Finance news

• C$ gains as Bank of Canada expresses optimism

  13-07-2016 23:17 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Alastair Sharp TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar hit its strongest level since July 7 against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday after the Bank of Canada held rates steady and trimmed its economic forecasts, as traders unwound bets that the central bank could cut rates this year. "You still have a lot of weak data to wade through and the bar has been set relatively high for growth," said Mark Chandler, head of Canadian fixed income and currency strategy at Royal Bank of Canada. It touche
  
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• Obama plan to stop tax inversions stirs U.S. business concerns

  13-07-2016 23:14 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The Obama administration's plan to prevent American companies from shifting their headquarters overseas to avoid U.S. taxes is coming under fire from companies and banks that say it would be costly and cumbersome. At issue are proposed Treasury regulations to combat "earnings stripping," a key goal for companies that carry out tax-avoiding mergers known as "inversions" to reincorporate abroad, if only on paper, to cut their taxes. The practice effectively shifts taxable earnings from U.S. operat
  
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• Hammond faces daunting task in charge of UK's Brexit-hit economy

  13-07-2016 23:09 via news.yahoo.com
  By David Milliken LONDON (Reuters) - Philip Hammond took over as Britain's new finance minister on Wednesday, putting him in charge of the world's fifth-largest economy as it risks sliding into recession after voters decided to leave the European Union last month. Hammond, 60, was foreign secretary until he was appointed by Britain's new Prime Minister Theresa May to replace George Osborne who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer for more than six years. One of Hammond's first tasks will be to
  
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• BRIEF-Pacific Exploration files meeting materials for creditors' meeting on Aug 17

  13-07-2016 23:09
  
  * Pacific exploration and production corp saysfiles
  meeting materials for creditors' meeting to be held on august 17
  
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• Yum China sales result matches Street view, shares up

  13-07-2016 22:50 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Lisa Baertlein LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Yum Brands Inc on Wednesday reported second quarter China sales that matched Wall Street expectations, as the owner of the KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut brands prepared to spin the division off around Oct. 31. Investors had worried about the fundamentals of Yum's China business, which recently posted bumpy results due to food safety scares and company missteps. Yum shares jumped 3.7 percent to $85.74 in extended trading, after comments from Chief Executiv
  
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• Factbox - New British cabinet appointments

  13-07-2016 22:50 via news.yahoo.com
  New Prime Minister Theresa May, who took office on Wednesday with a mandate to take Britain out of the European Union, has announced the senior members of her cabinet. CHANCELLOR - PHILIP HAMMOND Foreign Secretary since 2014, Hammond, 60, has previously been Transport Secretary and was Defence Secretary for three years from 2011. Hammond will have to manage an economy that risks sliding into recession after last month's vote to leave the EU, and set new budget goals after his predecessor George
  
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• S&P 500, Dow end at record highs despite caution; oil falls

  13-07-2016 22:47 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Sam Forgione NEW YORK (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Dow U.S. stock indexes ended at fresh record highs on Wednesday even as a rally in U.S. and European shares lost much of its steam on a plunge in oil prices and caution ahead of corporate results. The S&P 500 ended at 2,152.43, a hair above Tuesday's close of 2.142.14, to notch its third consecutive record close. The Dow ended at 18,372.12, topping Tuesday's close of 18,347.67 to mark its second straight record close.
  
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• Wall St ticks up to extend record streak

  13-07-2016 22:38 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. stocks ticked up on Wednesday, just enough for the S&P 500 and Dow industrials to set record highs, with investors expecting upbeat earnings to keep the rally going. Following three days of strong gains on the back of economic data, focus has turned to Thursday's meeting at the Bank of England, expected to turn to quantitative easing as it tries to shield the economy from the fallout of Britain's vote last month to leave the European Union. Continued support from monetary policies acros
  
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• Wall Street ticks up to extend record streak

  13-07-2016 22:37 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Rodrigo Campos NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks ticked up on Wednesday, just enough for the S&P 500 and Dow industrials to set record highs, with investors expecting upbeat earnings to keep the rally going. Following three days of strong gains on the back of economic data, focus has turned to Thursday's meeting at the Bank of England, expected to turn to quantitative easing as it tries to shield the economy from the fallout of Britain's vote last month to leave the European Union. Continu
  
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• Momentum, greed and baseball cards: James Saft

  13-07-2016 22:23
  
  (Reuters) - To paraphrase Walter Matthau on poker, it seems baseball card collecting combines all the worst aspects of capitalism (and investing) that have made our country so great.
  
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• Health spending in U.S. to rise 5.8 percent a year through 2025: CMS

  13-07-2016 22:16 via news.yahoo.com
  Healthcare spending in the United States will likely grow by an average 5.8 percent per year over the next decade, a bit faster than the past two years, due to an aging population, rising medical prices and faster economic growth, according to updated projections from the federal government released on Wednesday. The annual growth of health expenditures between 2015 and 2025 will be 1.3 percentage points faster than growth in gross domestic product, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
  
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• SunEdison retirement plan takes hit on company stock investments

  13-07-2016 21:54
  
  BOSTON, July 13 (Reuters) - Participants in SunEdison Inc's
  $155 million retirement plan suffered heavy losses on
  their investments in company stock last year in the months
  before the renewable...
  
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• After winning power, Theresa May faces Brexit divorce battle

  13-07-2016 21:34 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Kylie MacLellan LONDON (Reuters) - Having fought her way to the top of British politics, new Prime Minister Theresa May will face an even tougher battle in power: plotting a divorce from the European Union that she once opposed but now says must not be halted. The fate of the post-World War Two project of European integration, and even of the United Kingdom itself, will depend on May's rapport with another pastor's daughter who climbed to the summit of a conservative party: Germany's Angela M
  
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• Many fear changes to U.S. SEC's in-house trials are not enough

  13-07-2016 21:30 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Lisa Lambert WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. securities regulator on Wednesday tried to respond to complaints that the deck is stacked against defendants at in-house trials by approving the first major revisions to its administrative proceedings in two decades. "While I appreciate the SEC acknowledging the serious due process concerns that have been raised because of their unfair use of in-house judges, the changes adopted today effectively put a Band-Aid on a wound that requires stitches
  
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• US economy still tracking 'modest' growth: Fed report

  13-07-2016 20:53 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The US economy was still growing at a mostly modest pace in recent weeks, though there were signs of a slowdown in consumer spending, the Federal Reserve reported Wednesday. "Economic activity continued to expand at a modest pace across most regions," the Fed said in its latest Beige Book report covering mid-May through the end of June. The report, based on a collection of information from business and other contacts outside the central bank, painted a broadly healthy, stable picture of the US e
  
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• U.S. money market assets increased in latest week: iMoneyNet

  13-07-2016 20:46
  
  NEW YORK, July 13 (Reuters) - U.S. money market fund assets increased by $17.92 billion to $2.700 trillion in the week ended July 12, the Money Fund Report said on Wednesday.
  
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• Solar plane lands in Egypt on penultimate leg of world tour

  13-07-2016 20:20 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Solar Impulse 2, a spindly single-seat plane, flew over the Pyramids to make a smooth landing at Cairo airport at about 7:10 a.m. (0510 GMT), ending a flight leg that lasted 48 hours and 50 minutes. The plane, which began its journey in Abu Dhabi in March 2015 and is due to end it there, has been piloted in turns by Swiss aviators Andre Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard in a campaign to build support for clean energy technologies. "Thanks to clean technologies, today you can reconcile economy and
  
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• Fed sees 'modest' US growth, slowing consumer spending

  13-07-2016 20:15 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Washington (AFP) - The US economy was still growing at a mostly modest pace in recent weeks, though there were signs of a slowdown in consumer spending, the Federal Reserve reported Wednesday.
  
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• U.S. economy shows few signs of sustained inflation pressure: Fed

  13-07-2016 20:06 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The U.S. economy continued to expand from mid-May through the end of June but there was little indication that inflation would surge any time soon, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday. Wage pressures were "modest to moderate" in most of the central bank's districts and price pressures remained slight, the Fed said in its Beige Book report of anecdotal information collected from business contacts across the country. Fed policymakers have been spooked by a lack of sustained progress in moving in
  
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• Fed survey finds modest growth across most of the US

  13-07-2016 20:06 via news.yahoo.com
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve says the economy and hiring continued to expand modestly across most of the United States from mid-May through June, leaving some firms struggling to find skilled workers.
  
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• Huntington Bancshares wins antitrust approval for bank buy

  13-07-2016 19:51
  
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Huntington Bancshares Inc , which owns Huntington National Bank and has branches in six states, has won U.S. antitrust approval to buy FirstMerit Corp , the Justice Department...
  
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• BRIEF-Comdisco Holding - Obtained final decree from U.S. Bankruptcy court for Northern District of Illinois

  13-07-2016 19:51
  
  * Comdisco Holding Company Inc says obtained a final decree
  and order from the U.S. Bankruptcy court for Northern District
  of Illinois Eastern Division
  
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• Bank of Canada stays optimistic even as it cuts growth forecast

  13-07-2016 19:42 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Andrea Hopkins and David Ljunggren OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Bank of Canada cut its growth forecast for 2016 but held rates steady on Wednesday, saying it believed exports and business investment would pick up even though it may have underestimated structural challenges facing businesses. Galloping price appreciation in Canada's two largest housing markets and a series of disappointments in export strength highlight the difficulty policymakers face in stimulating slow parts of the economy withou
  
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• Bank of England readies new blast of QE for post-Brexit Britain

  13-07-2016 19:29 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Hailed by investors as a weapon to fight off recession but slammed by critics for fuelling inequality, quantitative easing looks set for a comeback in Britain as the Bank of England tries to shield the economy from the fallout of Brexit. The central bank is poised to cut interest rates as soon as Thursday and will probably follow up soon afterwards by reviving the massive bond-buying program that it credits with helping to shore up the economy after the global financial crisis. Economists are no
  
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• Record-breaking S&P 500, Dow rally stalls on oil drop

  13-07-2016 19:27 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Sam Forgione NEW YORK (Reuters) - Major U.S. stock indexes gave back gains on Wednesday after hitting record intraday highs and European shares slipped after a plunge in oil prices pushed energy stocks lower on both sides of the Atlantic. Oil prices plummeted more than 4 percent, crimping the record-breaking rally in U.S. shares, while European shares dipped after four straight days of gains. The S&P energy index was last down 1.2 percent and the STOXX Europe 600 Oil & Gas index ended
  
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• China's Midea to raise stake in Germany's Kuka to 64.22 percent

  13-07-2016 19:26
  
  HONG KONG (Reuters) - China's Mideasaid on Wednesday it will raise its stake in German robotics maker Kukato 64.22 percent, as part of a 4.5 billion euro ($5 billion) takeover offer.
  
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• Wall Street record-setting rally peters out

  13-07-2016 19:24 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. stocks took a breather on Wednesday, with investors turning their focus to corporate earnings reports to justify valuations following a three-day record-setting rally. A strong U.S. jobs report on Friday, easing political tension in Japan and Britain and increased prospects of central banks providing stimulus post Britain's vote to leave the European Union, calmed nerves and boosted faith in equities.
  
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• US Treasury's Lew urges EU, UK stay 'highly integrated'

  13-07-2016 19:08 via news.yahoo.com
  
  US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew on Wednesday urged Britain and the European Union to remain "highly integrated" despite the British vote to leave the bloc. Lew spoke as he travelled Europe to gauge the economic landscape in the wake of the referendum decision in favour of Brexit. "An outcome from the UK and EU that produces a highly integrated relationship between the two is in the best interests of Europe, the United States and the global economy," Lew told reporters before talks in Brussels wi
  
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• Bank of England mulls rate cut to cushion Brexit blow

  13-07-2016 18:55 via news.yahoo.com
  LONDON (AP) — Britain's vote to leave the European Union is already taking its toll on the British economy, raising speculation that the Bank of England will on Thursday decide to reduce its main interest rate to a record low.
  
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• TSX slips as energy stocks slump, Bank of Canada trims outlook

  13-07-2016 18:36 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Alastair Sharp TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index turned negative on Wednesday as energy shares slumped with oil on renewed fears of a supply glut and the broader market pulled back after the Bank of Canada held interest rates steady and cut its economic outlook. The heavyweight energy group retreated 2.2 percent, with Canadian Natural Resources down 2 percent to C$40.59, Suncor Energy Inc falling 2.1 percent to C$36.46, and pipeline operator Enbridge Inc slipping 0.9 percent to C$
  
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• U.S. fund investors tiptoe back into junk bonds, global stocks

  13-07-2016 18:31
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. mutual-fund investors bought international stocks and riskier bonds during the latest week, reversing course after pulling the most cash this year from funds following the...
  
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• New tool aims to help businesses value and manage natural assets

  13-07-2016 18:31 via news.yahoo.com
  By Megan Rowling BARCELONA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A new international framework for managing natural assets will help businesses monitor their use of environmental resources, and work out the risks and opportunities this holds for their operations, its creators said on Wednesday. The Natural Capital Protocol - launched in London by more than 160 businesses and accounting, conservation, research and policy groups - provides guidance for companies to measure their dependence and impact on
  
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• Irish GDP revision leap won't impact rating - S&P

  13-07-2016 18:28 via news.yahoo.com
  This week's near 20 percentage point upward revision to Ireland's 2015 economic performance will have no impact on the country's sovereign credit rating, Standard and Poor's said on Wednesday. The Irish Central Statistics Office (CSO) said on Tuesday that the 7.8 percent GDP growth recorded in 2015 was wide of the mark and the true figure was 26.3 percent.
  
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• S&P 500, Dow stall after hitting record highs; oil falls

  13-07-2016 18:16 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Sam Forgione NEW YORK (Reuters) - Major U.S. stock indexes eased back from record intraday highs on Wednesday and European shares gave back some gains to trade little changed as investors took a breather from recent rallies. The benchmark S&P 500 hit 2,156.45, topping Tuesday's intraday record of 2,155.40, while the Dow hit 18,390.16 to top Tuesday's record intraday peak of 18,371.95, the third straight day of such peaks for the S&P and the second for the Dow. The FTSEurofirst 300 ind
  
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• U.S. SEC takes another step toward tighter swaps regulation

  13-07-2016 18:00 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The top U.S. securities regulator on Wednesday took another step toward tightening its oversight of security-based swaps by proposing new reporting requirements for transactions, nearly six years after Congress directed it to build a regulatory regime for the derivatives. "These provisions will result in increased transparency which should allow for a more efficient market, better price discovery, and increased competition," said Democratic Commissioner Kara Stein at a Securities and Exchange Co
  
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• U.S. to work with EU, UK on Brexit transition: Lew

  13-07-2016 17:53 via news.yahoo.com
  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew told senior EU officials in Brussels on Wednesday that Washington would help ensure a smooth transition for the global economy as Britain leaves the bloc. "The United States remains committed to working with our UK and EU counterparts as they work through this transition, to ensure continued economic stability, and advance shared economic growth and prosperity in Europe and around the world," Lew said after meeting members of the European Com
  
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• 'All the stages of grief': private equity ponders dismal Brexit outlook

  13-07-2016 17:48
  
  LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's vote to leave the European Union has put private equity firms on the back foot, forcing them to stall some planned deals, reconsider fundraising strategies and possibly...
  
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• Wall Street wavers after S&P and Dow hit new highs

  13-07-2016 17:41 via news.yahoo.com
  
  A strong U.S. jobs report on Friday, easing political tension in Japan and Britain and increased prospects of central banks providing stimulus post Britain's vote to leave the European Union, calmed nerves and boosted faith in equities. The S&P hit a record high for the third consecutive day on Wednesday. The S&P 500 is currently trading at 17.3 times forward earnings, compared with its 10-year average of 14.7, according to StarMine data.
  
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• Wall St wavers after S&P and Dow hit new highs

  13-07-2016 17:40 via news.yahoo.com
  
  After a three-day record-setting rally, U.S. stocks took a breather on Wednesday, with investor focus now on corporate reports to see if the higher valuations are justifiable. A strong U.S. jobs report on Friday, easing political tension in Japan and Britain and increased prospects of central banks providing stimulus post Britain's vote to leave the European Union, calmed nerves and boosted faith in equities. The S&P hit a record high for the third consecutive day on Wednesday.
  
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• Vodafone, Liberty Global offer EU concessions over Dutch deal

  13-07-2016 17:38
  
  BRUSSELS - Vodafoneand Liberty Globalhave offered concessions in a bid to secure EU antitrust approval for their plan to merge their Dutch telecoms operations to better compete with KPN .
  
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• Teva says Allergan deal to close 'any time', expects U.S. antitrust clearance

  13-07-2016 17:35
  
  NEW YORK/TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltdsaid on Wednesday it expected its $40 billion deal to buy Allergan Plc'sgenerics business to close "at any time," even as the...
  
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• GLOBAL MARKETS-S&P 500, Dow stall after hitting record highs; oil falls

  13-07-2016 17:20 via news.yahoo.com
  Major U.S. stock indexes eased back from record intraday highs on Wednesday and European shares gave back some gains to trade little changed as investors took a breather from recent rallies. The benchmark S&P 500 hit 2,156.45, topping Tuesday's intraday record of 2,155.40, while the Dow hit 18,390.16 to top Tuesday's record intraday peak of 18,371.95, the third straight day of such peaks for the S&P and the second for the Dow. The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top regional shares earlier tou
  
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• C$ strengthens to near one-week high after Bank of Canada news

  13-07-2016 17:04 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Alastair Sharp TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar hit its strongest level since July 7 against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday after the Bank of Canada held rates steady and trimmed its economic forecasts, as traders unwound bets that the central bank could cut rates this year. At 10:29 a.m. EDT (1429 GMT), the Canadian dollar was trading at C$1.2954 to the greenback, or 77.20 U.S. cents, much stronger than the Bank of Canada's official Tuesday close of C$1.3030, or 76.75 U.S. cents. G
  
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• Cyclical stocks eyed to extend the U.S. market's rally

  13-07-2016 17:02 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Wall Street's rally, fed primarily by defensive stocks embraced by worried investors, may be spreading to some of the growth companies that more typically lead a market forward. The move remains incipient - typical leaders like consumer discretionary companies, technology and financials continue to lag the utilities and staples that propelled the S&P 500 to record highs this week. "Our favored sectors looking into the second-half of 2016 are information technology, healthcare and consumer di
  
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• Brexit 'strengthens case for Deutsche Boerse-LSE merger'

  13-07-2016 17:02 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Britain's vote to leave the European Union has strengthened the case for the London and Frankfurt stock markets to merge, a top German central banker said on Wednesday. "The referendum has given positive impetus to, and even bolstered, the economic rationale" to the ambitions to team up to create one of the world's biggest stock exchanges, said Andreas Dombret, board member of the German central bank or Bundesbank. The announced merger of LSE and Deutsche Boerse has the potential to become such
  
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• Deutsche Boerse crosses 50 percent approval level for LSE merger

  13-07-2016 16:59
  
  FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Deutsche Boersehas won the backing of the majority of its shareholders for its planned merger with the London Stock Exchange Groupbut opposition to the deal increased in...
  
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• VW may face shareholder calls to reclaim executive bonuses

  13-07-2016 16:51 via news.yahoo.com
  
  HANOVER/BERLIN (Reuters) - Volkswagen managers may face calls to return their bonuses if the company is fined by German prosecutors over the profits it made from selling 11 million cars fitted with illicit engine software. The carmaker's second largest shareholder, Lower Saxony, which holds a 20 percent stake, had opposed executive bonuses for 2015 when the diesel emissions scandal broke, but in April the state agreed a compromise that reduced management payouts by about a third. "We will have t
  
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• Keep Britain close to EU, Cameron urges incoming PM May

  13-07-2016 16:48 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Kylie MacLellan and William James LONDON (Reuters) - Outgoing Prime Minister David Cameron urged his successor Theresa May on Wednesday to keep Britain close to the European Union, even as she embarks on the monumental task of ending four decades of membership. Cameron is stepping down after Britons rejected his entreaties and voted to leave the EU in a referendum last month, severely undermining European efforts to forge greater unity and creating economic uncertainty across the 28-nation bl
  
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• EU lawmakers to be "tough but fair" in banking trade talks with Britain

  13-07-2016 16:43 via news.yahoo.com
  By Huw Jones LONDON (Reuters) - European Union lawmakers said they would be "tough but fair" in negotiating trading terms for financial services with Britain after its decision to leave the bloc. The European Parliament will help shape the EU's new trading terms with Britain, and on Wednesday its economic affairs committee bid farewell to Jonathan Hill, Britain's member of the European Commission, who was in charge of financial services. Hill resigned after Britain voted to leave the EU.
  
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• Tunisia PM won't quit to allow unity government, wants parliament to decide

  13-07-2016 16:33 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Tunisia's prime minister has refused to resign and wants parliament to decide his fate, creating a political deadlock over President Beji Caid Essebsi's plan to form a new unity government. Habib Essid stood his ground a few weeks after Essebsi called for negotiations on a unity government he believes would overcome coalition tensions that have blocked headway toward much-needed economic reforms. "Prime Minister Habib Essid has chosen to go to parliament," Essebsi said in a speech on Wednesday a
  
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