Finance news

• Moody's upgrades Argentina as end to creditor battle nears

  15-04-2016 23:29 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Maximiliano Rizzi and Sarah Marsh BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Moody's bumped up Argentina's credit rating one grade to "B3" on Friday due to "economic policy improvements" under a new, business-friendly government and expectations the country will finally settle a legal battle with creditors. Both said they would assign a new rating to the sovereign issuer once Argentina had finally recovered from a 2014 default. Argentina is preparing to launch its first international bond issue in 15 years nex
  
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• Exclusive: Temer eyes Goldman banker, investor for Brazil economic team: sources

  15-04-2016 22:59 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Alonso Soto BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil's Vice President Michel Temer is considering a senior executive at Goldman Sachs Group Inc and an experienced money manager as candidates to join his economic team should he take over the presidency in coming weeks, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday. Paulo Leme, the chairman of Goldman Sachs in Brazil, may be picked to serve as finance minister or central bank chief, said the sources, who asked to remain anonymous because the se
  
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• UPDATE 2-Grocer Fairway signs deal to restructure debt in bankruptcy - Bbg

  15-04-2016 22:56
  April 15 (Reuters) - Grocery chain operator Fairway Group
  Holdings Corp has reached a tentative deal with
  creditors to restructure its debt in bankruptcy, Bloomberg
  reported, citing people familiar...
  
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• Turkey, Iran agree to improve economic ties, banking a priority: PM sources

  15-04-2016 22:56 via news.yahoo.com
  
  ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani agreed on Friday to improve economic cooperation, with banking a priority, prime ministry sources told Reuters, following the lifting of international sanctions on Iran. The two countries also agreed to increase trade and mutual investments, the sources told Reuters. Iran is frustrated that few trade deals have been implemented since the nuclear-related sanctions were lifted, as foreign banks still
  
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• Ratings agency DBRS downgrades Canadian province Alberta on oil slump

  15-04-2016 22:46 via news.yahoo.com
  By Nia Williams CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Ratings agency DBRS downgraded the Canadian oil-producing province of Alberta one notch to 'AA' on Friday, a day after the provincial government forecast a budget deficit of C$10.4 billion ($8.10 billion) this fiscal year. The province has seen its economy hammered by the global crude oil price slump and DBRS placed Alberta on a negative outlook in January, citing mounting debt and poor fiscal performance as a result of weak oil prices. In a statement
  
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• Apple, energy shares weigh on Wall Street, but week shows gains

  15-04-2016 22:28 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Apple shares dropped 2 percent, the biggest drag on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq. Investors have turned their attention to earnings season, which will intensify next week, as the next major factor influencing the market.
  
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• Offshore shell companies, the black hole of global finance

  15-04-2016 22:23 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Anonymously owned shell companies, against which the G20 economic powers pledged action Friday, amount to a global black hole that legally puts trillions of dollars out of tax authorities' reach. The documents show how thousands and thousands of the mailbox business fronts exist worldwide, most often in tax havens like Panama, the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands, enabling untraceable owners to stash assets, legal or illegal, offshore. Often encased by other shell entities like Russ
  
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• Five ways to make your expat taxes easier

  15-04-2016 22:03
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Out of sight, out of mind? Not for Americans at tax time.
  
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• Citigroup's profit sinks 27 percent, but beats expectations

  15-04-2016 21:43 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — Citigroup's profit fell nearly 27 percent in the first quarter, hurt by weak results at its consumer bank and trading business. But the company's earnings still beat Wall Street expectations.
  
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• Clinton, Sanders Democratic debate draws 5.6 million viewers: CNN

  15-04-2016 21:11 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The latest 2016 presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders drew an audience of some 5.6 million TV viewers, CNN said on Friday, below other recent Democratic debates. Thursday's debate, aired live from Brooklyn, saw front-runner Clinton and Bernie Sanders challenged each other's judgment and experience ahead of Tuesday's crucial nominating contest in New York. Clinton and Sanders attacked each other over Wall Street, gun control and other issues on Thursday in a series of exc
  
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• BRIEF-Fitch downgrades Energy XXI Gulf Coast Inc to 'D'

  15-04-2016 20:57
  * Fitch downgrades Energy XXI Gulf Coast Inc to 'D'Source text (http://bit.ly/1Sk8P5D)
  Further company coverage:
  
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• Shale producer Goodrich Petroleum files for bankruptcy protection

  15-04-2016 20:52
  CHICAGO, April 15 (Reuters) - U.S. shale oil producer
  Goodrich Petroleum Corp said on Friday that it filed
  for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with a plan to eliminate
  $400 million in debt from its...
  
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• G20 worried by 'modest' global growth, commodities weakness

  15-04-2016 20:43 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Financial leaders from the Group of 20 nations said on Friday they were heartened by a recent recovery in financial markets, but warned that global growth was "modest and uneven" and threatened by weakness in commodities-based economies. In a communique issued after their meeting in Washington, G20 finance ministers and central bank governors said markets had recovered from the sharp selloff earlier this year and were in better shape since they last met in
  
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• Energy shares, Apple weigh on Wall Street

  15-04-2016 20:41 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Wall Street slipped on Friday as oil price declines weighed on energy shares and Apple dragged on the market, but major indexes were still poised to post weekly gains. Energy was the worst performing sector, falling 1.1 percent in afternoon trade. Apple shares dropped 1.8 percent, the biggest drag on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.
  
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• IMF agrees in principle to $2.8 bn loan for Tunisia

  15-04-2016 20:40 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Tunisia and the International Monetary Fund have agreed in principle on a new $2.8-billion (2.5-billion euro) loan, subject to approval by the IMF's executive board, the organisation announced Friday. While Tunisia is hailed as a political success story of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings, authorities have failed to redress the economy, especially in the face of security threats. "Tunisian authorities and IMF staff have reached a staff-level agreement on a 48-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for
  
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• Hillary and Bernie Mix It Up Over Guns, Goldman, and Gaza

  15-04-2016 20:40 via news.yahoo.com
  
  With a lot on the line in the run-up to next Tuesday’s New York Democratic primary, Sanders unleashed the heart of his critique – that Clinton was beholden to special interests on Wall Street and that she lacks the judgment to be the next commander in chief. Clinton fired back that Sanders was a liberal dreamer with no real grounding in practical politics and a naïf on foreign policy and national security. Clinton and Sanders barely made eye contact by the end of the two-hour cl
  
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• U.S. lawmaker calls on IRS chief to resign over handling of hacked data

  15-04-2016 20:22 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Dustin Volz WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service should resign due to the agency's inability to improve its defenses against hacks on taxpayer data, a Republican lawmaker said on Friday. Republican Representative Barbara Comstock said new leadership is needed to replace IRS Commissioner John Koskinen due to failures to secure Americans' sensitive information from malicious intrusions, escalating a line of attack from Republicans who frequently criticize the fed
  
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• Investors look for trough in profit downturn

  15-04-2016 20:22 via news.yahoo.com
  
  As earnings season shifts into high gear next week in what is expected to be the weakest U.S. quarterly results reporting period since 2009, the hope among some is that this is as bad as it's going to get. The U.S. earnings recession that began in the third quarter of 2015 is expected to continue until the second quarter, with profits slated to fall 2.2 percent - not as bad as the nearly 8 percent drop expected in the first quarter. Cautiously optimistic strategists are pointing to the modest re
  
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• Fairway reaches tentative deal to restructure debt in bankruptcy - Bbg

  15-04-2016 20:12
  April 15 (Reuters) - Grocery chain operator Fairway Group
  Holdings Corp reached a tentative deal with creditors to
  restructure its debt in bankruptcy, Bloomberg reported, citing
  people familiar with...
  
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• Brazil fund draws volatility bets as Rousseff woes grow

  15-04-2016 20:08
  NEW YORK, April 15 (Reuters) - Growing prospects of Brazil
  President Dilma Rousseff's impeachment have led to a sharp
  uptick in options activity in a heavily traded U.S.-listed
  Brazilian fund as...
  
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• SunEdison yieldcos hire advisors for possible SunEdison bankruptcy

  15-04-2016 19:52
  NEW YORK, April 15 (Reuters) - TerraForm Power and
  TerraForm Global, companies created to hold renewable
  assets by SunEdison Inc,have hired financial and
  legal advisors to prepare and develop...
  
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• G20 says economic growth modest, warns of downside risks

  15-04-2016 19:43 via news.yahoo.com
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Group of 20 major economies said on Friday that economic growth remains "modest and uneven," with downside risks ranging from a potential British exit from the European Union to geopolitical conflicts.
  
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• 'Brexit' threat a challenge for global economy: G20

  15-04-2016 19:32 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The G20 leading economies warned Friday that the possibility that Britain would pull out of the European Union is a significant challenge to the world economy. Finance ministers of the elite group meeting in Washington said the global economy continues to face significant dangers from volatile financial markets, collapsed commodity prices and low inflation, as they pledged to work to shore up growth. "Geopolitical conflicts, terrorism, refugee flows, and the shock of a potential UK exit from the
  
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• Raucous Rousseff impeachment process begins in Brazil

  15-04-2016 19:31 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Maria Carolina Marcello BRASILIA (Reuters) - Pro-impeachment lawmakers chanted "Dilma Out" in the lower house of Brazil Congress on Friday, as it opened a raucous three-day debate on whether to impeach President Dilma Rousseff on charges of manipulating budget accounts. Major trade unions and landless peasant movements planned bigger, nationwide protests on Sunday, when the debate is set to culminate with a vote that Rousseff is widely expected to lose. The government lost a last-ditch appeal
  
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• Wall Street pauses after mid-week rally

  15-04-2016 19:12 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Wall Street was slightly lower on Friday as investors digested U.S. corporate earnings as well as data that pointed to a slow global economic recovery, ahead of a crucial meeting of oil producers to help tackle a global surplus. Citigroup followed other big banks in reporting a lower-than-expected fall in quarterly profit. Citi's shares were up marginally at $45.14.
  
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• IMF says additional $1 bln in Mozambique debt uncovered

  15-04-2016 19:12 via news.yahoo.com
  Mozambique's government has borrowed $1 billion more than it previously disclosed, the International Monetary Fund said on Friday, adding that the discovery diminished its view of the African nation's economic outlook. Antoinette Sayeh, the IMF's Africa director, told a news conference that the additional funds appeared to have been borrowed from Credit Suisse and Russia's VTB Bank and allocated to Mozambique's defense and security sector. The IMF last year agreed to loan Mozambique $286 million
  
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• U.S. business conditions strongest since 2014: Morgan Stanley

  15-04-2016 19:05
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. business conditions are the strongest since the summer of 2014 as sentiment has recovered from a weak start to the year, signaling companies' willingness to make capital...
  
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• South Africa amends empowerment bill to keep black ownership at 26 percent

  15-04-2016 18:58 via news.yahoo.com
  
  South African mining companies are expected to keep black ownership at 26 percent, a revised bill published on Friday said, the latest attempt to end uncertainty over a policy meant to spread economic wealth to the black majority. The government and the mining industry are at odds over the issue of black ownership (BEE). The government wants to enforce a requirement that 26 percent of all mining companies be in black hands.
  
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• Congress should give Puerto Rico debt restructuring authority -White House

  15-04-2016 18:56
  WASHINGTON, April 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress should
  give Puerto Rico the authority to restructure its debt, the
  White House said on Friday.
  
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• Citigroup CFO offers possible reason regulators approved "living will"

  15-04-2016 18:56
  April 15 (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc managers are
  thinking about the fourth largest U.S. bank's possible failure
  in the future as they go about their day-to-day business, Chief
  Financial Officer John...
  
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• BRIEF-Diagnocure decides to proceed with voluntary liquidation and dissolution

  15-04-2016 18:31
  * Diagnocure announces its decision to proceed with the
  voluntary liquidation and dissolution of the corporation
  
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• Oil off ahead of producer meeting; stocks, dollar slip

  15-04-2016 18:07 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Rodrigo Campos NEW YORK (Reuters) - Crude oil prices fell on Friday ahead of a weekend meeting that could yield an output freeze by major producers, while the U.S. dollar and major stock markets edged lower but were set to post weekly gains. Indexes were little changed on Wall Street for a second day, with the S&P 500 set to close its seventh positive week in the last nine. Both the MSCI index of stocks across the globe and the S&P 500 hit their highest points of the year this week an
  
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• Citigroup reports profit drop, sees more pain if oil slips

  15-04-2016 18:06 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Citigroup has reported the biggest drop in profit among big U.S. banks that have released first-quarter results so far, but lower operating expenses helped the bank beat Wall Street's low expectations. Citigroup's shares rose as much as 3.5 percent in morning trading. "We still feel like we have a very good book of energy loans that compares well versus competitors," Chief Financial Officer John Gerspach said on a post-earnings call.
  
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• Housebuilders hamper Britain's FTSE

  15-04-2016 18:02
  * SABMiller rises after AB InBev agrees concessions for
  merger(ADVISORY- Reuters plans to replace intra-day European and UK
  stock market reports with a Live Markets blog on Eikon - see...
  
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• Piper Jaffray downgrades Wells Fargo citing credit concerns

  15-04-2016 17:47
  
  (Reuters) - Piper Jaffray cut its rating on Wells Fargo & Co to "underweight" from "neutral" citing concerns about the bank's credit costs.
  
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• Oil falls as investors expect little from Doha meeting

  15-04-2016 17:46 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Oil prices fell more than 3 percent on Friday in thin trade as traders and analysts anticipate a weekend meeting of major oil exporters to do little to help to clear global oversupply quickly, even though it would provide a floor for the market. Oil producers led by top exporters Saudi Arabia and Russia will meet in Doha, Qatar, on Sunday to discuss freezing output around current levels in an effort to contain a glut exacerbated by production that exceeds demand by about 1.5 million barrels a da
  
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• Citigroup hit by energy rout, sees more oil pain ahead

  15-04-2016 17:38 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Citigroup joined the growing list of banks to boost reserves for bad energy loans Friday, but said it saw no signs the energy bust was spreading to the broader economy. The US banking giant lifted its reserves for loan losses by $233 million due to energy-related loans as company officials signaled they expect further hits to results throughout 2016 from pain in the oil patch. "I wouldn't say that this quarter is going to be by far the largest quarter as yet," said chief financial officer John G
  
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• Wall Street flat as investors parse earnings, data

  15-04-2016 17:30 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - Wall Street was flat on Friday as investors digested U.S. corporate earnings as well as data that pointed to a slow global economic recovery, ahead of a crucial meeting of oil producers to help tackle a global surplus.
  
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• Bank shell company rule nears approval as final draft sent to White House

  15-04-2016 17:24
  
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department inched closer on Friday toward finalizing a rule requiring banks to identify the legal owners of shell companies, a move it hopes will help prevent...
  
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• Canada home prices and sales boom, but factory sales pull back

  15-04-2016 16:47 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Leah Schnurr OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian home prices and sales rose in March, showing the country's housing market boom still had momentum even as separate factory data suggested an increase in economic growth at the beginning of the year may not be sustainable. Canadian manufacturing sales tumbled far more than expected in February, data from Statistics Canada showed on Friday, retreating from recent gains and dampening expectations for growth in the month.
  
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• Obama urges agency to open cable TV box market

  15-04-2016 16:43 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Timothy Gardner WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Friday weighed in on the debate over allowing consumers to switch pricey cable television boxes for less expensive devices, urging an agency to set an example for other parts of government to boost competition. "You could have a set a standards such that anyone could connect any box to their cable and those boxes could compete for lower prices and greater innovation," Jason Furman, the chairman of the Council of Economic Advis
  
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• Global stock markets step back after strong week

  15-04-2016 16:30 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Global equities took a step back Friday from this week's rally after news that China's powerhouse economy grew at its slowest rate in seven years during the first quarter. Investors appeared to have taken their cash off the table after a week of gains, sending most stock markets lower, analysts said.
  
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• Wall Street lower as oil slips, earnings in focus

  15-04-2016 16:22 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. stocks were flat on Friday on worries that a potential deal by major oil producers to freeze output would do little to tackle a stubborn global oversupply. The nervousness about the outcome of the meeting overshadowed positive Chinese data, which showed the country's gross domestic product grew 6.7 percent in the first quarter in another sign that Asia's largest economy was on the mend. Citigroup reported a fall in quarterly profit, which still topped analysts' estimates.
  
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• Citi profit slumps on weak trading, investment banking revenue

  15-04-2016 16:15 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Citigroup Inc's quarterly profit plunged 27 percent as it earned less from trading and investment banking and incurred higher costs related to shrinking some of its businesses. The profit decline is the biggest among big U.S. banks that have reported first-quarter results so far, but lower operating expenses helped Citigroup beat Wall Street's low expectations. Shares of the No.4 U.S. bank by assets were up more than 2 percent at $46.15 in premarket trading on Friday.
  
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• Bombardier stock hits six-month high after Delta order reports

  15-04-2016 16:14 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Bombardier Inc shares hit a six-month high on Friday following reports the Canadian plane and train maker was poised to secure the largest order so far for its new CSeries jets from U.S. carrier Delta Airlines Inc . A final agreement between Atlanta-based Delta and Bombardier for 75 firm orders and options for 50 more of its 100-150 seat CSeries planes is expected at the end of April when the carrier's board meets to review the proposed deal, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing
  
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• G20 finance leaders under pressure to boost growth

  15-04-2016 16:05 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Financial leaders from the Group of 20 major economies scrambled on Friday for a way to keep global growth from stalling amid concerns about a drop-off in international trade and the waning effectiveness of loose monetary policy. The G20 gathering, the highlight of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings in Washington, came amid growing pressure on richer nations to boost infrastructure spending, deregulate industries and spur employment. Earlier this week the IMF cut its
  
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• Oil falls on low expectations for Doha meeting

  15-04-2016 15:59 via news.yahoo.com
  
  LONDON/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Friday in thin trade as analysts said a weekend meeting of major oil exporters would do little to help to clear global oversupply quickly, even though it would provide a floor for the market. Oil producers led by top exporters Saudi Arabia and Russia will meet in Doha, Qatar, on Sunday to discuss freezing output around current levels in an effort to contain a glut exacerbated by production that exceeds demand by about 1.5 million barrels a day. It
  
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• Hungarian Games? Budapest will test drive for more frugal Olympics

  15-04-2016 15:58 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Marton Dunai BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary is plying Olympic authorities with visions of a 2024 games played out from the elegant Danubian capital Budapest to the shores of Lake Balaton, eschewing the extravagance of recent years in a turn to a more modest global sporting celebration. Hungary is wagering its offer of a more frugal summer games than those that might be offered by richer rivals Los Angeles, Paris and Rome will better reflect the spirit of the International Olympic Committee's Ag
  
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• U.S. industrial output falls, signals weak first-quarter GDP growth

  15-04-2016 15:47 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. industrial production fell more than expected in March as manufacturing and mining production decreased, the latest indication that economic growth braked sharply in the first quarter. Industrial output declined 0.6 percent last month after a downwardly revised 0.6 percent drop in February, the Federal Reserve said on Friday. Industrial production has fallen in six of the last seven months.
  
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• Wall Street flat as oil in focus

  15-04-2016 15:36 via news.yahoo.com
  
  REUTERS - U.S. stocks were little changed on Friday on worries that a potential deal by major oil producers to freeze output at a meeting in Doha would be insufficient to tackle a global oversupply. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 1.5 points, or 0.01 percent, at 17,927.93, the S&P 500 was down 0.58 points, or 0.03 percent, at 2,082.2 and the Nasdaq composite was down 6.99 points, or 0.14 percent, at 4,938.90. (Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)
  
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