Finance news

• Symphony looks to Asian expansion with CEO move, new investment

  12-12-2016 23:54 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Symphony Communications Services LLC is relocating its chief executive to Singapore and targeting Asian investors as it looks to expand its Wall Street chat technology into the region. David Gurle, who is currently based in the company’s Palo Alto headquarters, will move to the Southeast Asian city-state in the first quarter of next year, a Symphony spokeswoman said. Gurle’s relocation comes as Symphony is in talks to raise between $100 million to $150 million in funding from new and
  
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• CalPERS sues IAC over move to maintain Diller's voting power

  12-12-2016 23:48 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Chairman Diller controls more than 44 percent of IAC's voting shares, while the billionaire owns less than 8 percent of the company's stock, CalPERS said in a statement. "As a result, no matter how much IAC uses stock to pay compensation or pursue new deals, Diller and his future heirs will never lose their voting control, even as their economic ownership of IAC can be reduced far below their current 8 percent level," CalPERS said.
  
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• Fed gives banks five years to comply with Volcker Rule limits

  12-12-2016 23:34 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The Federal Reserve Board laid out on Monday how U.S. banks can apply to take five more years to comply with the Volcker Rule, a reform emerging from the 2007-09 financial crisis that has received some of the harshest criticism from Wall Street. The rule, intended to keep banks from speculating with their customers' money, limits the amount of illiquid investments firms can hold. Big Wall Street banks have said they need more time to exit fund investments that are difficult to sell but no longer
  
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• BRIEF-Goodrich Petroleum files for offer and sale of up to 4.5 million shares of co's common stock

  12-12-2016 23:29
  
  * Goodrich Petroleum files for offer and sale of up to 4.5
  million shares of co's common stock by the selling security
  holders - SEC filing
  
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• Spanish court annuls Airbnb fine

  12-12-2016 22:31 via news.yahoo.com
  
  A Spanish court has annulled a fine of 30,000 euros ($32,000) imposed by the regional government of Catalonia on Airbnb for advertising lodgings that did not have permits to host tourists. The Barcelona court justified its decision in a ruling dated November 29 which was released by the home rentals website on Monday on the grounds that there is a legal vacuum regarding the regulation of the "sharing economy" in Spain. "The regulation of this new phenomenon of consumption has been left orphaned.
  
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• Trump taps Goldman Sachs executive Cohn for key economic post

  12-12-2016 22:04 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Tim Ahmann and Olivia Oran WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Monday said he would appoint Goldman Sachs Group Inc President and Chief Operating Officer Gary Cohn to head the White House National Economic Council, a group that coordinates economic policy across agencies. "As my top economic adviser, Gary Cohn is going to put his talents as a highly successful businessman to work for the American people," Trump said in a statement. Cohn, 56, will follow former senior G
  
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• UPDATE 6-Sumner Redstone and daughter pull CBS, Viacom merger plan

  12-12-2016 21:56
  
  NEW YORK, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Media mogul Sumner Redstone and
  his daughter Shari called off their failed effort to merge CBS
  Corp and Viacom Inc on Monday, sending shares
  of Viacom - widely viewed as...
  
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• Tech weighs on S&P, Nasdaq; health shares outperform

  12-12-2016 21:52 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite fell on Monday after six sessions of gains, weighed by tech sector stocks, while a rally in energy shares petered out as crude oil gains withered to less than 2 percent from nearly 6 percent earlier. Bank shares fell ahead of the Federal Reserve's last meeting for the year, which is set to begin on Tuesday and expected to end on Wednesday with the year's first interest rate increase. The S&P 500 financial sector fell 1.0 percent following five consecutive
  
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• Trump taps Goldman No 2 Cohn for economic council

  12-12-2016 21:24 via news.yahoo.com
  
  President-elect Donald Trump on Monday named Gary Cohn, current president and chief operating officer of Goldman Sachs, to lead the White House's National Economic Council. "As my top economic advisor, Gary Cohn is going to put his talents as a highly successful businessman to work for the American people," Trump said in a statement. Former president Bill Clinton established the council in 1993 to advise the president on domestic and global economic policy.
  
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• Your Money: How to bet on future income to pay for college now

  12-12-2016 21:05
  
  New York (Reuters) - Alex Jasiulek tapped a new funding option known as an income share agreement to help pay for an Ivy League education.
  
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• Brazil's Temer, in battle for survival, plans economic stimulus

  12-12-2016 20:39 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Anthony Boadle BRASILIA (Reuters) - President Michel Temer, fighting for survival over corruption allegations against him and his government, is planning new measures to jump start a stalled economy, improve his dismal approval ratings and stifle calls for his resignation. The stimulus measures, to be unveiled this week, include steps to relieve indebted consumers and also force credit card companies to pay businesses faster than the current 30 days, government sources said on Monday. ...
  
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• Timeline: The battle for Syria's Aleppo city

  12-12-2016 19:54 via news.yahoo.com
  
  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Restoring full control over Aleppo, Syria's most populous city before the war, has been seen as critical to the fortunes of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a multi-sided civil war now in its sixth year. Insurgents who have held the eastern part of the city since the early days of the war have now lost most of their besieged enclave to a government assault. Famous for textiles, soap and its UNESCO-listed citadel, Aleppo was Syria's economic hub and of huge historic and cult
  
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• MPs to size up post-Brexit bridging deal for banks

  12-12-2016 19:13 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Huw Jones LONDON (Reuters) - A deal to bridge the gap between Britain leaving the European Union and the introduction of its new trading terms with the bloc could shield financial firms from any abrupt changes and ultimately keep them based in the UK, a senior MP said, finding support from the finance ministry. Banks in Britain have said their fingers are "hovering over the relocate button" because they still don't have a clear idea of what life after leaving the EU will look like. Financial
  
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• Italian PM unveils new government, but center-right ally threatens to quit

  12-12-2016 19:09 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Crispian Balmer and Antonella Cinelli ROME (Reuters) - Newly appointed Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni unveiled his government on Monday, keeping almost all the outgoing ministers in place in a sign of continuity aimed at reassuring financial markets. In a rapid transfer of power from Renzi, who quit last week after losing a Dec. 4 referendum on constitutional reform, Gentiloni took just a day to put together his team of ministers. Among those reconfirmed in their post was Economy Mini
  
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• BRIEF-Scout Media commences sale process; transaction facilitated via voluntary Chapter 11

  12-12-2016 19:04
  
  * Scout Media commences sale process; transaction
  facilitated via voluntary Chapter 11
  
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• Wall Street drifts lower as financial, tech stocks drag

  12-12-2016 19:03 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Both the Dow and the S&P hit intraday record highs earlier in the session. Oil major Exxon was up 2.79 percent, and was among the stocks boosting the Dow and the S&P. Chevron rose 1.9 percent. President-elect Donald Trump's expected agenda of economic stimulus and reduced taxes and regulations has fueled a market rally, with the benchmark S&P 500 rising 5.6 percent since Nov. 8 to Friday's close.
  
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• UPDATE 3-Amundi to buy Pioneer from UniCredit for 3.6 bln euros

  12-12-2016 18:42
  
  PARIS/MILAN, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Amundi is to buy
  rival Pioneer Investments from UniCredit for 3.6
  billion euros ($3.8 billion), a deal that will extend the French
  asset manager's reach in Europe and...
  
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• Turkey economy shrinks for first time since 2009

  12-12-2016 18:31 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The Turkish economy shrank by nearly two percent in the third quarter as consumer spending and exports plunged, data showed Monday, the first year-on-year contraction since 2009. The Turkish Statistics Office said gross domestic product (GDP) fell 1.8 percent compared with the same period in 2015, sparking an immediate fall in the lira. The contraction was marked by weaker consumer spending which the office said decreased by 3.2 percent in the last quarter, while exports of goods and services fe
  
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• Trump puts Goldman Sachs in spotlight, for better or worse

  12-12-2016 18:25 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Goldman's shares have jumped by nearly a third since Trump's Nov. 8 election victory, outpacing gains by rivals, as investors bet on a resurgence in trading stocks and bonds due to increased volatility, and the prospect of less onerous financial regulation. Trump's expected pick of Gary Cohn, Goldman's second-in-command, to advise him on economic policy, has only made that chorus louder.
  
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• BlackRock warns of bond market 'pain' in the coming months

  12-12-2016 18:22
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - BlackRock Inc cut its view on the outlook for U.S. Treasuries further in a publication distributed on Monday, warning investors to prepare for "pain."
  
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• Padoan to stay as economy minister in new Italian government: source

  12-12-2016 17:48 via news.yahoo.com
  
  ROME (Reuters) - Italian Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan will retain his post in the new government put together by Prime Minister-designate Paolo Gentiloni, a political source said, in a sign of continuity aimed at reassuring markets. Angelino Alfano was set to leave his position as interior minister and will become foreign minister, the source added. The new cabinet is due to be officially unveiled and sworn in later on Monday, speeding up the transfer of power from outgoing Prime Minister
  
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• China brings WTO dispute resolution case against US, EU

  12-12-2016 17:41 via news.yahoo.com
  
  China filed a dispute resolution case with the World Trade Organisation Monday over the so-called "surrogate country" approach used by the United States and the European Union to calculate anti-dumping measures applied to Chinese exports. When China joined the WTO in 2001 it was written into the terms of the deal that member states could treat it as a non-market economy for 15 years. Now China wants the EU and US to stop using a "surrogate country" system -- judging the price of Chinese goods ag
  
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• Energy shares lift Dow, S&P; techs drag Nasdaq

  12-12-2016 17:25 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Dow hit record highs on Monday, fueled by energy shares, while the Nasdaq was lower, dragged down by technology stocks, a day ahead of the Fed's two-day meeting.
  
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• South Africa's Gordhan says economy recovering

  12-12-2016 17:05 via news.yahoo.com
  
  South Africa's economy is recovering, supported by improved electricity supply, easing drought and a depreciation in the real exchange rate among other factors, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Monday. Gordhan however told a labour union conference that macroeconomic stability was crucial to cushion the economy from potentially volatile capital flows in an uncertain global environment. "In terms of the numbers that we see, we believe we are in the process of recovering as an economy," he
  
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• Dow, S&P hit record highs as energy shares jump

  12-12-2016 16:42 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Tanya Agrawal REUTERS - The S&P 500 and the Dow hit fresh record highs on Monday, fueled by energy shares, while the Nasdaq was lower, a day ahead of the U.S. Fed's two-day meeting. Oil prices rose as much as 6.5 percent to an 18-month high after OPEC and some of its rivals reached their first deal since 2001 to jointly reduce output to try to tackle global oversupply and boost prices. [O/R] The S&P energy index was the top gainer with a 2.4 percent rise. Oil majors Exxon and Chevron
  
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• China launches WTO complaint against U.S., EU over dumping rules

  12-12-2016 16:05 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Ben Blanchard BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Monday it had launched a complaint at the World Trade Organization over the approach used by the United States and European Union to calculate anti-dumping measures against Chinese exports. When China joined the WTO in 2001, its accession terms allowed other WTO members to treat it as a non-market economy when assessing dumping duties for 15 years.
  
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• Spanish state may be saddled with bankrupt motorways, minister says

  12-12-2016 16:00
  
  MADRID, Dec 12 (Reuters) - The Spanish government may to
  have to take over several bankrupt toll roads, the minister for
  public works said on Monday, adding that the state's chances of
  reaching a...
  
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• Oil prices surge on output deal

  12-12-2016 15:53 via news.yahoo.com
  
  World oil prices surged Monday after non-OPEC producers struck a deal to cut output, while Europe's main stock markets were subdued before a key Fed meeting due this week.
  
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• South Africa's finance minister Gordhan says economy recovering

  12-12-2016 15:52 via news.yahoo.com
  
  CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa's economy is recovering, supported by improved electricity supply, easing drought and a depreciation in the real exchange rate among other factors, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Monday. (Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Writing by Stella Mapenzauswa; Editing by Tiisetso Motsoeneng)
  
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• Goldman's Cohn to accept key economic post: CNBC

  12-12-2016 15:44 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc's President and Chief Operating Officer Gary Cohn will shortly accept the post to head the National Economic Council (NEC), CNBC reported, citing a source.
  
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• Brazil's former president Cardoso rules out return: newspaper

  12-12-2016 15:41 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso ruled out a return to the top job in an interview published on Monday, amid speculation he could lead an interim administration if the current incumbent is forced to step down. Cardoso told O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper that politicians needed to take action to address voters' anger over corruption scandals and a struggling economy. In the interview, which was done last week, he said any move to hold elections before current President Michel
  
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• Daimler to hike wages by over 20 percent at Hungary plant in next two years

  12-12-2016 14:39 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz cars division has reached a deal with unions at its Hungarian plant that will see base salaries increase by 10 percent in each of the next two years, it said on Monday. The production and export of cars by foreign automakers is a key driver of economic growth in Hungary, where wages for skilled workers are well below Western European levels. Daimler's deal follows months of negotiations at the 1 billion euro factory in Kecskemet, central Hungary, which employs about 4,
  
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• China launches WTO dispute resolution case against U.S., EU

  12-12-2016 12:59 via news.yahoo.com
  
  China said on Monday it had launched a dispute resolution case at the World Trade Organization over the surrogate country approach used by the United States and European Union to calculate anti-dumping measures against Chinese exports. When China joined the WTO in 2001, it agreed to let WTO members treat it as a non-market economy when assessing dumping duties for 15 years.
  
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• Fixing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Will Trump Give Wall Street Another Gift?

  12-12-2016 11:15 via news.yahoo.com
  
  President-elect Trump’s selection of a former mortgage banker as Treasury secretary signals the incoming administration’s intention to finally settle the status of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two government-sponsored housing finance behemoths that were bailed out and brought under federal conservatorship in 2008. Secretary-designate Steve Mnuchin told Fox Business that Fannie and Freddie should be freed from government conservatorship, causing shares in the two entities to soar a
  
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• France's Amundi to buy Pioneer from UniCredit for $3.75 billion

  12-12-2016 08:25
  
  PARIS (Reuters) - French fund management company Amundiis to buy asset manager Pioneer from Italian bank UniCreditfor 3.55 billion euros ($3.75 billion), and will finance the deal with a debt and...
  
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• Philips to sell Lumileds stake to U.S. investor Apollo for $1.5 billion

  12-12-2016 08:21
  
  AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Philipswill sell an 80.1 percent stake in Lumileds, its LED components and car lighting business, to U.S. investor Apollo, receiving $1.5 billion in cash, it said on Monday.
  
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• Exclusive: Bank of Japan likely to upgrade economic view next week - sources

  12-12-2016 08:19 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Leika Kihara TOKYO (Reuters) - The Bank of Japan is likely to give a more upbeat view of the economy at next week's rate review, sources say, as a pick-up in emerging Asian demand and positive signs in private consumption improve prospects for a solid, export-driven recovery. Any upgrade would reinforce market expectations that the central bank, after failing to jolt Japan out of deflation with years of massive monetary easing, will hold off on expanding stimulus measures in the coming months
  
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• Fed turns to Trump agenda with rate hike nearly in the bag

  12-12-2016 07:02 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Howard Schneider WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve inaugurates the Trump era this week with a near-certain interest rate increase and new economic forecasts providing a first glimpse into whether the U.S. election has reshaped the central bank's growth and inflation outlook. Fed fund futures show a 97 percent probability that the Fed will lift rates by a quarter of a percentage point at the end of its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday, according to the CME Group. More telling will
  
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• Asian markets mixed as oil prices surge amid Vienna output cut deal

  12-12-2016 06:37 via news.yahoo.com
  
  While Asian stock market indices were trading mixed on Monday (12 December), the Shanghai Composite was down 2.03% at 3,167.37 as of 4.45am GMT following an increase in oil prices post an output cut deal reached in Vienna over the weekend.
  
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• South Korea temporarily bans movement of poultry to fight bird flu

  12-12-2016 05:56 via news.yahoo.com
  
  South Korea's agriculture ministry said on Monday it will issue a temporary nationwide ban on the transportation of poultry to contain the spread of bird flu, with 43 outbreaks recorded in Asia's fourth-largest economy. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said in a statement that the movement control order will be effective for 48 hours, from 1500 GMT on Monday or midnight in Seoul. Since the first outbreak of a severe strain of bird flu known as H5N6 was reported on Nov.18., Sou
  
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• S&P says South Korea impeachment does not affect credit fundamentals

  12-12-2016 04:54 via news.yahoo.com
  
  S&P Global Ratings said on Monday that Friday's vote by South Korea's parliament to impeach President Park Geun-hye does not have a material impact on the country's credit rating. "Although the political uncertainty could remain a distraction to policymakers for some time, we believe the effective Korean bureaucracy will keep the government running smoothly," the ratings agency said.
  
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• Australian government gives green light to Sydney's second airport

  12-12-2016 04:23 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The Australian government approved a second international airport for Sydney on Monday, opening the way for construction to begin in Australia's largest city on a project mired in political squabbling for 70 years. Sydney Airport Holdings Ltd has first right of refusal to build the A$5 billion ($3.7 billion) airport, which the government hopes will boost inbound air passenger numbers to Sydney by about a quarter, or 10 million people per year. The new airport is the centerpiece of Prime Minister
  
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• Exclusive: Lonza in talks to buy Capsugel for more than $5 billion - sources

  12-12-2016 03:12
  
  (Reuters) - Swiss pharmaceutical manufacturer Lonza Group AGis in advanced talks to acquire Capsugel, a U.S. maker of capsule products and other drug delivery systems, for more than $5 billion,...
  
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• Australia's Cover-More agrees to $551 million bid from Zurich Insurance

  12-12-2016 02:54
  
  SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's biggest travel insurance provider, Cover-More Group , said on Monday it had agreed to a A$741 million($551.16 million) takeover offer from Switzerland's Zurich...
  
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• China should target 6.5 percent economic growth in 2017: think tank

  12-12-2016 02:25 via news.yahoo.com
  
  China should set an economic growth target of around 6.5 percent for 2017, although it is very likely that it will be able to exceed that level, the State Information Center said on Monday. The State Information Center is an official think tank affiliated with the National Development and Reform Commission, a powerful economic planner. It suggested the growth target in an article carried in the China Securities Journal.
  
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• BRIEF-Queensland Mining Corp updates on Renshaw's bankruptcy appeal

  12-12-2016 02:20
  
  * Court made orders on 9 December 2016 and dismissed the
  appeal
  
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• China Minmetals unit raises $2.3 billion for restructuring

  12-12-2016 02:06
  
  SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Kingray New Materials Science & Technology , an electric components firm controlled by the world's largest metals trader, said it had raised 15 billion yuan ($2.17 billion) to...
  
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• Asian energy firms rally with oil on output cut deal

  12-12-2016 01:47 via news.yahoo.com
  
  World oil prices surged Monday after non-OPEC producers struck a deal to cut output, while Europe's main stock markets were subdued before a key Fed meeting due this week. Indices in London, Frankfurt and Paris steadied after soaring last week when the European Central Bank decided to extended its massive quantitative easing (QE) stimulus to December 2017. At the same time, markets are on tenterhooks before a widely-expected interest rate hike from the US Federal Reserve on Wednesday.
  
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• British Chambers of Commerce nudges up 2017 growth forecast, cuts 2018

  12-12-2016 01:43 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The British Chambers of Commerce nudged up its forecast for economic growth next year but downgraded the outlook for 2018 due to inflation pressures and ongoing uncertainty as Britain prepares to leave the European Union, it said on Monday. The BCC modestly revised up its expectations for gross domestic product growth to 1.1 percent for 2017 from 1.0 percent after a stronger-than-expected economic performance following June's vote to quit the EU which means the economy is likely to grow 2.1 perc
  
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• China's economy should target 6.5 percent growth in 2017: think-tank

  12-12-2016 01:41 via news.yahoo.com
  
  China should set an economic growth target of around 6.5 percent for 2017, although it is very likely that the country will be able to exceed this level, the State Information Center said on Monday. The State Information Center, an official think tank affiliated with the National Development and Reform Commission, a powerful economic planner, suggested the 6.5 percent growth target in an article carried in the China Securities Journal. China's economy grew 6.7 percent in the third quarter from a
  
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