Finance news

• Software group Nice Systems to buy inContact for $940 million

  18-05-2016 23:47
  
  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli software provider Nice Systemsis to buy U.S.-based inContact , a maker of cloud software for call centers, for about $940 million.
  
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• UPDATE 1-American Eagle's sales lifted by strong demand for Aerie line

  18-05-2016 23:35
  
  * Expects 2nd-qtr profit of $0.20-$0.21/shr(Adds comments, background)
  
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• Viacom board votes to stop paying Sumner Redstone

  18-05-2016 23:27 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - Viacom Inc's board voted on Wednesday to stop paying 92-year-old controlling shareholder and Chairman Emeritus Sumner Redstone, according to a source familiar with the matter. Viacom had cut the total pay of its billionaire chairman, who also owns a majority stake in CBS , by 85 percent to $2 million last year. Redstone remains chairman emeritus, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the pay cut. (http://on.wsj.com/1TpcXzZ) A representative for Viacom could not b
  
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• Longtime Mason Hill hedge fund partners Strong and Fieler split

  18-05-2016 23:18
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - William Strong has left Mason Hill Advisors, the hedge fund firm he founded in 1986, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
  
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• Fed's surprise message: June hike likely if economy improves

  18-05-2016 23:17 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Catching many investors off guard, the Federal Reserve made clear Wednesday that an interest rate hike in June is likely if the economy keeps improving.
  
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• Caesars offers $4 bln to help casino unit exit bankruptcy

  18-05-2016 23:15
  
  CHICAGO (Reuters) - Caesars Entertainment Corphas offered $4 billion in a new plan to help its casino operating unit emerge from Chapter 11, a lawyer for the unit told a U.S. Bankruptcy judge on...
  
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• Be wary if your mutual fund manager also runs hedge funds: James Saft

  18-05-2016 23:07
  
  (James Saft is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are his own)
  
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• Hawkish Fed sends U.S. dollar soaring; bank stocks rally

  18-05-2016 22:54 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Rodrigo Campos NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar touched a seven-week high against major currencies on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve signalled an interest rate rise could happen as soon as June, while stocks on Wall Street were buoyed by the resulting rally in bank shares. The Fed will likely raise interest rates in June if economic data points to stronger U.S. second-quarter economic growth along with higher inflation and employment, according to minutes from the U.S. central bank's
  
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• Bank shares buoy Wall Street as Fed signals possible June hike

  18-05-2016 22:37 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Officials from the U.S. central bank said it would be appropriate to raise interest rates in June if economic data points to stronger second-quarter growth as well as firming inflation and employment, according to the minutes. Following the release of the minutes, traders were projecting a 34 percent chance the Fed would raise rates in June, up from 15 percent on Tuesday, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
  
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• Canadian subprime debt accelerates as economy pinches consumers

  18-05-2016 22:24 via news.yahoo.com
  By Leah Schnurr OTTAWA (Reuters) - The debt of Canadian subprime borrowers grew at a faster pace than other consumers in the first quarter, suggesting the weak economy forced some to turn to pricier credit at a time when policymakers are concerned about high household debt. Subprime borrowers, or those with low credit scores, increased their average credit card balance by 5.7 percent in the first quarter compared with the same time last year.
  
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• Wall St. ends flat after Fed minutes as banks rally

  18-05-2016 22:08 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street closed flat on Wednesday after a volatile session, buoyed by a rally in bank shares after the minutes from the Federal Reserve's April meeting signaled a potential near-term interest rate increase.
  
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• Fed signals interest rate hike firmly on the table for June

  18-05-2016 21:31 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. Federal Reserve officials said it would be appropriate to raise interest rates in June if economic data points to stronger second-quarter growth as well as firming inflation and employment, according to minutes from their policy meeting last month. The policymakers said recent data made them more confident inflation was rising toward the Fed's 2 percent target, and that they were less concerned about a global economic slowdown, according to the minutes, which were released on Wednesday. "Mo
  
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• Wall Street turns negative as Fed signals June rate hike possible

  18-05-2016 21:02 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Following the release of the minutes, traders were projecting a 34-percent chance for the Fed to raise rates in June up from 15 percent on Tuesday, according to the CME FedWatch tool. "Most expectations, if they even exist, were pushed into July, but for the most part the market has repositioned for the Fed not to do anything ... So this is a bit of a surprise to see the Fed sounding this hawkish in the minutes," said Michael O'Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading in Greenwich, C
  
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• Fed minutes: door still open for a June rate hike

  18-05-2016 21:02 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The Federal Reserve remained prepared to proceed on a rate hike in June despite the first-quarter economic slowdown, the minutes to the Fed's policy meeting last month showed on Wednesday. The minutes gave a greater picture of the Federal Open Market Committee's decision on April 29 to leave its benchmark federal funds rate unchanged at an ultra-low 0.25-0.5 percent.
  
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• Hedge fund Saba Capital pulls in fresh cash as returns climb in 2016

  18-05-2016 20:54
  
  BOSTON (Reuters) - Boaz Weinstein's hedge fund Saba Capital has been pulling in new money this year even as many rival investors are being asked to return cash to their clients.
  
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• U.S. dollar up on hawkish Fed; bank stocks rally

  18-05-2016 20:49 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Rodrigo Campos NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar rose sharply against a basket of currencies on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve signalled an interest rate hike could happen as soon as next month, while stocks on Wall Street fell despite a rally in bank shares. The Fed will likely raise interest rates in June if economic data points to stronger second-quarter growth as well as firming inflation and employment, according to minutes from the U.S. central bank's April policy meeting. Earli
  
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• Exclusive: UK banks ordered to review cyber security after SWIFT heist

  18-05-2016 20:25 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Andrew MacAskill and Jim Finkle LONDON (Reuters) - The Bank of England ordered UK banks to detail steps taken to secure computers connected to the SWIFT bank messaging network about two months after a still-unidentified group used the system to steal $81 million from Bank Bangladesh, according to three people familiar with the effort. The central bank sent the request to update cyber security measures to all banks it regulates in mid-to-late April, according to these people, who were not auth
  
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• Wall Street higher as bank stocks jump ahead of Fed minutes

  18-05-2016 20:17 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Wall Street was higher in afternoon trading on Wednesday as the prospect of higher interest rates set off a rally in financial stocks that countered a fall in retail shares. The minutes from the Federal Reserve's April meeting, scheduled to be released at 2 p.m. ET (1800 GMT), could give clues on the path of rate hikes. "There may be some nugget in the minutes that confirms what two Fed governors mentioned yesterday," said Mark Lucchini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott in
  
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• Issue resolved at NYSE, some orders canceled: exchange

  18-05-2016 20:08 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The New York Stock Exchange said on Wednesday a critical technical issue that disrupted trading in nearly 200 ticker symbols had been resolved. Nasdaq and Bats Global Markets declared "self-help" against the NYSE, which occurs when another exchange is dealing with internal problems processing trades and orders are routed through alternate venues. "Orders just get routed to the exchanges where they can trade," said Ken Polcari, director of the NYSE floor division at O’Neil Securities from t
  
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• Investors pull more money from U.S. stock funds: ICI

  18-05-2016 19:50
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors withdrew money from U.S.-based stock mutual funds for the ninth straight week, Investment Company Institute data showed on Wednesday, reflecting skepticism about the...
  
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• Iran's IRGC says many Iranians have volunteered to fight in Syria

  18-05-2016 19:43 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Parisa Hafezi ANKARA (Reuters) - Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said on Wednesday many Iranians have volunteered to fight in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad's war against "terrorism", the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported. Shi'ite-dominated Iran is Assad's main regional ally and has provided military and economic support for his conflict with range of Sunni Muslim rebel and militant groups including Islamic State and the al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front. "Many y
  
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• Veneto Banca cash call pre-marketing to start Friday - sources

  18-05-2016 19:31 via news.yahoo.com
  MILAN (Reuters) - Pre-marketing of Veneto Banca's cash call of up to one billion euros (0.75 billion pounds) will start on Friday, two sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. Last week, sources said the pre-marketing had been delayed by one week due to technical reasons. Veneto Banca is looking to raise money in a stock market listing to fill a capital shortfall identified by European Central Bank supervisors, and avoid the risk of being wound down. (Reporting by Maria Pia Quaglia an
  
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• New Fitbit bands may soon double up as mobile wallets

  18-05-2016 19:19
  
  (Reuters) - Fitbit users could soon make payments with a flick of the wrist, as the maker of the simple yet hugely popular fitness bands races to pack in more features in its products.
  
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• Charter Communications completes purchase of Time Warner Cable

  18-05-2016 18:49
  
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Charter Communications Incsaid Wednesday it has completed its acquisition of Time Warner Cable Incand Bright House Networks LLC, creating the second-largest U.S. broadband...
  
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• European stock markets recover, boosted by banks

  18-05-2016 18:33 via news.yahoo.com
  European stock markets recovered from a weak start on Wednesday, with a rally in banks and a rebound on Wall Street helping to counteract some weak corporate earnings from companies including Switzerland's ...
  
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• World stock markets see bright side of US rate hike

  18-05-2016 18:16 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Stock markets switched higher Wednesday as sentiment towards the possibility of a US rate hike changed to positive, with investors awaiting a fresh glimpse into the minds of Federal Reserve policymakers.
  
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• U.S. dollar up on hawkish Fed view; banks boost stock indices

  18-05-2016 17:59 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Rodrigo Campos NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar rose to a three-week high on Wednesday on heightened expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise rates earlier or more times than anticipated this year, while stocks on Wall Street rose led by financial shares. Markets have priced in one interest rate hike from the Fed before the end of the year, but this week's U.S. inflation data and a more hawkish tone from several Fed policymakers have led to analysts now seeing the Fed more likely
  
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• Some NYSE trades rerouted after technical issue

  18-05-2016 17:54 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday said it was experiencing a critical technical issue that sent trading to other exchange venues in a subset of ticker symbols.
  
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• China leader admits problems in Hong Kong, pledges to respect autonomy

  18-05-2016 17:50 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By James Pomfret and Clare Baldwin HONG KONG (Reuters) - China's number three official Zhang Dejiang said in Hong Kong on Wednesday that Beijing was aware of problems in the city but would respect Hong Kong's autonomy as protesters hit the streets to oppose Chinese attempts to squeeze local freedoms. Zhang's visit, which comes at a time of mounting political tensions in Hong Kong, is the first by a senior state leader since tens of thousands of people mounted a massive but ultimately unsuccessfu
  
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• Factbox: Healthy, educated women lead to healthy economies

  18-05-2016 17:40 via news.yahoo.com
  By Emma Batha COPENHAGEN (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Investing in women's health, education and economic empowerment is critical for ending global poverty, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim told a major women's health and rights conference on Wednesday. More than 5,500 delegates are attending the Women Deliver conference in Copenhagen a major global conference on the health, rights and wellbeing of women and girls.
  
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• Wall Street turns higher as bank stocks offset retail shares

  18-05-2016 17:20 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - Wall Street reversed course to trade slightly higher on Wednesday as the prospect of higher interest rates sent financial stocks up, offsetting a fall in retail shares.
  
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• Libya sovereign fund case versus SocGen back in UK court on May 19

  18-05-2016 17:18
  
  LONDON (Reuters) - A dispute between Libya's $67 billion sovereign wealth fund and Societe Generale over alleged bribes paid to the company of a middleman linked to the Gaddafi family will be back in...
  
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• Deal still possible in Colombia-Novartis cancer drug talks : minister

  18-05-2016 17:13
  
  BOGOTA (Reuters) - The door remains open for Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis to reach a deal with Colombia to lower the cost of cancer drug imatinib and prevent the Andean country from allowing...
  
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• Ex-JPMorgan, Citi FX sales employees sue banks

  18-05-2016 16:57 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Anjuli Davies LONDON (Reuters) - A former London-based JPMorgan foreign exchange sales person is suing the Wall Street bank for unfair dismissal, according to a court filing released on Wednesday. Patrice Ktorza is scheduled to appear at the Stratford Employment Tribunal on June 1. In a separate case, Nihel Bensenane, who still works in foreign exchange sales at Citi based in London, is suing the bank for sexual discrimination and unequal pay, a court filing said.
  
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• Wall Street lower as retail shares weigh; U.S. Fed minutes eyed

  18-05-2016 16:27 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Wall Street opened lower on Wednesday as a fall in retail shares weighed ahead of the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's April meeting. Shares of Target were down 8.3 percent at $67.50 after its quarterly sales missed expectations. Dow-component Wal-Mart Stores, which reports results on Thursday, was also down 3 percent at $63.10.
  
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• MIDEAST STOCKS-Egypt lifted by foreign money; Gulf bourses lose steam

  18-05-2016 15:54 via news.yahoo.com
  * Foreign funds boost Egypt's bourse for second straight day * Saudi shares slip in final hour, banks weak * Advanced Petrochemical, Sipchem gain 2 pct on positive news * Property sector weighs on Abu Dhabi * National Bank of Kuwait gains on first day of new rights issue By Celine Aswad DUBAI, May 18 (Reuters) - Foreign funds boosted the Egyptian stock market for a second straight day on Wednesday, exchange data showed, while Gulf bourses lost steam as investors took profits. Cairo's main index
  
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• C$ weakens as wildfire threatens oil sands facilities

  18-05-2016 15:43 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The Canadian dollar weakened against its broadly firmer U.S. counterpart on Wednesday as a wildfire threatened oil sands facilities in Alberta, while global oil prices seesawed. Hot and dry weather and strong winds were expected to push a massive wildfire near Fort McMurray, Alberta eastward on Wednesday, threatening facilities and work camps in the prized oil sands region. Economists had already been expecting a sharp slowdown in Canada's economy after a strong start to 2016.
  
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• World bank approves up to $5 billion loan to Tunisia

  18-05-2016 15:34 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The World Bank approved a five-year plan to lend Tunisia up to $5 billion to support economic reforms aimed at reviving growth and creating jobs, the bank said on Wednesday. The North African country is struggling with lower tourism revenue after Islamist militant attacks last year, protests over unemployment and slow progress on economic reforms that have lagged political advances made since its 2011 uprising. Tunisia's parliament recently approved laws on banking and on strengthening central b
  
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• Malaysia's Petronas Q1 profit dives 60 percent

  18-05-2016 15:29 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Malaysian state energy firm Petronas Wednesday announced a 60 percent plunge in first-quarter profit due to slumping world oil prices, casting a cloud over the country's economic prospects. Petronas is the single largest source of Malaysian government revenue and of national export earnings. The unlisted firm, Malaysia's only Fortune 500 company, posted a 4.6 billion ringgit ($1.14 billion) net profit for the first quarter compared to 11.4 billion ringgit during the same period last year.
  
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• Wall Street set to open lower ahead of Fed minutes

  18-05-2016 15:21 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Wall Street looked set to open lower on Wednesday as a fall in Target's shares weighed on futures ahead of the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's April meeting. Shares of Target were down 7.4 percent at $68.20 in premarket trading after its quarterly sales missed expectations. Dow-component Wal-Mart Stores, which reports results on Thursday, was also down 3.2 percent at $63.
  
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• Suzuki says it used wrong fuel economy tests in Japan

  18-05-2016 15:16 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Minami Funakoshi TOKYO (Reuters) - Suzuki Motor Corp used the wrong methods to test the fuel economy of its cars in Japan, it said on Wednesday, widening a testing scandal that has already rocked smaller rival Mitsubishi Motors Corp . Japan's transport ministry ordered widespread checks to industry methods after Mitsubishi Motors admitted last month it manipulated fuel economy data for at least four mini-vehicle models, overstating their efficiency. Mitsubishi Motors' president, Tetsuro Aikaw
  
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• South Africa's March retail sales slow to 2.8 pct

  18-05-2016 14:51 via news.yahoo.com
  
  South Africa's retail sales grew below expectations by 2.8 percent year-on-year in March as rising interest rates and weak economic growth hit consumer confidence and dampened the sector's prospects. "Real retail sales growth will slow. "But the economic signs are there that the growth was out of touch with reality." The South African Reserve Bank cut its growth forecast for 2016 to 0.8 percent from 1.3 percent previously, and has said it would have no choice to keep raising rates despite weak g
  
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• Nigeria looks to sukuk for infrastructure funding needs

  18-05-2016 14:35 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Nigeria hopes to use a proposed Islamic bonds issuance programme to help fund big infrastructure needs in Africa's biggest economy, aiming to tie the transaction to one of several projects, a Nigerian finance official told Reuters. Nigeria plans to borrow as much as $10 billion from debt markets, with about half of that coming from foreign sources, to help fund a budget deficit worsened by the slump in oil prices that has slashed revenues and weakened the naira. The federal government is working
  
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• South Africa's Spar Group reports slower half-year profit growth

  18-05-2016 14:23 via news.yahoo.com
  South Africa's Spar Group reported a slower rise in half-year profit than in the same period a year earlier, as weak consumer spending in Africa's most advanced economy weighed on earnings. The firm, which is expanding into Europe to diversify earnings away from South Africa's volatile rand, bought Spar Switzerland earlier this year. In southern Africa sales rose 9 percent as consumers battled with interest rate increases, feeble economic growth and high unemployment.
  
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• Global stocks steady after U.S. rate rise expectations revive

  18-05-2016 14:16 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Patrick Graham LONDON (Reuters) - Stock markets recovered from an initial battering on Wednesday, some upbeat signals from Britain and Japan helping offset what for many investors is a worrying revival of expectations for rises in U.S. interest rates this year. The dollar , hammered by a virtual abandoning of expectations for tighter rates this year, hit three-week highs after Atlanta Federal Reserve President Dennis Lockhart and other officials on Tuesday played up chances of hikes this year
  
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• On Brexit, British youth ask: What's in it for me?

  18-05-2016 14:15 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By William James MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - Saim Chowdhury is the kind of Briton keeping pro-Europeans awake at night with five weeks to go before a referendum on EU membership: young, educated and supportive of the economic arguments for staying in, he doesn't plan to vote. With public opinion divided down the middle on the issue, Chowdhury is one of millions that 'In' campaigners fear may not bother to vote, which could tip the balance toward Britain leaving the European Union. If it's no
  
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• South Africa's mines chamber says half of members in "loss making territory"

  18-05-2016 13:51 via news.yahoo.com
  
  South Africa's Chamber of Mines said on Wednesday about half of its members were in loss-making territory as a result of weakening commodity prices, rapidly rising costs, falling productivity and regulatory issues. In a statement issued ahead of wage talks set to begin at South Africa's three largest platinum companies, the chamber warned against a repeat of the strikes that have characterised previous negotiations "given the country's and sector's current straitened economic circumstances." The
  
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• Tunisia's economic growth slows to 1 pct in first qtr 2016

  18-05-2016 13:48 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Tunisia's economic growth slowed to 1 percent year-on-year in the first quarter as agricultural activity declined, the state statistics institute said on Wednesday. Tunisia is struggling with a drop in tourism after four major militant attacks over the past year and an outbreak of unrest over jobs and development at the start of this year. The North African country's economic growth was 1.8 percent in the first quarter of 2015.
  
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• Japan says only Suzuki, Mitsubishi broke fuel economy testing rules

  18-05-2016 13:48 via news.yahoo.com
  TOKYO (Reuters) - Mitsubishi Motorsand Suzuki Motor Corpwere the only automakers that used improper fuel economy tests for their cars in Japan, an official at the transport ministry said at a briefing on Wednesday.
  
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• South Korea's Hotel Lotte plans $4.9 billion IPO, year's largest: sources

  18-05-2016 13:28 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Lee Chang-ho and Joyce Lee SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's Hotel Lotte Co Ltd [HTLOT.UL] plans a share sale worth up to 5.7 trillion won ($4.85 billion) next month, sources said on Wednesday, in what would be the world's biggest initial public offering since late 2015. The sprawling Lotte Group said last year it would list Hotel Lotte, which includes the third-largest global duty-free retail chain, as part of efforts to simplify its ownership structure amid a family feud over leadership succe
  
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