Finance news

• US, European stocks fall as major economic news looms

  31-05-2016 23:39 via news.yahoo.com
  
  New York (AFP) - US and European stocks pulled back Tuesday ahead of a heavy week of economic news, including the US May jobs report and the European Central Bank meeting.
  
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• Bradesco CEO Trabuco faces accusations in Brazil tax probe

  31-05-2016 23:36 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Brazil's federal police accused Banco Bradesco SA Chief Executive Officer Luiz Carlos Trabuco and two senior executives on Tuesday of plotting to avoid a 3 billion-real ($828 million) tax fine, the latest episode of alleged white-collar crime in Latin America's largest economy. The office of Brazil's Prosecutor-General said that a police report seeking formal charges against Trabuco and the executives was received earlier on Tuesday. A source briefed on the matter said Chief Financial Officer Lu
  
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• Canada's Manitoba sees C$911 million deficit in 2016-17

  31-05-2016 22:53 via news.yahoo.com
  By Rod Nickel WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - The western Canadian province of Manitoba on Tuesday forecast a C$911 million ($695 million) deficit for its 2016-17 budget, its eighth straight shortfall and the first since Brian Pallister's Progressive Conservatives won last month's election. Manitoba, whose economy depends on farming, manufacturing and mining, projected spending at C$16.3 billion and revenue of C$15.2 billion, both up 3 percent. Finance Minister Cameron Friesen said the government
  
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• Wall Street ends May with whimper as energy shares slump

  31-05-2016 22:33 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The Nasdaq closed higher on Tuesday, and ended up 3.6 percent for the month, the best performance of the three major indexes. The Dow eked out gains for May to notch its fourth straight positive month.
  
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• IMF economists question faith in neoliberal doctrine

  31-05-2016 22:10 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Leftists have long made a sport of blasting neoliberalism, the market-guided economic doctrine championed by the International Monetary Fund, as boosting poverty and inequality. A new assessment from Fund economists suggests the neoliberal approach to creating sustainable growth in developing countries can have its own lasting ill effects. The authors, three members of the IMF research department, said the traditional approach to helping countries build their economies through tight government s
  
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• U.S. stocks fall on economic worries, dollar firms

  31-05-2016 22:04 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. stock prices fell on Tuesday on weaker-than-expected economic data, while expectations of a possible Federal Reserve interest rate increase lifted the dollar to near a two-month high against a basket of currencies. The drop on Wall Street stoked safe-haven bids for gold and less riskier U.S. and German government debt. Oil futures faded into the red after rising earlier on expected U.S. gasoline demand for summer driving.
  
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• Goldman's Cohn defends bank's trading business amid revenue slump

  31-05-2016 21:00 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Cohn said there was little correlation between the average size of a bank's fixed income and equities trading revenue and the firm's overall return on equity, a key measure of how well it uses shareholder capital to earn profits. "While we could increase our market-making revenue, it may not translate into better returns," Cohn said at an investor conference organized by Deutsche Bank AG. Wall Street banks have seen revenue from their fixed income trading units decline as new regulations introdu
  
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• New Gulf body to tighten economic bonds

  31-05-2016 19:58 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Gulf Arab states grappling with lower oil revenues on Tuesday formed a new agency to tighten economic cooperation in the region. The Economic and Development Affairs Authority "will boost coherence, integration and coordination between member states in all economic and development sectors," the Gulf Cooperation Council said in a statement after a summit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The GCC was founded in 1981 to more deeply integrate the Gulf countries, but analysts say progress has been slow.
  
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• Nigeria's Q1 trade account turns negative as oil prices fall

  31-05-2016 19:57 via news.yahoo.com
  By Chijioke Ohuocha LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria's trade account turned negative in the first quarter after exports fell by almost half, the national bureau of statistics said on Monday, as lower prices for crude oil slashed government revenues and caused the economy to contract. Nigeria, Africa's biggest economy, faces its worst economic crisis in years. With limited manufacturing capacity, Nigeria imports most of what it consumes.
  
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• Wall Street lower as consumer stocks slip

  31-05-2016 19:26 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Stronger-than-expected April consumer spending data on Tuesday bolstered Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's stance on Friday that a rate hike in the coming months would likely be appropriate given an improvement in the economy. Seven of the 10 major S&P sectors were lower, with the consumer staples index's 0.57 percent drop leading the decliners. The Nasdaq Composite was up 4.59 points, or 0.09 percent, at 4,938.09.
  
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• Oil up as U.S. summer draws beckon; set for fourth month of gains

  31-05-2016 19:00 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Tuesday, heading for the fourth straight monthly gain, with investors betting on higher U.S. fuel demand as peak driving season arrived in the No. 1 oil consumer. Data from market intelligence firm Genscape showed a drawdown of 686,700 barrels at the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery point for U.S. crude futures in the week to May 27, traders said, a report that provided further support to oil. Strong U.S. consumer spending data also supported
  
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• U.S. consumer spending increase strongest in over six years

  31-05-2016 18:20 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. consumer spending recorded its biggest increase in more than six years in April as households stepped up purchases of automobiles, suggesting an acceleration in economic growth that could persuade the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates soon. Fed Chair Janet Yellen said on Friday an interest rate hike would probably be appropriate in the "coming months," if the economy continued to pick up and the labor market added jobs.
  
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• European equities beat a retreat

  31-05-2016 18:00 via news.yahoo.com
  
  European stocks fell on Tuesday, shrugging off an earlier rebound in Asia, as poor data and concern about major upcoming data and economic meetings eroded investor sentiment.
  
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• UPDATE 4-Regulated power company Great Plains to buy Westar for $8.6 bln

  31-05-2016 17:51
  
  * Deal includes $3.6 bln of Westar debt(Adds details, Breakingviews link; updates shares)
  
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• Dow and S&P edge lower; health stocks prop up Nasdaq

  31-05-2016 17:50 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Stronger-than-expected April consumer spending data on Tuesday bolstered Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's stance on Friday that a rate hike in the coming months would likely be appropriate given an improvement in the economy. "I think this is a classic wait-and-see the data kind of week," said Philip Blancato, chief executive officer of Ladenburg Thalmann in New York. At 11:35 a.m. ET (1535 GMT) the Dow Jones industrial average was down 69.73 points, or 0.39 percent, at 17,803.49, .
  
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• Britain's FTSE index set to post fourth consecutive month of gains

  31-05-2016 16:41
  
  * Inmarsat falls ahead of FTSE reshuffle(Recasts, adds detail and quote, updates prices)
  
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• Top European firms warn on Brexit

  31-05-2016 16:40 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The leaders of 50 of Europe's mightiest companies, from Shell and BP to Heineken and BMW, warned Tuesday that Britain will be weaker if its people vote to break away from the European Union. A united Europe benefits investment and job creation, they said. The Europe Union is the world's largest economy, accounting for 16 percent of world trade, which gives it "tremendous bargaining power" in striking trade deals, the company chiefs said.
  
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• Wall St edges up as spending data firms rate hike view

  31-05-2016 16:30 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Wall Street inched higher on Tuesday as strong consumer spending data gave the latest sign of improvement in economic growth and supported the Federal Reserve's stance to increase interest rates in the coming months. Hopes of a rate hike boosted financial companies, while a rise in oil prices pushed energy stocks higher. Data showed U.S. consumer spending surged 1.0 percent in April, its biggest increase in more than six years and beating economists' expectation of a 0.7 percent rise.
  
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• Saudi's PetroRabigh says taking 124 mln riyal earnings hit on power cut

  31-05-2016 16:30 via news.yahoo.com
  A 10-day power cut at Saudi Arabia's PetroRabigh petrochemical complex will have a 124 million-riyal ($33.1 million) impact on the company's second-quarter results, it said on Tuesday. PetroRabigh, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Sumitomo Chemical, did not specify in a statement to the bourse whether this amount referred to revenue or profit. PetroRabigh reported a net profit of 504.9 million riyals in the second quarter of 2015.
  
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• MOVES- HSBC, Citi, BofA, Deutsche Bank, MUFG, Santander

  31-05-2016 16:26 via news.yahoo.com
  (Adds HSBC, Citi and Bank of America) May 31 (Reuters) - The following financial services industryappointments were announced on Tuesday. To inform us of otherjob changes, email [email protected]. HSBC HOLDINGS PLC The bank has named former UBS banker Andre Cronjeas chief operating officer for its global banking and marketsdivision, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters onTuesday. CITIGROUP INC The Wall Street bank appointed Morgan McKenney the head ofcash management for its treas
  
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• India's economy grew 7.6% in 2015-16: government data

  31-05-2016 15:48 via news.yahoo.com
  
  India's economy grew 7.6 percent in 2015-16, official figures showed Tuesday, retaining its place as the world's fastest-growing major economy and providing a boost to the right-wing government as it marks two years in power. Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded at a faster pace in the fourth quarter of the financial year, growing 7.9 percent year-on-year, the Central Statistics Office data showed. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist government swept to power in a May 2014 general
  
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• TSX set for higher open after GDP data

  31-05-2016 15:43 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - Canada stock futures inched higher on Tuesday after data showed that economic growth picked up in the first quarter. While, gross domestic product grew at a slower-than-forecast 2.4 percent annualized rate in the quarter it marked a rebound from a downwardly revised 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter. Canada's main stock index edged lower on Monday as energy stocks retreated ahead of a meeting of oil producers later in the week, while mining stocks and financials also fell in a low-vo
  
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• Canada first-quarter economic pick-up disappoints, weakness seen ahead

  31-05-2016 15:39 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Leah Schnurr OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's economic growth accelerated at a weaker pace than expected in the first three months of the year and lost momentum at the end of the quarter, boding poorly for a second quarter that is expected to be further impacted by Alberta's wildfires. Gross domestic product grew at a 2.4 percent annualized rate in the first quarter, Statistics Canada said on Tuesday.
  
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• US home prices push higher in March

  31-05-2016 15:26 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Steady buying and tight supplies pushed US home prices solidly higher in March, with the gains largest in the West, according to fresh data Tuesday. Twelve-month gains were weakest in New York, Washington and Chicago. "The economy is supporting the price increases with improving labor markets, falling unemployment rates and extremely low mortgage rates," said David Blitzer of S&P Dow Jones Indices.
  
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• UPDATE 1-StemCells terminates mid-stage study; to wind down ops

  31-05-2016 15:25
  
  May 31 (Reuters) - StemCells Inc said on Tuesday it
  had terminated a mid-stage trial testing its therapy in spinal
  cord injury and that its board had decided to wind down the
  company.
  
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• Philippines' Duterte names cabinet, calls them 'men of integrity and honesty'

  31-05-2016 15:16 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Neil Jerome Morales DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Reuters) - Philippines President-elect Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday named the members of his cabinet, a day after a joint session of Congress declared him the winner of the May 9 presidential elections. The 71 year-old, tough-talking Duterte won by more than six million votes over closest rival Manuel Roxas, who was backed by President Benigno Aquino but rebuffed by nearly 40 percent of the 44 million Filipinos who picked Duterte. Duterte named a for
  
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• U.S. home prices rise more than expected in March

  31-05-2016 15:14 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Annualized U.S. single-family home prices rose more than expected in March, a survey showed on Tuesday. "The economy is supporting the price increases with improving labor markets, falling unemployment rates and extremely low mortgage rates," said David M. Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. Home prices in three U.S. cities, Denver, Seattle and Portland, Oregon, showed the highest year-over-year gains, the survey showed.
  
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• Wall Street set to open higher on robust consumer spending data

  31-05-2016 15:06 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Wall Street was set to open higher on Tuesday after strong consumer spending data gave the latest sign of improvement in economic growth and supported the Federal Reserve's stance to increase interest rates in the coming months. U.S. consumer spending surged 1.0 percent in April, its biggest increase in more than six years and beating economists' expectation of a 0.7 percent rise. The core PCE is the Fed's preferred inflation measure and is running below the U.S. central bank's 2 percent target.
  
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• U.S. consumer spending surges; inflation creeping up

  31-05-2016 15:03 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. consumer spending recorded its biggest increase in more than six years in April and inflation rose steadily, more signs of an acceleration in economic growth that could persuade the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates again as early as June. Consumer spending in March was revised down to show it being flat instead of the previously reported 0.1 percent gain. When adjusted for inflation, consumer spending shot up 0.6 percent, the biggest gain since February 2014, after being flat in Marc
  
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• India's economy grew 7.6 percent in last fiscal year

  31-05-2016 14:51 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEW DELHI (AP) — India says its economy grew 7.6 percent in the fiscal year that ended March 31 and a stronger 7.9 percent in the last quarter of the year, keeping its position as the world's fastest-growing major economy.
  
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• UPDATE 1-Polish chemical group ZCh Police restates 2015 profit as a loss

  31-05-2016 14:28
  
  WARSAW, May 31 (Reuters) - Polish chemical company ZCh
  Police on Tuesday restated its 2015 profit as a loss
  and cancelled a proposed dividend after a writedown on its
  business in Senegal, sending its...
  
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• Pakistan shares close lower; rupee stable, o/n rates flat

  31-05-2016 14:14
  
  KARACHI, May 31 (Reuters) - Pakistan stocks fell for a
  second straight session on Tuesday as investors remained
  cautious ahead of the budget on Friday, dealers said.
  
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• Global shares set for monthly gains, dollar's rally stalls

  31-05-2016 13:52 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Anirban Nag LONDON (Reuters) - Global shares steadied at one-month highs on Tuesday, on track for a third straight month of gain, while the dollar's recent rally to two-month peaks on expectations the U.S. interest rates could rise next month took a breather. U.S. stock futures pointed to a firm start on Wall Street where trading will resume after the Memorial Day holiday. The dollar has risen recently on expectations of higher U.S. rates.
  
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• Shares set for monthly gains, dollar's rally stalls

  31-05-2016 13:49 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Anirban Nag LONDON (Reuters) - Global shares steadied at one-month highs on Tuesday, on track for a third straight month of gain, while the dollar's recent rally to two-month peaks on expectations the U.S. interest rates could rise next month took a breather. U.S. stock futures pointed to a firm start on Wall Street where trading will resume after the Memorial Day holiday. The dollar has risen recently on expectations of higher U.S. rates.
  
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• Nigeria stocks fall as investors wait for clarity on FX policy

  31-05-2016 13:27 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Nigerian stocks dropped 3.1 percent in early trades on Monday as investors waiting for clarity on a new central bank currency policy sold shares to book profits following a recent rally. Nigeria's stock market, which has the second-biggest weighting behind Kuwait on the MSCI frontier market index .dMI7400000PUS, hit a six-month high last week after the central bank said it will abandon a currency peg, which has frustrated investors and a shift to a more flexible policy. Top tier lenders Zenith B
  
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• UPDATE 2-Nestle, on health kick, moves into milk allergy testing

  31-05-2016 12:47
  
  * DBV Technologies shares gain 5 percent(Adds Nestle executive comment, more on Nestle products)
  
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• German jobless queue shrinks to post-unification low

  31-05-2016 12:23 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Unemployment in Germany fell to its lowest level since East and West Germany reunited after the fall of the Berlin Wall, as Europe's top economy continues to recover, data showed on Tuesday. The unemployment rate -- which measures the jobless total against the working population as a whole -- fell to 6.1 percent in May from 6.2 percent in April, the federal labour office said in a statement. In numerical terms, the number of people registered as unemployed in Germany declined by 11,000, while ec
  
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• Robot home-help and virtual reality at Taiwan's Computex

  31-05-2016 12:05 via news.yahoo.com
  
  A knee-high robot designed to help around the house ended up serenading Taiwan's president as Asia's largest tech trade show kicked off Tuesday in Taipei. The Computex fair comes as Taiwan looks to tech innovation as a way out of economic stagnation, seeking to diversify its reputation as a hardware hub best-known for manufacturing chips. Organisers are hoping that new zones dedicated to smart living and start-ups will breathe new life into the show, as well as Taiwan's tech industry, which is i
  
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• Britain's FTSE index edges lower as miners slip

  31-05-2016 10:55
  
  LONDON, May 31 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index edged
  lower from an earlier one-month high on Tuesday, with mining
  companies losing ground after metals prices came under pressure
  from a rise in...
  
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• China to 'pressure' U.S. on maritime issues, paper says

  31-05-2016 10:54 via news.yahoo.com
  
  China has been angered by what it views as provocative U.S. military patrols close to islands China controls in the South China Sea. "Beijing will pressure Washington over maritime issues during the upcoming Strategic and Economic Dialogue, as the United States' increasing military presence in the South China Sea is among China's major concerns," the official China Daily said, citing unidentified officials.
  
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• ECB detects higher private-sector loan growth

  31-05-2016 10:51 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Growth of loans to the private sector in the euro area picked up slightly in April, European Central Bank data showed on Tuesday. For the ECB, the statistics are a key indicator of the economic health of the single currency area, as borrowing is a main financing source for corporate investment which in turn should boost the eurozone's currently weak economy. In April, approved loans rose 1.1 percent from a year ago, slightly faster than growth of 1.0 percent in March, an ECB statement said.
  
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• Shanghai surge leads rally in Asian shares

  31-05-2016 10:16 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Mainland Chinese shares closed up more than three percent, while Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul also rallied, although volumes were low after Wall Street and London were closed for public holidays. The greenback was boosted by remarks from Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen that the US could raise interest rates "in the coming months" if data from the world's top economy continues to improve. Traders saw this as a vote of confidence in the US economy, which has remained resilient even after the Fed
  
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• IG Group sees full-year earnings slightly ahead of views

  31-05-2016 09:27 via news.yahoo.com
  (ShareCast News) - Spreadbetting firm IG Group reported solid trading in the fourth quarter and said earnings for the year are set to be slightly ahead of expectations.
  
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• S&P cuts Fosun outlook to 'negative' on post-M&A debt concern

  31-05-2016 08:57 via news.yahoo.com
  
  S&P Global Ratings (S&P) has lowered the outlook for its rating of Fosun International Ltd credit to "negative" from "stable", citing concern about the Chinese conglomerate's debt remaining high after recent acquisitions. S&P said it based the revision on Fosun's 2015 earnings announced on March 30. It also affirmed its rating of Fosun's long-term credit at "BB", two notches below investment grade.
  
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• S&P says Japan sales tax hike delay makes 'some sense'

  31-05-2016 08:51 via news.yahoo.com
  Delaying a sales tax increase in Japan scheduled for April next year makes "some sense" because the weak economy means a tax rise is not likely to increase revenue, ratings agency Standard & Poor's said on Tuesday. Going ahead with the plan could push Japan's economy into several quarters of anaemic economic growth, Kim Eng Tan, S&P's Asia-Pacific senior director of sovereign ratings, told Reuters in an interview. Delaying the tax hike would not be an indication that Japan's government i
  
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• To save China's economy, read more Marx, scholars say

  31-05-2016 07:42 via news.yahoo.com
  
  China's economics students are being "brainwashed by Western theories" and need to read more Marx, Chinese professors said in a letter to the education ministry, amid a widening crackdown on foreign ideas. As the world's number two economy faces a slowdown and struggles to adopt much-needed reforms, economics students at Chinese universities should study a curriculum composed of at least half Marxist courses, said the petition, otherwise they will become the "grave diggers of the socialist econo
  
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• Asia stock markets climb as investors mull Japan data

  31-05-2016 06:01 via news.yahoo.com
  
  HONG KONG (AP) — Most Asian stock markets rose Tuesday after Japan reported better-than-expected data for April. Shares in Japan were also buoyed by expectations that a 2017 sales tax hike will be delayed until 2019, and by a weakening in the Japanese yen.
  
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• Jazz Pharma nears deal to buy Celator for about $1.5 billion - WSJ

  31-05-2016 06:00 via news.yahoo.com
  (Reuters) - Ireland-based Jazz Pharmaceuticals Plc is nearing a deal to buy Celator Pharmaceuticals Inc for about $1.5 billion (1 billion pounds), the Wall Street Journal reported. The deal is likely to be announced on Tuesday, the Journal said citing people familiar with the matter. About three months ago, Celator said its Vyxeos treatment helped older high-risk patients with a deadly form of leukemia live longer than those who received the standard of care regimen in a late stage clinical tria
  
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• Asian stocks gain in thin trade as US rate hike looms

  31-05-2016 05:16 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Asian stocks mostly gained on Tuesday and the dollar eased, as traders weighed the fallout from a likely US interest rate rise this summer. Shares in Shanghai surged, while Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul rose in opening deals, but trade was muted after Wall Street and London equity markets were closed for public holidays. Tokyo led Asian stocks higher on Monday, closing above 17,000 points for the first time in a month, after the yen plummeted against the strengthening dollar.
  
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• State lawmakers override bill veto to ease Chicago pension payments

  31-05-2016 05:08 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Chicago will be able to spread out state-mandated higher payments to its police and fire pensions after the Illinois Legislature on Monday overrode the governor's veto of a bill that became entangled in a political impasse. The Senate voted 39-19 and the House voted 72-43 to undo Republican Governor Bruce Rauner's veto on Friday that the city claimed would lead to a $300 million property tax hike. The bill gives Chicago short-term budget relief but will add to the city's big pension funding gap.
  
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