Finance news

• U.S. muni bond funds post $871 million in inflows: Lipper

  11-08-2016 23:19
  
  U.S. municipal bond funds reported $871 million of net inflows in the week ended Aug. 10, compared with $783.9 million in inflows in the previous week, according to data released by Lipper on...
  
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• Clinton disparages Trump's economic plan, vows to help workers

  11-08-2016 23:16 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Jonathan Allen WARREN, Mich. (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Thursday said rival Donald Trump had no real plans to help middle-class families, arguing that his agenda of tax cuts and tough trade talk would throw the economy into recession. "He's offered no credible plans to address what working families are up against today," Clinton said in Warren, Michigan, shortly after touring Futuramic, a hangar-like, high-tech factory that makes parts for the a
  
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• Exclusive: Wall St. banks ask Fed for five more years to comply with Volcker rule

  11-08-2016 23:14 via news.yahoo.com
  
  If the Fed agrees, the extension would give banks more time to exit fund investments that are difficult to sell, but no longer allowed by the law. The law on Volcker rule implementation says banks can ask for an extra five-year extension for "illiquid" funds, where banks had contractual commitments to invest. In deciding whether to grant Wall Street more leeway, the Fed has asked banks to provide details on their specific investments to prove that they fall under the statutory definition of "ill
  
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• Exchange operator Bats to buy swaps trading platform Javelin

  11-08-2016 23:05
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bats Global Markets , the No. 2 U.S. stock exchange operator by volume, said on Thursday it would acquire Javelin SEF LLC, a swaps exchange, for an undisclosed sum to enhance its...
  
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• US stocks surge to new records as oil shares rally

  11-08-2016 22:52 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Wall Street stocks jumped to fresh records Thursday, with all three major indices hitting all-time highs due to strong gains in petroleum-linked shares and retailers.
  
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• Exclusive - Wall Street banks ask Fed for five more years to comply with Volcker rule

  11-08-2016 22:49 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Big Wall Street banks are asking the U.S. Federal Reserve to grant them an additional five-year grace period to comply with a financial reform regulation known as the Volcker rule, people familiar with the matter said. If the Fed agrees, the extension would give banks more time to exit fund investments that are difficult to sell, but no longer allowed by the law. The law on Volcker rule implementation says banks can ask for an extra five-year extension for "illiquid" funds, where banks had contr
  
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• Wall St. hits record highs as investors buy department stores

  11-08-2016 22:42 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Wall Street stocks ended at record highs on Thursday as surging oil prices and strong earnings from department stores Macy's and Kohl's buoyed investor sentiment. Crude oil jumped as much as 5.0 percent on comments from the Saudi oil minister about potential action to stabilize prices and the International Energy Agency's forecast that crude oil markets would rebalance in the next few months. The S&P energy index rallied 1.3 percent, making it the top gainer among the 10 major sectors, led b
  
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• Wall Street hits record highs as investors buy department stores

  11-08-2016 22:34 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Wall Street stocks ended at record highs on Thursday as surging oil prices and strong earnings from department stores Macy's and Kohl's buoyed investor sentiment. Crude oil jumped as much as 5.0 percent on comments from the Saudi oil minister about potential action to stabilise prices and the International Energy Agency's forecast that crude oil markets would rebalance in the next few months. Macy's shares soared 17.09 percent, marking the best day for the department store operator in nearly eig
  
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• BRIEF-Sabine Oil & Gas says emerges from bankruptcy

  11-08-2016 22:29
  
  * Closed on new senior secured credit facility, which has
  commitments of $200 million and an initial borrowing base of
  $150 millionSource text for Eikon:Further company coverage:
  
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• Oil surges 4 percent, helping Wall Street hit record peaks

  11-08-2016 22:22 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Lewis Krauskopf NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks in the United States and Europe raced higher on Thursday helped by encouraging corporate reports and a 4 percent surge in oil prices on comments from the Saudi oil minister and a forecast for a tighter crude market. The energy sector was the best-performing major S&P group, up 1.3 percent, buoyed by the rise in oil prices.
  
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• Fox anticipates settlements in Ailes harassment case: WSJ

  11-08-2016 22:07 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - Twenty-First Century Fox Inc anticipates having to settle with the women who have alleged they were victims of harassment by former Fox News chief Roger Ailes, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
  
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• Clinton says her economic plan would do more for the middle-class

  11-08-2016 21:41 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Jonathan Allen WARREN, Mich. (Reuters) - U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said in a speech at a Michigan factory on Thursday that her jobs and tax plans would better help middle-class Americans than the plans released earlier this week by Republican rival Donald Trump.    Democratic nominee Clinton ran through many of the policies she has outlined over the last year to contrast herself with Trump, who has given far fewer details about his plans, as the presidential c
  
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• Steinhoff raises bid for Poundland, hedge fund adds stake

  11-08-2016 21:32
  
  LONDON (Reuters) - South African retailer Steinhoffraised its agreed offer for Britain's Poundland to 610 million pounds ($790 million) and said the revised terms were final, challenginginvestor...
  
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• U.S. public pension plans take more risks to keep contributions low -study

  11-08-2016 21:03 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. public pension plans are taking more investment risks in an attempt to keep government contribution rates low, but ultimately that strategy could raise costs for taxpayers, a new study presented this week showed. In 2014, more than 30 major public plans across the country were underpaid by $100 million or more, Donald Boyd, the director of fiscal studies at the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, said in an interview on Thursday. The study, presented earlier this week at the Nati
  
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• Wall Street hits fresh record highs, department stores surge

  11-08-2016 20:46 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Wall Street stocks hit fresh record highs on Thursday as rising oil prices and strong earnings from department stores Macy's and Kohl's buoyed investor sentiment. Crude oil jumped 5.0 percent on comments from the Saudi oil minister about potential action to stabilise prices and the International Energy Agency's forecast that crude markets would rebalance in the next few months. Macy's shares soared 18 percent, marking the best day for the department store operator in nearly eight years after it
  
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• Fed should raise interest rates this year, Williams says

  11-08-2016 20:11 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The Federal Reserve should raise interest rates further this year, a top U.S. central banker said in an interview published on Thursday, reflecting improved labor market conditions and the likelihood that inflation is heading higher. "As the economy gets closer to its goals, we can again pull our foot off the gas a bit and hopefully execute a nice, soft landing over the next couple of years," San Francisco Fed President John Williams told the Washington Post in an interview conducted this week.
  
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• Legg Mason's Bill Miller leaves firm amid faded glory

  11-08-2016 19:51
  
  NEW YORK/BOSTON (Reuters) - Legg Mason Inc's Bill Miller, whose mutual fund beat the S&P 500 handily for 15 consecutive years at the turn of the century, is riding off into the sunset after his...
  
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• Canada's Gibson Energy says it turned down takeover offer

  11-08-2016 19:46
  
  (Reuters) - Oil transportation company Gibson Energy Incsaid on Thursday it had rejected a takeover offer from a foreign buyer, calling it inadequate.
  
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• Fidelity seeks U.S. approval for new type of ETF: filing

  11-08-2016 19:42
  
  (Reuters) - Fidelity Investments is seeking U.S. approval to offer a new type of actively managed exchange-traded fund, a regulatory filing on Thursday showed, as the fund company seeks to regain...
  
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• Wells Fargo Advisors names David Kowach new head

  11-08-2016 19:40
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Company named David Kowach to head its retail wealth management division, Wells Fargo Advisors, the nation's third-largest brokerage, on Thursday.
  
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• Mexican president's approval rating plumbs new low

  11-08-2016 19:40 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto's approval rating has fallen to an all-time low, according to a poll published on Thursday, and is seen as being punished for lackluster economic growth as well as his failure to crack down on corruption and ongoing drug violence. The president's approval rating decreased to just 23 percent, down seven percentage points since April, according to local newspaper Reforma - a record low that reinforces the public's dissatisfaction with the ruling Institutional R
  
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• IMF, Egypt agree on $12B loan to fix ailing economy

  11-08-2016 19:33 via news.yahoo.com
  
  CAIRO (AP) — The International Monetary Fund said Thursday it will grant Egypt a $12 billion loan over three years to help the Arab world's most populous country mend its ailing economy following years of unrest.
  
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• Sun Life continues 'aggressive' hunt for acquisitions

  11-08-2016 19:07
  
  TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian insurer Sun Life Financialwill continue to pursue acquisitions through the remainder of 2016, potentially expanding further in Asia, Chief Executive Dean Connor said on...
  
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• Strong earnings, surge in oil power Dow to record high

  11-08-2016 18:59 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - The Dow touched a record intraday high on Thursday afternoon as strong results from department store chains and a surge in oil prices buoyed investor sentiment about economic growth.
  
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• Valeant stock falls as report of criminal probe adds to woes

  11-08-2016 18:54 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc shares fell about 10 percent on Thursday as new details about a criminal investigation into the drugmaker raised investor concerns about risks related to the company's past business practices. News of the investigation, reported by the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, was a setback to the Canadian company's efforts clean up its image, with some in the market concerned it could face penalties and may have to pay more to borrow as renegotiates debt. After
  
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• World stock markets cheer retailers

  11-08-2016 18:23 via news.yahoo.com
  
  European stock markets and Wall Street ventured back into positive territory Thursday, buoyed by upbeat news from global retailers and other corporates.
  
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• Average US 30-year mortgage rate ticks up to 3.45 percent

  11-08-2016 18:19 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Long-term U.S. mortgage rates edged higher this week, though rates remain at historically low levels.
  
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• UPDATE 2-Brazil Oi's in-court reorganization helps ease cash burn

  11-08-2016 18:01
  
  SAO PAULO, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Oi SA is expected
  to burn less cash this quarter thanks to a June petition to win
  court protection from creditors, which is temporarily sparing
  Brazil's largest...
  
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• Foxconn clears China's anti-monopoly review for $3.8 billion deal with Sharp

  11-08-2016 17:51
  
  TOKYO (Reuters) - Taiwan's Foxconn said on Thursday China's anti-monopoly authorities approved its acquisition of Japan's Sharp Corp, paving the way for the world's largest contract electronics...
  
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• Department store earnings power Wall Street rally

  11-08-2016 17:31 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes came at shouting distance from their record highs as strong results from department store chains and robust labor market data buoyed investor sentiment about economic growth.
  
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• IMF agrees $12 billion 3-year funding deal with Egypt

  11-08-2016 16:33 via news.yahoo.com
  
  * IMF loans to help budget deficit and dollar shortage * Deal still to be approved by IMF executive committee * Markets cautious, pending implementation (Adds stock market rise, analyst comment, background, quotes) By Lin Noueihed and Ahmed Aboulenein CAIRO, Aug 11 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund has agreed in principle to grant Egypt a $12 billion three-year loan facility, to support a government reform programme aimed at plugging a budget gap and rebalancing the currency markets. T
  
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• Alibaba passes earnings milestones, silent on SEC probe

  11-08-2016 16:21 via news.yahoo.com
  
  BENGALURU/BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Alibaba Group Holding Ltd posted its best revenue growth since before the e-commerce titan's listing in late 2014, lifting its shares to their highest level in a year. In the three months to June 30, Alibaba also made more money from mobile shopping than from PCs for the first time, helping to send its shares up by more than 5 percent to $92.10 in New York, its highest level in more than a year. "This is a decoupling of revenue from GMV (gross merchandise vo
  
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• EU regulators to investigate Dow, DuPont $130 billion merger

  11-08-2016 16:20
  
  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators have opened a full investigation into Dow Chemicaland DuPont 's proposed $130 billion merger, saying the deal may reduce competition in crop protection,...
  
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• World stocks advance on strong corporates

  11-08-2016 16:13 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Wall Street and key European markets ventured back into positive territory Thursday, buoyed by strong corporate earnings which outweighed worries about the low oil prices.
  
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• Wall Street open sharply higher on strong data, earnings

  11-08-2016 15:58 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Wall Street rose sharply on Thursday morning as strong labor market data and upbeat corporate results buoyed investor sentiment about U.S. economic growth. Kohl's kicked off the two-day earnings run of department store chains. Macy's shares soared 16 percent after the department store operator reported a smaller-than-expected drop in quarterly comparable store sales and said it would close 100 stores.
  
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• TSX rises as oil steadies; Valeant falls on probe report

  11-08-2016 15:48 via news.yahoo.com
  
  TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index gained in early trade on Thursday, helped by rising energy and financial stocks as oil prices steadied, while Valeant fell after the Wall Street Journal reported the drug maker is the subject of a criminal probe. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was up 35.45 points, or 0.24 percent, at 14,810.49 shortly after the open. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc fell 7.1 percent to C$33.36. (Reporting by Alastair Sharp Editing b
  
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• UPDATE 2-Spain's Abengoa secures provisional debt deal in bid to ward off bankruptcy

  11-08-2016 15:34
  
  * Company to hold conference call on Aug. 16(Writes through, updates shares, adds quote)
  
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• Wall Street opens higher on strong data, earnings

  11-08-2016 15:32 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - U.S. stocks opened higher on Thursday as strong labor market data and upbeat corporate earnings reports buoyed investor sentiment about U.S. economic growth.
  
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• IMF agrees $12 billion loan to boost Egypt economy

  11-08-2016 15:11 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The International Monetary Fund said Thursday that it had reached an initial agreement to lend $12 billion to Egypt to bolster an economy battered by years of unrest. The Egyptian government hopes the three-year deal will provide a lifeline for the North African nation as it grapples with a dollar shortage and dwindling foreign reserves. "Egypt is a strong country with great potential but it has some problems that need to be fixed urgently," the head of the IMF delegation to Egypt, Chris Jarvis,
  
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• Nigeria plans capital spending of $312 million in coming days: VP

  11-08-2016 15:09 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Chijioke Ohuocha LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria will spend 100 billion naira ($312.50 million) on capital projects in the coming days as part of the 2016 budget, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said on Thursday, as the country tries to inject life into an economy facing recession. Gross domestic product shrank 0.36 percent in the first quarter and the central bank governor has said recession is likely. Government capital spending so far has reached 332 billion naira, Osinbajo said.
  
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• U.S. labor market firming; inflation remains benign

  11-08-2016 15:05 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell last week, pointing to sustained labor market strength in early August that could help spur faster economic growth. Other data on Thursday showed an unexpected rise in import prices in July as a drop in petroleum prices was offset by gains in the cost of other goods. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits slipped 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 266,000 for the week ended Aug. 6, the Labor Department said.
  
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• Valeant stock falls on report of criminal probe

  11-08-2016 15:01 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc's U.S.-listed stock fell about 10 percent in premarket trading on Thursday after the Wall Street Journal reported that prosecutors had opened a criminal investigation into the Canadian drugmaker. Lawyers at the U.S. Attorney's Manhattan office are probing whether Valeant obscured from insurers its relationship with a specialty pharmacy that helped inflate its drug sales, the Journal reported on Wednesday, citing sources. The investigation cou
  
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• China power plant blast kills at least 21 -state media

  11-08-2016 15:01 via news.yahoo.com
  
  An explosion at a power plant in China killed at least 21 people and injured five on Thursday, state media said, the latest deadly industrial accident in a country that struggles with poor safety standards. The blast in the city of Dangyang in the central province of Hubei took place around 3:20 p.m., when a high-pressure steam pipe exploded, the official Xinhua news agency said. Deadly accidents are relatively common at industrial plants in China, and anger over lax standards is growing after t
  
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• BRIEF-Ultra Petroleum Q2 adj earnings per share $0.25

  11-08-2016 14:55
  
  * Ultra Petroleum reports second quarter 2016 financial and
  operating results and provides business outlook
  
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• Wall Street set to open higher on strong data, earnings

  11-08-2016 14:45 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Macy's shares soared 11 percent after the department store operator reported a smaller-than-expected drop in quarterly comparable store sales and said it would close 100 stores. "It's certainly hard to fight the recent trend, which has been a better appetite for risk and I don't see anything to upset things," said Mark Heppenstall, CIO of Penn Mutual Asset Management. Better-than-expected second-quarter earnings and a set of strong economic data have pushed the S&P 500 to a series of record
  
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• Unexpectedly positive economic data may see South Africa avoid recession

  11-08-2016 14:42 via news.yahoo.com
  
  South Africa's manufacturing output rose more than expected in June while mining production shrank at a slower rate than market estimates, raising hopes the economy could fend off a recession and ratings downgrades to junk later in the year. "Today's output figures support our view that the South African economy rebounded in Q2, thus avoiding a technical recession," John Ashbourne, Africa specialist at Capital Economics, said in a note.
  
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• Column: Decade after landmark U.S. pension law, changes still needed

  11-08-2016 14:29
  
  CHICAGO (Reuters) - (The writer is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)
  
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• GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks choppy, Kiwi soars after rate cut

  11-08-2016 14:19 via news.yahoo.com
  
  World shares hovered close to one-year highs on Thursday as oil prices dropped for a third straight day and the latest interest rate cut in a developed market - this time New Zealand - got a lukewarm response from investors. The slip in crude markets left energy firms and London's FTSE backpeddling, though a sharp jump in consumer goods stocks lifted the rest of Europe ahead of what was expected to be a 0.2 percent higher start for Wall Street. The Kiwi dollar was the day's big mover though, as
  
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• IMF, Egypt agree on $12 billion loan to fix ailing economy

  11-08-2016 14:10 via news.yahoo.com
  
  CAIRO (AP) — The International Monetary Fund signed an initial agreement with Egypt on Thursday to loan it $12 billion over three years, in hopes the funds will help fix an ailing economy in the Arab world's most populous country.
  
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• India's monsoon rains 15 percent above average in past week: weather office

  11-08-2016 13:48 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Monsoon rains in India were 15 percent above average in the week ended Aug. 10, the weather office said on Thursday. The weather office has retained its forecast for an above-average monsoon this year, boosting hopes of a rise in farm output and income after two years of drought. The June-September monsoon is crucial for India's rain-fed farm sector that accounts for nearly 15 percent of its $2 trillion economy.
  
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