Finance news

• Canada house prices to push higher on speculation, foreign buys: poll

  08-06-2016 23:03 via news.yahoo.com
  House prices in Canada will climb further over the next few years, driven in part by bets that urban centers Toronto and Vancouver have more steam left, even as household debt reaches historic highs, a Reuters poll found. The Canadian property market has been buoyed by low borrowing costs as well as foreign investment over the past decade, even as the U.S. economy was brought to its knees following a collapse in the housing market in 2007. The U.S. market is now many years into a mild recovery,
  
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• Saudi says can live comfortably even at last year's low oil prices

  08-06-2016 22:30 via news.yahoo.com
  Saudi Arabia's Economy and Planning Minister Adel Fakieh said on Wednesday that the kingdom could live comfortably with oil prices even as low as they were late last year. "We believe that we will comfortably live with the prices that the market has been experiencing even last year, at the end of last year the prices were much worse than now," he said when asked if a particular oil price band was needed for sweeping Saudi economic reforms to work.
  
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• Wall Street gains as oil prices grind higher

  08-06-2016 19:02 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Wall Street was higher in a narrow trading range early on Wednesday afternoon, with the S&P 500 inching towards its all-time high, as oil prices hit 2016 highs above $50 a barrel. A weaker dollar helped boost oil, copper and gold prices, while aluminum climbed to the highest levels in nearly a month. Oil prices were up for a third consecutive day, also helped by supply outages.
  
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• Services data suggest upward revision to first-quarter GDP

  08-06-2016 18:39 via news.yahoo.com
  The U.S. economy was probably not as weak as has been reported in the first quarter, with data on Wednesday showing stronger consumer spending and investment in intellectual products than previously estimated. The Commerce Department's quarterly services survey, or QSS, showing consumption, including healthcare spending, increased at a faster clip than the government had assumed in its second estimate of gross domestic product published last month. According to JPMorgan, the QSS data suggested f
  
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• Eurozone stocks slump on growth concerns despite ECB stimulus

  08-06-2016 18:31 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Eurozone stock markets fell Wednesday as concern about slow growth outweighed the impact of radical new ECB stimulus measures aimed at boosting the bloc's economy. A worried World Bank slashed its growth forecast for the global economy Tuesday, saying advanced economies were rebounding more slowly than expected and that low commodity prices continued to hurt other countries. Outside the eurozone, London's FTSE 100 index added 0.3 percent.
  
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• Verizon strike seen hitting second-quarter earnings: CFO

  08-06-2016 18:30 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The seven-week strike by Verizon Communications Inc's wireline workers will hurt the company's second-quarter earnings and potentially cost up to 7 cents per share, its chief financial officer said. The company "will see about a 5 cent to 7 cent impact to the bottom line for the quarter," CFO Fran Shammo said at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch global telecom and media conference in London on Tuesday. The remarks were the first Verizon has made to quantify the strike's cost.
  
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• South Africa edges toward recession with drop in mining

  08-06-2016 18:18 via news.yahoo.com
  JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa edged closer to a recession Wednesday on news that the economy had shrunk by 1.2 percent in the first three months of 2016 amid a fall in production at the country's mines.
  
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• Wall Street little changed as oil pares gains

  08-06-2016 17:35 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Wall Street was little changed in a narrow trading range late on Wednesday morning, with the S&P 500 inching towards its all-time high, as oil prices gave up some early gains. While oil prices held above $50 per barrel for the second consecutive day, they pared gains sharply after data showed a surprise build in U.S. gasoline inventories. Investors have all but priced out an interest rate hike when Federal Reserve officials meet on June 14-15, after surprisingly weak monthly jobs data last F
  
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• US job openings rise, yet employers cut back on filling them

  08-06-2016 16:58 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers advertised the most open jobs in nine months in April but pulled back on filling them, a sign of caution that may reflect concerns about tepid economic growth.
  
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• Eurozone stocks shrug off ECB stimulus

  08-06-2016 16:31 via news.yahoo.com
  
  London (AFP) - Eurozone stock markets fell Wednesday as concern about slow growth outweighed the impact of radical new ECB stimulus measures aimed at boosting the bloc's economy.
  
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• Wall Street move higher as oil rally continues

  08-06-2016 15:57 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday, with the S&P inching closer to its record high, as oil prices increased again and chances of an interest rate hike in the near term faded. Gains in energy stocks on Tuesday pushed the Dow above the 18,000 mark for the first time since April, while the S&P rose to within 23 points of its record high it touched in May 2015. A few concurrent bullish events such as demand for commodities and the S&P and Dow breaching key resistance areas will likely keep th
  
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• IKEA CEO says on track for 50 billion euro sales goal

  08-06-2016 15:36 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Furniture retailer IKEA Group expects to grow sales about 8-10 percent in its current financial year, leaving it on track to reach its target of hitting 50 billion euros ($56.9 billion) in 2020, its top executive said. "We are well on track to realise the plans we have." Speaking on the sidelines of a design event in the small, southern Swedish town where IKEA first set up shop, Agnefjall said trends in demand remained similar to last year, with a continued recovery in its biggest market, Europe
  
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• South African economy contracts, on track for recession

  08-06-2016 15:14 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Mfuneko Toyana PRETORIA (Reuters) - South Africa's economy contracted more than expected in the first quarter of the year, data showed on Wednesday, putting it on track for its first recession in seven years. The data weakened the rand against the dollar until the local currency took strength from news that Fitch had affirmed South Africa's investment grade credit rating. Statistics South Africa said economic output fell by 1.2 percent in the first quarter of 2016 after rising by a revised 0.
  
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• Saudi Arabia aims for social overhaul in reform plan

  08-06-2016 14:57 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Angus McDowall JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's sweeping plans to overhaul its economy in coming years are matched by proposals for social transformation that extend to ways of tackling domestic violence, increasing city park space and reducing road deaths. While proposals in the "Vision 2030" reforms to reduce Riyadh's dependence on oil revenue and boost the private sector have drawn most attention, some of the most consequential changes envisaged for Saudi Arabia are to its s
  
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• Pharaohs' shadow an omen in Egypt gold search

  08-06-2016 14:09 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Careering around Egypt's rocky Eastern Desert, Alexander Nubia CEO Mark Campbell peers from his jeep and sees hills so rich with gold they could lure billions in investments and jumpstart the ailing economy. Egypt's gold mining industry has for years been long on potential and short on investment -- the result of a jarring mismatch between spectacular geology and an unattractive commercial framework for mining. Despite a history of gold mining that stretches back to the pharaohs, the industry is
  
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• Britain's FTSE steadies, underpinned by commodities

  08-06-2016 13:45 via news.yahoo.com
  * British industrial output grows (ADVISORY- Reuters plans to replace intra-day European and UK stock market reports with a Live Markets blog on Eikon - see cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets for site in development. LONDON, June 8 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index outperformed European shares on Wednesday, with a recovery in commodities prices underpinning basic resources and energy stocks. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index was flat in percentage terms at 6,285.21 points by 1135 GMT after
  
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• European stocks drop, as ECB unleashes stimulus

  08-06-2016 13:32 via news.yahoo.com
  
  European stock markets fell on Wednesday, as the ECB launched radical stimulus measures aimed at boosting economic growth in the struggling eurozone. It comes as a worried World Bank slashed its growth forecast for the global economy Tuesday, saying advanced economies were rebounding more slowly than expected and that low commodity prices continued to hurt other countries. Outside the eurozone, London's FTSE 100 index dipped just a few points compared with Tuesday's close.
  
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• Stock futures little changed after S&P closes at 11-month high

  08-06-2016 13:23 via news.yahoo.com
  
  * The Dow and the S&P closed higher on Tuesday, with the S&P about 23 points below its record high, led by gains in energy stocks. * The S&P has risen 3.3 percent since the start of the year and investors are on the lookout for new catalysts to drive it beyond the record high it touched in May 2015.
  
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• Fitch affirms South Africa's credit rating but warns of political risks

  08-06-2016 13:00 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By James Macharia JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Ratings agency Fitch affirmed South Africa's investment grade credit rating and maintained its stable outlook, strengthening the rand on Wednesday, but warned that political tensions could still derail efforts to boost growth. Africa's most industrialised economy plunged into turmoil in December after President Jacob Zuma changed his finance minister twice in a week. Fitch's announcement should also give policymakers more time to implement reforms and b
  
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• UK industry surges at fastest pace since 2012, economists cautious

  08-06-2016 12:42 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Andy Bruce and William Schomberg LONDON (Reuters) - British industrial output grew at the fastest pace in nearly four years in April, though economists said the surprise surge did not look like a return to stronger economic growth before the country's EU referendum. Industrial output rose 2.0 percent in April after a 0.3 percent rise in March, the biggest month-on-month increase since July 2012, official data showed. Bank of England policymakers are likely to take the data with a pinch of sal
  
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• OECD lead indicator flags first signs of growth stabilization

  08-06-2016 12:42 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Signs are emerging that a downturn in the United States and China, the world's two biggest economies, may have bottomed out, the OECD's monthly leading indicator showed on Wednesday. The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said its leading indicator (CLI) for the United States improved to 98.95 in April from 98.93 in March, the first increase in the reading since July 2014. The OECD said its indicators showed stable growth momentum in the euro zone as a whole, inclu
  
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• Frustrated in China, U.S. industry hopes for post-election reset to annual talks

  08-06-2016 12:10 via news.yahoo.com
  
  As the United States and China wrapped up talks this week touting bilateral cooperation on strategic and economic issues, many in the U.S. business community say the annual dialogue is delivering diminishing returns in resolving commercial disputes. Foreign business in China is growing increasingly pessimistic, in part due to the country's slowing economy, but also because of growing fears of protectionism and rules that companies think could make it harder to operate there. Concerns include dra
  
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• South Africa's economy shrinks in Q1 after mining, farm output falls

  08-06-2016 12:04 via news.yahoo.com
  
  South Africa's economy contracted more than expected in the first quarter of the year, data from the statistics agency showed on, after the agriculture and mining sectors fell sharply while factory output rose only slightly. The rand was volatile, first extending losses against the dollar after the gross domestic data was released at 0930 GMT but later firmed after Fitch retained South Africa's investment grade BBB- rating and kept the outlook stable. Output in Africa's most industrialised econo
  
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• South Africa's finmin says keeping fingers crossed before rating review

  08-06-2016 11:11 via news.yahoo.com
  
  South Africa's Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said he was keeping his fingers crossed in the countdown to a rating review by Fitch later on Wednesday, and called for more concrete action to revive the economy. Africa's most industrialised country was plunged into economic turmoil in December after President Jacob Zuma changed his finance minister twice in a week. It has since avoided downgrades from S&P Global Ratings and Moody's, giving policymakers more time to implement reforms to grow t
  
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• China central bank holds line on growth forecast but sees more pain to come

  08-06-2016 10:56 via news.yahoo.com
  
  China's central bank slashed its forecast for exports on Wednesday, predicting a second straight annual fall in shipments, but said the economy will still grow 6.8 percent this year. The People's Bank of China (PBOC) also warned in its mid-year work report that the government's push to reduce debt levels and overcapacity could increase bond default risks and make it more difficult for companies to raise funds. "Since the beginning of this year, the global and domestic economic environment has ex
  
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• Czech industry minister says NWR's mining arm needs $42 mln loan to keep operating

  08-06-2016 10:49
  
  PRAGUE, June 8 (Reuters) - Czech coal miner OKD, the
  insolvent unit of New World Resources (NWR) ,
  urgently needs a state loan of up to 1 billion crowns ($42.1
  million) to keep operating, Industry...
  
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• UK industry output jumps at fastest pace since 2012

  08-06-2016 10:48 via news.yahoo.com
  
  British industrial output grew at the fastest pace in nearly four years in April, boosted by pharmaceuticals, car production and gas, in contrast to other signs of a slowdown in the economy ahead of the EU referendum. Industrial output rose 2.0 percent in April after a 0.3 percent rise in March, the biggest month-on-month increase since July 2012, the Office for National Statistics said. The figures were boosted by the biggest monthly rise in the often volatile pharmaceuticals sector since Febru
  
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• Singapore says no Singapore bank received 1MDB bond proceeds

  08-06-2016 10:16 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Singapore's central bank said on Wednesday no bank in Singapore received a $3 billion wire transfer from Goldman Sachs which had arranged a bond issuance for Malaysian state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). The Wall Street Journal reported this week that proceeds from the 1MDB $3 billion bonds ended up in the Singapore branch of a Swiss bank. 1MDB is subject of multiple money-laundering investigations in at least six countries including the United States, Switzerland and Singapore.
  
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• Gold hits 2-wk high on hopes Fed will not raise rates soon

  08-06-2016 09:57 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Koustav Samanta BENGALURU(Reuters) - Gold touched a fresh two-week high on Wednesday as the possibility of an early U.S. interest rate hike appeared to dim following dovish comments by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen earlier this week. Yellen gave a largely upbeat assessment for the U.S. economy on Monday and said interest rate increases were coming, but investors focused on her lack of guidance about when. Spot gold was up 0.6 percent at $1,250.80 an ounce by 0649 GMT.
  
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• Monsoon rains arrive at India's Kerala coast - weather office source

  08-06-2016 09:52 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Annual monsoon rains arrived at the Kerala coast in southern India on Wednesday, a day later than forecast, a weather office source said, easing fears over farm and economic growth after two straight droughts hit rural income and agricultural output. The monsoon delivers nearly 70 percent of rains that India needs to water farms, and recharge reservoirs and aquifers. Nearly half of India's farmlands, without any irrigation cover, depend on annual June-September rains to grow a number of crops.
  
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• Turkish economy minister expects central bank to continue rate cuts

  08-06-2016 09:44 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci said he expected the central bank, which has cut its lending rate for three straight months, to continue with rate cuts and that a 50 basis point reduction each time was a good level. The year-end inflation target of 7.5 percent was achievable, Zeybekci also said late on Tuesday.
  
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• World Bank cuts global growth forecast on weak demand, commodity prices

  08-06-2016 09:36 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By David Lawder ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - The World Bank slashed its 2016 global growth forecast on Wednesday to 2.4 percent from the 2.9 percent estimated in January due to stubbornly low commodity prices, sluggish demand in advanced economies, weak trade and diminishing capital flows. Commodity-exporting emerging market countries have struggled to adapt to lower prices for oil, metals, and other commodities, accounting for half of the downward revision, the multilateral lender said in its
  
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• Amazon's Jeff Bezos bets on India with $3 bn investment

  08-06-2016 09:34 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos has pledged to invest $3 billion in India, in a big bet on the growth of online shopping in the fast-growing South Asian economy. Speaking in Washington DC as India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits the United States, Bezos told a gathering of business leaders that he saw "huge potential" in India. The investment, announced Tuesday, comes on top of $2 billion Amazon invested in India in 2014, and will boost Modi's campaign to attract foreign cash to create m
  
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• Suzuki executive vice president to resign over false tests- Nikkei

  08-06-2016 09:22 via news.yahoo.com
  
  TOKYO (Reuters) - Suzuki Motor Corp's executive vice president Osamu Honda is set to resign to take responsibility for the Japanese automaker's use of wrong mileage testing methods, the Nikkei reported on Wednesday. Suzuki declined to comment. The company last month admitted that as part of its tests to calculate the fuel economy for some of its vehicles, it had used data compiled from indoor tests performed on individual vehicle parts, rather than vehicle coasting tests as required under Japane
  
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• CMC Markets profit rises as volatile markets boost volumes

  08-06-2016 08:51 via news.yahoo.com
  (Reuters) - British financial spreadbetting firm CMC Markets Plc reported a jump in full-year pretax profit as its clients traded more during heightened market volatility. The company, which listed on the London stock market in February with a valuation of 691 million pounds ($1.01 billion), said pretax profit rose 23 percent to 53.4 million pounds in the year ended March 31. Chief Executive Peter Cruddas set up the company as a foreign exchange broker with a 10,000 pound investment in 1989.
  
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• China data fails to impress Hong Kong, Shanghai but Tokyo swings

  08-06-2016 08:13 via news.yahoo.com
  
  China said imports fell at their slowest pace in 19 months in May, fuelling hopes of a pick-up in demand in the world's number two economy, but traders in Hong Kong and Shanghai gave a muted initial reaction. The figures raised hopes that China, a key driver of global growth, could be approaching the end of a slowdown that has had dire knock-on effects for the rest of the world.
  
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• Singapore central bank says no Singapore bank received 1MDB bond proceeds

  08-06-2016 07:52 via news.yahoo.com
  
  SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore's central bank said on Wednesday that no bank in Singapore received the $3 billion wire transfer from Goldman Sachs which had arranged the bond issuance for Malaysian state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). The statement came after the Wall Street Journal reported that bond proceeds from the 1MDB $3 billion bonds ended up in the Singapore branch of a Swiss bank. (Reporting by Saeed Azhar; Editing by Stephen Coates)
  
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• World Bank downgrades its forecast for 2016 global economy

  08-06-2016 06:11 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The World Bank is reducing its forecast for the global economy this year — again.
  
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• China imports fall slows in May

  08-06-2016 06:11 via news.yahoo.com
  
  China's exports fell 4.1 percent in May from a year ago, official data showed Wednesday, while imports decreased only marginally by 0.4 percent. The country shipped $181.1 billion worth of goods in May while the value of imports stood at $131.1 billion, leaving a trade surplus of just under $50 billion, figures from the General Administration of Customs showed. China's imports decreased at their slowest pace in more than a year-and-a-half in May, official data showed Wednesday, in a possible sig
  
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• Asia markets down ahead of China data

  08-06-2016 05:17 via news.yahoo.com
  
  While Wall Street provided a positive lead thanks to another pick-up in oil prices, dealers decided to take a break and cash in their recent gains while the World Bank cut its growth outlook for the global economy. The Dow and S&P 500 shifted higher Tuesday, led by energy firms as crude pushed above $50 to sit at 11-month highs thanks to a weaker dollar and output disruptions in key producer Nigeria.
  
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• BRIEF-Kingray New Materials Science & Technology announces bankruptcy of unit

  08-06-2016 04:43
  
  June 8 (Reuters) - Kingray New Materials Science &
  Technology Co Ltd :
  
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• Japan revises up Q1 growth, cooling stimulus hopes

  08-06-2016 04:37 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Japan's economy expanded at a slightly faster pace than first thought, revised figures showed Wednesday, knocking hopes that the central bank will unleash fresh stimulus this month. The data were unlikely to inspire renewed faith in Prime Minister's Shinzo Abe's faltering growth policies, after Tokyo last week said it would delay a tax hike to avoid damaging Japan's fragile recovery. The yen strengthened in response to the figures, which were likely to cool expectations that Bank of Japan will u
  
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• China's Xi says laid-off soldiers will be found work

  08-06-2016 04:26 via news.yahoo.com
  Chinese soldiers who are demobilized in the course of military reforms will be found other work, President Xi Jinping said, describing the process as an important political task. The cuts come at a time of heightened economic uncertainty in China as growth slows and the leadership grapples with painful economic reforms. Xi, in comments carried by the official Xinhua news agency late on Tuesday, told a meeting that providing demobilized soldiers with civilian jobs was a political task closely lin
  
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• 'I'm done': U.S. wealth managers may call it quits over regulatory load

  08-06-2016 03:38
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Some U.S. financial advisers are so fed up with regulatory red tape, they may opt for early retirement, the head of Boston Consulting Group's wealth management group said Tuesday.
  
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• Yahoo hires investment bank to sell about 3,000 patents: WSJ

  08-06-2016 03:29 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The company has sent letters to a number of potential buyers for the patents, which date back to when the company was founded in 1996 and also include its original search technology, the report said. The deadline for bids for the patents has been set for mid-June by Yahoo, according to the Wall Street Journal. In March, Yahoo said it would explore the sale of $1 billion to $3 billion of patents, property and "non-core assets".
  
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• Japan first-quarter GDP revised up, boosted by leap year gain

  08-06-2016 02:36 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Stanley White TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's economy grew faster than initially estimated in the first quarter as capital spending fell less than was first reported, but worries remain over slow consumer spending and weak exports. "The upward revision is very slight, and when you exclude the impact of leap year growth is not that strong," said Shuji Tonouchi, senior fixed income strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he will announce additional econo
  
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• U.S. investors skeptical about China's move to widen markets

  08-06-2016 02:33
  
  NEW YORK/BOSTON (Reuters) - U.S. asset managers and hedge funds are wary about pouring more money into China until the government addresses its stock market crash last year and wild swings in the...
  
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• UK firms slow hiring in run-up to EU vote - REC

  08-06-2016 01:03 via news.yahoo.com
  
  British businesses increased staff numbers in May at the slowest rate in eight months due to a lack of suitable candidates and worries about a June 23 referendum on European Union membership, recruiters said on Wednesday. The Recruitment and Employment Confederation said growth in spending on temporary staff slowed, after spiking last month due to a big rise in the minimum wage, while starting salaries for permanent staff rose at the weakest rate since October 2013. "UK businesses are now facing
  
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• Woodford considers new income fund

  08-06-2016 01:00
  
  Renowned equity fund manager has been canvassing private investors and intermediaries to gauge interest
  
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• Paul Singer’s new target: Mossack Fonseca

  08-06-2016 01:00
  
  Hedge fund that successfully fought for more than a decade against Argentina has a new target: the Panamanian law firm
  
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