Finance news

• India's Modi to meet Obama, address Congress next month

  20-05-2016 23:25 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. President Barack Obama will meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington next month to discuss security and other issues and the Indian leader will be granted the rare honor of addressing both houses of Congress. The White House said Obama and Modi will discuss economic growth, climate change, clean energy, and security and defense cooperation during their June 7 meeting. It will be Modi's fourth trip to the United States since he became prime minister in 2014.
  
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• Alberta court ruling may trigger rise in orphaned wells -lawyers

  20-05-2016 23:18
  
  CALGARY, Alberta, May 20 (Reuters) - Lawyers in Canada's
  energy capital Calgary warned on Friday that a judge's decision
  to grant lenders priority over environmental clean-up costs in
  oil and gas...
  
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• Wall Street ends volatile week on high note as tech leads

  20-05-2016 22:33 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The S&P 500 eked out gains for the week after three straight weeks of losses, while the Nasdaq snapped a four-week losing streak. "The tech sector, which is pretty big, is having a pretty good day, led by the Applied Materials earnings," said Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel in Charlottesville, Virginia. The Federal Reserve surprised investors when the central bank's minutes, released on Wednesday, opened the door to a rate increase in June, roiling financial markets.
  
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• SunEdison agrees to withdraw request for independent examiner

  20-05-2016 22:19
  
  NEW YORK, May 20 (Reuters) - SunEdison Inc has
  tentatively agreed to withdraw a request for an independent
  examiner for the renewable energy company's bankruptcy, its
  attorneys said in court on...
  
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• Economic data keeps Fed in focus for stocks

  20-05-2016 21:26 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Economic data will garner most of the attention next week, with investors placing a heavy weight on a host of reports as they try and determine the likelihood of a rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve at its June meeting. Multiple gauges of the manufacturing sector will be released along with durable goods orders, a reading on consumer sentiment and the revised gross domestic product report for the first quarter. Signs of improvement in the data would likely heighten expectations of a rate hike
  
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• Mexico lowers 2016 GDP forecast, sees 2.2 to 3.2 pct growth

  20-05-2016 19:53 via news.yahoo.com
  MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico is lowering its economic growth forecast for 2016, citing what it calls "adverse" international conditions including sluggish industrial production in the United States.
  
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• Dollar cruises to third weekly gain, global stocks bounce

  20-05-2016 19:48 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Global equity markets rose on Friday as investors took in stride the possibility the Federal Reserve might hike interest rates in June, a notion that helped U.S. bond yields to rise and lifted the dollar to a third straight week of gains. The data added to a growing perception the U.S. economy can withstand a rate hike next month or in July.
  
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• UPDATE 4-Deere posts lower quarterly results, cuts profit outlook

  20-05-2016 19:44
  
  May 20 (Reuters) - Deere & Co on Friday cut its
  fiscal-year profit outlook further and reported lower quarterly
  earnings on weak demand for its farming and construction
  equipment, sending its shares...
  
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• S&P, Dow look set to snap four-week losing streak

  20-05-2016 19:10 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index was up 1.13 percent and was on track to end five straight weeks of losses boosted by gains in Microsoft and Apple . The S&P financial sector index rose 0.91 percent as a flurry of comments from U.S. Federal Reserve officials, suggested a possibility of an interest rate hike as early as June. The index has risen about 2 percent since the Fed released minutes of its April meeting on Wednesday.
  
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• Little for U.S. stock investors to cheer on anniversary of S&P record high

  20-05-2016 19:07 via news.yahoo.com
  
  A year ago the U.S. stock market minted new all-time highs, but you could excuse investors for not celebrating the anniversary. The benchmark S&P 500 has failed to close higher since ending at 2,130.82 on May 21, 2015, and now trades some 4 percent below that peak. Just this week, heightened expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in the near-term roiled the stock market.
  
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• IMF approves $2.9 bn loan for Tunisia

  20-05-2016 19:03 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The International Monetary Fund approved a $2.9 billion loan to Tunisia on Friday to help the country implement economic and financial reforms. The money is expected to be released to the Tunisian government in nine stages, including about $320 million released immediately with the announcement. Tunisia's economy has not strongly rebounded in the wake of the 2011 revolt that ousted the corrupt government of strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and sparked the Arab Spring uprisings across North Afri
  
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• UPDATE 1-UniCredit lifted by possibility of asset sales boosting capital

  20-05-2016 18:54
  
  * Extraordinary board meeting called on May 24-sources(Adds details on payments unit, board meeting)
  
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• UPDATE 2-Bayer's Monsanto approach sparks shareholder uproar

  20-05-2016 18:50
  
  * Investors, analysts question size, financing of deal(Adds Bayer comment, analyst comment on healthcare unit)
  
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• Rules for 'too big to fail' insurance firms coming soon: Fed official

  20-05-2016 18:31 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The Federal Reserve will soon take up rules for insurance companies deemed "too big to fail" intended to head off risks to U.S. financial stability, as well as requirements on how much capital firms across the industry should hold, Fed Governor Daniel Tarullo said on Friday. The capital requirements to be unveiled in the coming weeks will follow two tracks: one for the handful of insurance companies designated as "systemically important" and one for smaller holding companies that own banks. Unde
  
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• Analysis - Where can you get a 5 percent yield? At Macy's

  20-05-2016 18:14 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Caroline Valetkevitch NEW YORK (Reuters) - Some of the best deals at big retailers like Macy's, Staples and Gap are not in their stores but on the stock market: their dividends are through the roof. For example, Staples pays a dividend equal to about 6 percent of the company's $8.15 share price, an all-time high for the company and more than double its 10-year average dividend yield of 2.5 percent.
  
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• Where can you get a 5 percent yield? At Macy's

  20-05-2016 18:13 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Some of the best deals at big retailers like Macy's, Staples and Gap are not in their stores but on the stock market: their dividends are through the roof. For example, Staples pays a dividend equal to about 6 percent of the company's $8.15 share price, an all-time high for the company and more than double its 10-year average dividend yield of 2.5 percent.
  
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• Coca-Cola HBC leads Britain's FTSE share index higher

  20-05-2016 18:00
  
  LONDON, May 20 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index ended
  sharply higher on Friday, with bottling company Coca-Cola HBC
  rallying on the prospects of a margin recovery and
  commodities stocks...
  
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• Drugmakers eye volume growth as China cuts prices by up to 67 percent

  20-05-2016 17:59 via news.yahoo.com
  
  SHANGHAI/LONDON (Reuters) - Chinese health authorities announced price cuts of up to two-thirds for three drugs on Friday in the latest move to reduce the cost of healthcare for patients in the world's second-biggest economy. The National Health and Family Planning Commission said the cost of GlaxoSmithKline's hepatitis B drug Viread would fall to 490 yuan ($75) a month from 1,500, and AstraZeneca's lung cancer pill Iressa to 7,000 from 15,000. Icotinib, another lung cancer drug made by China's
  
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• NY Fed's 'nowcast' estimate of second-quarter GDP rises to 1.7 percent

  20-05-2016 17:50 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. economy is on track to expand at an annualized rate of 1.7 percent in the second quarter, half a percentage point higher than estimated a week earlier, the New York Federal Reserve said on Friday.
  
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• Tech, financial stocks prop up Wall Street

  20-05-2016 17:35 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index was up 1.13 percent, also boosted by Microsoft and Apple . The stock was also the most traded on the Nasdaq. The S&P financial sector index also rose 0.98 percent as a flurry of comments from the U.S. Federal Reserve officials, suggested a possibility of an interest rate hike as early as June.
  
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• C$ weakens as evidence mounts of slower growth

  20-05-2016 16:22 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Fergal Smith TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar edged lower against its U.S. counterpart on Friday after weaker-than-expected retail sales data added to evidence that the economy slowed heading into the second quarter. Canadian retail sales fell 1 percent in March, exceeding economists' forecasts for a decrease of 0.6 percent, as consumers bought fewer cars, while separate data from Statistics Canada showed that core inflation rose to 2.2 percent. {nL2N18H0FT] The mixed data leaves the B
  
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• Currency wars, global growth top agenda at G7 meeting in Japan

  20-05-2016 16:18 via news.yahoo.com
  
  A deep divide over currency policy bubbled over at a G7 meeting in Japan on Friday as a senior US Treasury official warned against Tokyo's bid to tame the resurgent yen. Japan, which is hosting the two-day talks, is keen to win an endorsement for its position that fiscal stimulus is the way to kickstart the world economy, after a rally in the yen hit exporters and worsened a slowdown at home.
  
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• Fed official: rules for 'too big to fail' insurance firms coming soon

  20-05-2016 16:08 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The Federal Reserve will soon take up rules covering prudential standards and liquidity for insurance companies deemed "too big to fail" in hopes of heading off risks to financial stability, Fed Governor Daniel Tarullo said on Friday. In the coming weeks, it will also propose capital requirements for insurance firms it regulates, with separate tracks for the handful of companies designated as "systemically important" and for smaller holding companies that own banks. Under the Dodd-Frank Wall Str
  
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• Deutsche Bank investigates deal that may have profited staff

  20-05-2016 15:38 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Deutsche Bank   is investigating staff involvement in a transaction suspected of causing a conflict of interest and has suspended bonus payments of the staff while the probe is ongoing, the bank said on Friday. The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that six current and former employees had made about $37 million by chipping in their own money to trades between Deutsche Bank and a hedge fund in 2009 that were meant to remove some of the risk the bank had taken on from an insuranc
  
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• Wall Street higher at open

  20-05-2016 15:33 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - U.S. stocks opened higher on Friday as investors digested the possibility of a June rate hike, a day after the S&P 500 fell to its lowest in two months.
  
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• Tarullo: standards for 'too big to fail' insurance firms coming soon

  20-05-2016 15:30 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The Federal Reserve will soon take up prudential standards and liquidity requirements for insurance companies deemed "too big to fail" that are intended to head off risks to financial stability, Fed Governor Daniel Tarullo said in a speech to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners on Friday. It will also propose capital requirements for insurance firms it regulates, with separate tracks for the handful of those companies designated "systemically important" and for smaller holding co
  
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• Pakistan shares close higher; rupee weaker, o/n rates fall

  20-05-2016 15:25
  
  KARACHI, May 20 (Reuters) - Pakistan stocks inched up on
  Friday after profit-taking pulled down shares in the second half
  of the session, but extended gains from Thursday to close 1.6
  percent higher...
  
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• Lacking new ideas, G7 agrees on 'go-your-own-way' approach

  20-05-2016 15:21 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Leika Kihara and Stanley White SENDAI, Japan (Reuters) - A rift on fiscal policy and currencies has set the stage for G7 advanced economies to agree on a "go-your-own-way" response to address risks hindering global economic growth at their finance leaders' gathering that kicked off on Friday. Japan backed away from its previous calls for coordinated fiscal action to jump-start global growth with Finance Minister Taro Aso saying on Friday that while some G7 countries can deploy more fiscal sti
  
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• Fewer auto sales pull Canadian retail sales down in March

  20-05-2016 15:12 via news.yahoo.com
  By Leah Schnurr OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian retail sales fell more than expected in March as consumers bought fewer cars, underscoring expectations that the economy slowed heading into the second quarter. Separate data from Statistics Canada on Friday showed the annual inflation rate rose to 1.7 percent in April, in line with forecasts. The core inflation rate, which strips out some volatile items and is watched by the Bank of Canada, was more robust, rising to 2.2 percent.
  
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• Obama, India's Modi to meet next month in Washington: White House

  20-05-2016 14:57 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. President Barack Obama will meet with India's Narendra Modi at the White House next month to discuss security and other issues when the prime minister visits Washington, the White House said on Friday. In a statement, the White House said Obama and Modi will discuss economic growth, climate change, clean energy, and security and defense cooperation during the meeting on June 7, which follows Obama's trip to New Delhi in January 2015.
  
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• Canadian retail sales fall more than expected in March

  20-05-2016 14:44 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Canadian retail sales fell more than expected in March, after two months of strong gains, as consumers bought fewer cars and home furnishings, data from Statistics Canada showed on Friday. Overall, sales were down in 6 out of 11 sectors, making up 74 percent of retail trade. Although first-quarter growth is expected to have been relatively strong, recent data, including Friday's retail sales report, has suggested the economy began to cool heading into the second quarter.
  
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• G-7 finance leaders seek to reassure on global economy

  20-05-2016 14:35 via news.yahoo.com
  
  AKIU, Japan (AP) — Finance leaders of major industrial countries meeting in Japan need to find ways to use all the "policy levers" they have to help counter anxiety over global economic prospects, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said Friday, in remarks echoed by his Japanese hosts.
  
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• U.S. Fed rate increase talk is positive for U.S., Canada: minister

  20-05-2016 14:23 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Megumi Lim SENDAI, Japan (Reuters) - Recent comments from U.S. Federal Reserve officials that interest rates are likely to rise are welcome because that suggests the U.S. economy is improving, Canadian finance minister Bill Morneau said on Friday. A healthy U.S. economy is sure to benefit Canada because of the close trading relationship between the neighbors, Morneau told Reuters in an interview at a Group of Seven (G7) finance meeting in Sendai, in Japan. Canada is clearly worried about turm
  
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• Market mood settles after Fed rate hike concern

  20-05-2016 14:20 via news.yahoo.com
  
  LONDON (AP) — Global stock markets recovered their poise Friday in the wake of sizeable falls triggered by the U.S. Federal Reserve's surprise indication that it could raise interest rates in June.
  
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• Japan, U.S. remain at loggerheads over yen policy

  20-05-2016 14:17 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Leika Kihara and Tetsushi Kajimoto SENDAI, Japan (Reuters) - Japan and the United States remained at loggerheads over exchange-rate policy on Friday with Washington saying yen moves continued to be "orderly," signaling that Tokyo has no justification to intervene in the market to stem yen gains. Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso reiterated Tokyo's view that excessive and disorderly currency moves were undesirable, making it clear authorities won't hesitate to step into the market if they con
  
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• EU's Moscovici says Greek debt relief deal 'very close'

  20-05-2016 13:55 via news.yahoo.com
  
  European Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici on Friday said negotiators were "very close" to reaching a debt-relief deal for cash-strapped Greece. Athens is battling to win debt relief from its European Union creditors, arguing that its burden of loan repayments is too hefty to be sustainable, but Germany has opposed such a move. Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem has said he wants a deal for the debt-wracked country at a meeting of eurozone finance ministers on Tuesday.
  
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• G7 finance ministers more optimistic about world economy: Schaeuble

  20-05-2016 13:51 via news.yahoo.com
  SENDAI, Japan (Reuters) - The Group of Seven (G7) leading industry nations are more optimistic about economic growth in the world than previously, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Friday. "We agreed, that the world economic environment is better than some feared a few months ago," Schaeuble said after the first round of talks at a meeting of G7 finance ministers in Sendai. He added that Germany had growing room for fiscal maneuver and said he was in favor of using this in the n
  
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• Futures higher a day after S&P touches two-month low

  20-05-2016 13:41 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were higher on Friday, a day after the S&P 500 fell to its lowest since March as investors fretted about a rate hike as early as June.
  
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• Lew: G-7 finance leaders seek to reassure on global economy

  20-05-2016 13:40 via news.yahoo.com
  
  AKIU, Japan (AP) — Finance leaders of major industrial countries meeting in Japan need to find ways to use all the "policy levers" they have to help counter anxiety over global economic prospects, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said Friday, in remarks echoed by his Japanese hosts.
  
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• Unsold U.S. retail inventory a challenge after dismal earnings season

  20-05-2016 13:38 via news.yahoo.com
  
  A pile-up of unsold inventory across U.S. retail chains is likely to squeeze profits further as stores struggle to make up for a weak first quarter marred by weak sales and share declines. Target's shares fell to a 52-week low on Wednesday after its sales missed estimates. Target Chief Executive Brian Cornell, speaking after the company released its earnings, cautioned investors about the impact of the stock build-up.
  
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• US pre-open: Stocks set for rebound

  20-05-2016 13:36 via news.yahoo.com
  (ShareCast News) - US futures pointed to a slightly firmer open on Wall Street following the recent Fed-fuelled losses.
  
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• UniCredit lifted by possibility of asset sales boosting capital

  20-05-2016 13:32
  
  MILAN, May 20 (Reuters) - UniCredit shares rose on
  Friday on expectations of the Italian bank selling stakes it
  holds in other banks to shore up its capital, reducing the need
  to issue new shares.
  
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• China slashes GSK, AstraZeneca drug prices in cost-cutting drive

  20-05-2016 13:30 via news.yahoo.com
  
  SHANGHAI/LONDON (Reuters) - Chinese health authorities announced price cuts of up to two-thirds for three expensive drugs on Friday in the latest move to reduce the cost of healthcare for patients in the world's second-biggest economy. The National Health and Family Planning Commission said the cost of GlaxoSmithKline's hepatitis B drug Viread would fall to 490 yuan ($75) a month from 1,500, while AstraZeneca's lung cancer pill Iressa falls to 7,000 from 15,000. Icotinib, another lung cancer dru
  
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• Germany views structural reforms as key for G7 summit in Japan

  20-05-2016 13:00 via news.yahoo.com
  Germany regards structural reforms as a key tool to help support the global economy, a senior German government official said on Friday ahead of a meeting of the Group of Seven industrial powers in Japan next week. The official said monetary policy, fiscal policy and economic reforms were the three classic options discussed as policy tools. "From German viewpoint, structural reforms are a key issue," the senior government official said, adding leaders would also discuss how much trade could add
  
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• U.S. Treasury's Lew: G7 needs to discuss tools to address global risks

  20-05-2016 12:49 via news.yahoo.com
  Group of Seven finance leaders need to discuss global economic risks and what tools they have available to deal with them, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said on Friday. "The G7 is meeting at a critical time ... because there is a lot of uncertainty in the global economy," he told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of G7 finance leaders in Sendai, northeast Japan. The Group of 20 meeting in Shanghai in February was successful because there was a renewed commitment to refrain from competit
  
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• Scandal-hit VW agrees to 4.8 percent pay rise for workers

  20-05-2016 11:54 via news.yahoo.com
  FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Automaker Volkswagen and Germany's industrial union have agreed to increase wages 4.8 percent by next year in an economy where the cost of living is flat — the kind of raises that could help the 19-country eurozone lift inflation from dangerously low levels.
  
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• China resumes environmental approval of coal-to-gas projects

  20-05-2016 11:09 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Kathy Chen and David Stanway BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese regulators have approved three new coal-to-gas (CTG) projects, ending a suspension lasting more than a year amid doubts about pollution risks as well as the economic viability of the technology. The three projects, approved in March and April, will produce 4 billion cubic meters (bcm) of synthetic natural gas a year. The Shanxi project, a joint investment by state-owned CNOOC and the Datong Coal Mine Group, is expected to cost 26 billio
  
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• BUZZ-Ladbrokes: hits 2-month high on regulator's merger review

  20-05-2016 10:50
  
  ** British bookmaker Ladbrokes jumps as much as 12
  pct to its highest since March 2, top FTSE midcap gainer
  
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• REFILE-Britain's FTSE led higher by Coca-Cola HBC and miners

  20-05-2016 10:47
  
  LONDON, May 20 (Reuters) - UK shares rose on Friday, set for
  their biggest daily gain in more than a month after a rise in
  bottling company Coca-Cola HBC and a rally in mining
  stocks.
  
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• BUZZ-Thomas Cook: hits 3 yr low on multiple broker cuts

  20-05-2016 10:43
  
  ** Tour operator Thomas Cook falls for a 2nd
  session, down as much as 3 pct
  
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