did Puerto Rico law conflict with U.S. law?(Adds fresh details from oral argument, quotes from justices)
  
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• Healthcare leads Wall Street recovery after Brussels blasts

  22-03-2016 19:00 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Wall Street recouped early losses on Tuesday, helped by a rise in healthcare stocks, even as travel-related shares remained under pressure following the Brussels attacks. Gains in Exxon, Apple and UnitedHealth also supported the market after the explosions at Brussels airport and a rush-hour metro train killed at least 30 people and triggered security alerts across Europe. The NYSE Arca Airline index was off 0.4 percent.
  
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• Healthcare leads Wall St. recovery after Brussels blasts

  22-03-2016 18:55 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - Wall Street recouped early losses on Tuesday, helped by a rise in healthcare stocks, even as travel-related shares remained under pressure following the Brussels attacks.
  
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• UPDATE 2-SunEdison in debtor-in-possession financing talks-Debtwire

  22-03-2016 18:30
  
  March 22 (Reuters) - Embattled solar company SunEdison Inc is in talks with holders of its second-lien loans to fund a debtor-in-possession financing facility, Debtwire reported, citing two sources...
  
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• FTSE up as investors seek safe haven assets after Brussels attacks

  22-03-2016 18:08
  
  * Gold miners rise as investors drop risky assets (Recasts, adds detail and quote, updates prices at close)
  
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• Oil steadies from early slide after Brussels attacks

  22-03-2016 17:52 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices steadied on Tuesday as shares on Wall Street pared losses and the euro recovered against the dollar after deadly blasts in Brussels prompted an initial flight risk from financial markets. Wall Street share prices and the euro were down slightly, paring losses. Oil prices have traded in concert with equities for most of this year.
  
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• U.N. worried about Brazil as poverty seen rising in Latin America

  22-03-2016 17:50 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The U.N. said on Tuesday that it was worried about the impact of recent events in Brazil on the country's ability to continue fighting poverty and its democratic stability, as it forecast that poverty likely rose in Latin America in 2015. Brazil has been hit by the worst recession in decades and the administration of President Dilma Rousseff is facing the threat of impeachment and a corruption probe, hampering its ability to enact policies to turn the economy around. The U.N. was deeply concerne
  
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• SunEdison in talks for debtor-in-possession financing - Debtwire

  22-03-2016 17:50
  
  March 22 (Reuters) - Troubled solar company SunEdison Inc
  is in talks with holders of its second-lien loans to
  fund a debtor-in-possession financing facility, Debtwire
  reported, citing two sources...
  
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• REFILE-Apple says not making an offer for supplier Imagination

  22-03-2016 17:31
  
  LONDON, March 22 (Reuters) - Apple said on Tuesday it had talked about buying its supplier Imagination Technologies but did not plan to make an offer for the British graphics chip designer at the...
  
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• U.S. top court wrestles with Puerto Rico restructuring case

  22-03-2016 17:24
  
  WASHINGTON, March 22 (Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court justices
  on Tuesday appeared conflicted as they considered whether to
  revive a Puerto Rico law that would allow restructuring of the
  debt-burdened...
  
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• Lebanese health ministry refers contaminated wheat import case to prosecutor

  22-03-2016 16:23 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Lisa Barrington BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's public health ministry referred a case of contaminated Russian wheat imports to a branch of the public prosecutor's office on Tuesday, the state news agency said, following a dispute with the economy ministry over test results showing unacceptable levels of a toxin. Public Health Minister Wael Abu Faour has said tests carried out by his ministry in February showed unacceptable levels of a carcinogenic substance, ochratoxin, in wheat imports from Ru
  
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• BRIEF-Southcross Energy Partners announces preliminary Q4 results, provides update on Southcross Holdings LP bankruptcy

  22-03-2016 16:01
  
  * Southcross Energy Partners, L.P. Announces preliminary
  results for fourth quarter 2015; provides update on Southcross
  Holdings LP
  
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• Hutchison China MediTech Limited Announces Closing of U.S. Public Offering of ADSs Raising Approximately US$101 Million on the Nasdaq Stock Market

  22-03-2016 15:30 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Hutchison China MediTech Limited ("Chi-Med") (AIM/Nasdaq: HCM) announces the closing of its U.S. public offering of American depositary shares (“ADSs”) (the “Offering”). The Offering raised gross proceeds of US$101,250,000, through the sale of 7,500,000 ADSs, each representing one-half of one ordinary share of Chi-Med, at a price of US$13.50 per ADS. All of the ADSs in the Offering were sold by Chi-Med.
  
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• Under fire, Osborne hits back at budget critics

  22-03-2016 15:16 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By William James LONDON (Reuters) - Chancellor George Osborne defended his economic record on Tuesday, hitting back at critics of last week's budget which prompted a crisis in Prime Minister David Cameron's party ahead of a June 23 referendum on European Union membership. In his first appearance since welfare minister Iain Duncan Smith resigned in protest at the cutting of state benefits for the disabled and long term sick, Osborne admitted he had made mistakes but defended his plans to cut spen
  
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• Iranians exasperated as U.S. sanctions frustrate deal making

  22-03-2016 15:16 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Tom Arnold and Jonathan Saul DUBAI/LONDON (Reuters) - More than two months after international nuclear sanctions on Iran were supposed to have ended, frustration is deepening that few trade deals are going through as foreign banks shy away from processing transactions with the country. Iranian hopes of rapidly ending the country's economic isolation are fading as particularly European banks - some of which have already been hit by hit huge U.S. fines for sanctions busting - fear falling foul
  
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• Tourism stocks knock Britain's FTSE after Brussels explosions

  22-03-2016 15:00
  
  * Gold miners rise as investors drop risky assets (Adds detail and updates prices)
  
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• Spain's Abengoa seen winning more time for bankruptcy talks

  22-03-2016 14:34
  
  MADRID, March 22 (Reuters) - Spain's Abengoa is
  seen winning more time for talks aimed at avoiding bankruptcy as
  more creditors have agreed to back debt restructuring plan and
  inject new emergency...
  
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• Wall Street slips at the open after Brussels attacks

  22-03-2016 14:33 via news.yahoo.com
  
  REUTERS - Wall Street opened lower on Tuesday after explosions in Brussels sparked fresh geopolitical concerns and sent investors scurrying for safe-haven assets. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 39.45 points, or 0.22 percent, to 17,584.42, the S&P 500 lost 5.7 points, or 0.28 percent, to 2,045.9 and the Nasdaq composite dropped 25.28 points, or 0.53 percent, to 4,783.60. (Reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Don Sebastian)
  
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• BRIEF-Spain's Abengoa says creditors to inject 137 mln euros in liquidity

  22-03-2016 14:29
  
  * Says its creditors have agreed to inject 137 million euros
  ($154 million) into the company to cover business needsSource text for Eikon: [http://bit.ly/1VzzfQg]
  Further company coverage:($1 =...
  
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• Wall Street set to open lower after Brussels explosions

  22-03-2016 13:58 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Abhiram Nandakumar and Tanya Agrawal REUTERS - Wall Street looked set to open lower on Tuesday after explosions in Brussels sparked fresh geopolitical concerns and sent investors scurrying for safe-haven assets. At least 26 people were killed in twin attacks on Brussels airport and a rush-hour metro train in the Belgian capital, triggering security alerts across western Europe. European markets fell, while traditional safe havens gold and government bonds firmed up as reports of the events in
  
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• Obama to nudge Cuba on freedoms in direct appeal to citizens

  22-03-2016 12:33 via news.yahoo.com
  
  HAVANA (AP) — Nudging Cuba toward democracy, President Barack Obama will cast a spotlight on political repression and economic deprivation here when he meets with dissidents and speaks to the Cuban people at the close of a trailblazing trip.
  
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• Nigeria's state oil firm withheld $25 bln from government between 2011 and 2015 - state body

  22-03-2016 12:28 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Camillus Eboh ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's state oil company failed to transfer 4.9 trillion naira ($25 billion) to the public purse between January 2011 and December 2015, an official body said on Tuesday. President Muhammadu Buhari, who was elected a year ago, has vowed to crack down on mismanagement and corruption in Africa's biggest economy which have left most of the 180 million Nigerians mired in poverty despite the country's energy wealth. Buhari fired senior staff at the Nigerian Natio
  
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• UPDATE 2-Johnston Press adj profit jumps as cost cutting pays off

  22-03-2016 12:21
  
  * Shares jump as much as 17 pct (Adds CEO comments; shares)
  
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• Revolutionary Guards look to play bigger role in Iran's economy

  22-03-2016 12:10 via news.yahoo.com
  
  A senior member of Iran's Revolutionary Guards urged the government on Tuesday to follow its supreme leader's vision for a self-reliant economy and said the Guards wanted to play a bigger role to make that happen. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's most powerful figure, called for a "resistance economy" on Sunday, saying U.S. policies to restrict business with Iran had undermined any economic benefits of international sanctions being lifted in January.
  
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• New York auctions paint somber picture of Chinese art buyers

  22-03-2016 11:17 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Elizabeth Dilts NEW YORK (Reuters) - Along with oil, stocks and steel, China's roiling economic slowdown has deflated the buoyancy of another sector: the Asian Art market. Wealthy Chinese art collectors had driven art sales skyward in recent years for Chinese and Western art, such as the Modigliani nude that was bought by an anonymous Chinese buyer last year for $170.4 million, the second highest price ever paid at auction. Christie's International reported sales of $37 million, less than a q
  
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• Germany's Ifo confidence index up after 3 monthly falls

  22-03-2016 10:47 via news.yahoo.com
  
  FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Germany's Ifo Institute says its index of business confidence, a closely watched gauge of economic activity in Europe's largest economy, has risen after three months of declines.
  
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• China lodges protest with Japan over new text books

  22-03-2016 09:44 via news.yahoo.com
  
  China said on Tuesday it had lodged a formal protest with Japan over new Japanese school text books which it said distorted the history of Japanese atrocities in China and reasserted a Japanese claim to a group of disputed islands. China, the world's second-largest economy, and Japan, the third-largest, have a difficult history, with relations strained by the legacy of Japan's aggression before and during World War Two and conflicting claims over a group of uninhabited East China Sea islets. Jap
  
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• Rising China risk tarnishes Hong Kong business hub luster

  22-03-2016 08:18 via news.yahoo.com
  
  HONG KONG (AP) — For decades, Hong Kong thrived as an Asian business hub thanks to its killer combination of Western freedoms, independent courts and closeness to mainland China's booming market. Now political and economic ills from the mainland are eroding that edge.
  
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• We can't pay: Zimbabwe farmers resist compensating evicted white landowners

  22-03-2016 08:00
  
  HARARE, March 22 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's plan to win back international funding by paying compensation to white farmers forced off their land faces a major snag: the black farmers expected to stump up...
  
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• Polish mid-tier lenders BPH, Getin post Q4 losses

  22-03-2016 07:47
  
  WARSAW, March 22 (Reuters) - Polish mid-tier lenders Bank BPH and Getin Noble Bank reported losses in the last quarter of 2015 due to increased payments to guarantee and creditors support funds, as...
  
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• GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian shares wobble as Fed rate talk revives

  22-03-2016 07:29
  
  * Nikkei bucks the downtrend, as it gets tailwind from weaker yen
  
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• UK Stocks-Factors to watch on March 22

  22-03-2016 07:19
  
  March 22 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 index is seen opening down 4 points, or 0.07 percent, on Tuesday, according to financial bookmakers. For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please...
  
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• JGBs gain with maturing bonds reinvested back into government debt

  22-03-2016 06:11
  
  TOKYO, March 22 (Reuters) - Japanese government bond prices gained on Tuesday, with the 30-year yield reaching a new record low, as investors reinvested proceeds from maturing debt back into the...
  
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• INSIGHT-Ride to the Bottom: US energy workers hit hard by company stock bets

  22-03-2016 06:00
  
  OKLAHOMA CITY, March 22 (Reuters) - Nearly 15 years since Enron's collapse decimated the retirement accounts of its employees, hundreds of thousands of U.S. energy workers remain precariously exposed...
  
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• RPT-Puerto Rico takes restructuring law to U.S. high court

  22-03-2016 05:07
  
  WASHINGTON, March 22 (Reuters) - Puerto Rico will ask the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to validate a law that could let it cut billions of dollars from what it owes in debt at some public agencies,...
  
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• Puerto Rico takes restructuring law to U.S. high court

  22-03-2016 05:01
  
  WASHINGTON, March 22 (Reuters) - Puerto Rico will ask the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to validate a law that could let it cut billions of dollars from what it owes in debt at some public agencies,...
  
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• Asian stocks mixed following modest gains on Wall Street

  22-03-2016 04:48 via news.yahoo.com
  
  MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Asian shares were mixed Tuesday following modest gains on Wall Street and a contraction of Japanese manufacturing activity in March, the first in 10 months.
  
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• Dollar perks up with Fed hike seen back in play

  22-03-2016 04:22 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Ian Chua SYDNEY (Reuters) - The dollar held firm on Tuesday, having extended its rebound for a second session after two Federal Reserve officials supported the case for a hike in interest rates sooner rather than later. The dollar index last traded at 95.352 , pulling further away from a five-month trough of 94.578 set on Friday. Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said there was sufficient economic momentum to justify a further rate hike "possibly as early as the meeting scheduled for end
  
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• UPDATE 4-FanDuel, DraftKings shut down daily fantasy sports games in New York

  22-03-2016 02:56
  
  NEW YORK, March 21 (Reuters) - Top daily fantasy sports companies FanDuel and DraftKings agreed to halt their business in New York on Monday, betting on a legislative path to make the games legal...
  
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• UPDATE 3-Petrobras posts record loss as oil price slump forces writedowns

  22-03-2016 02:17
  
  NEW YORK/RIO DE JANEIRO, March 21 (Reuters) - Brazil's state-controlled oil company Petrobras posted its biggest-ever quarterly loss on Monday after booking a large writedown for oil fields and other...
  
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• JGB 30-year yield hits record low as curve continues to flatten

  22-03-2016 02:09
  
  TOKYO, March 22 (Reuters) - The 30-year Japanese government bond yield struck a record low on Tuesday as the flattening of the curve continued amid persistent investor demand for debt that still...
  
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• No water, no jobs: How water shortages threaten jobs and growth

  22-03-2016 01:47 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Astrid Zweynert LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - An estimated three out of four jobs globally are dependent on water, meaning that shortages and lack of access are likely to limit economic growth in the coming decades, the United Nations said on Tuesday. "There is a direct effect on jobs worldwide if there are disruptions in water supply through natural causes, such as droughts, or if water doesn't get to communities because of infrastructure problems," said Richard Connor, the report's
  
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• BRIEF-Blue Earth to receive $1-$3.0 mln DIP financing from Jackson Investment

  22-03-2016 01:28
  
  * Reached an agreement with Jackson Investment Group, LLC ,a senior lender and a principal shareholder of the company
  
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• Sequoia Fund sold 1.5 million Valeant shares: WSJ

  22-03-2016 01:21 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc's largest stakeholder, Sequoia Fund, said it sold about 1.5 million shares of the company's stock last week, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
  
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• Moody's sees "clear downside risks" if UK leaves EU

  22-03-2016 01:10
  
  LONDON, March 22 (Reuters) - Ratings agency Moody's said on Tuesday it saw "clear downside risks" if Britain votes to leave the European Union in a referendum in June, and repeated its warning that...
  
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