Finance news

• Highlights: The Trump presidency on February 3 at 5:25 P.M. EST/2225 GMT

  03-02-2017 23:49 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Trump orders reviews of major banking rules put in place after the 2008 financial crisis, drawing fire from Democrats who said his order lacked substance and squarely aligned him with Wall Street bankers. President of the Chicago Fed defends the sweeping Wall Street reforms that Trump wants to rethink, saying they help protect against a new financial crisis. Wealth managers from Wall Street to Wisconsin have spent the last six years lobbying against the retirement advice rule that Trump began ki
  
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• Telecom Italia reports 14 pct rise in core earnings

  03-02-2017 23:36 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Agnieszka Flak MILAN (Reuters) - Telecom Italia on Friday posted a better than expected 14.4 percent rise in full-year core earnings, helped by cost cuts and its domestic operations returning to growth. Italy's biggest phone group also said it would spend around 11 billion euros (9 billion pounds) in its home market over the next three years, with 5 billion euros of the total going on speeding up the installation of a nationwide ultrafast broadband network. Outlining its 2017-19 business plan
  
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• Trump ignites political fight over U.S. banking law reforms

  03-02-2017 23:29 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Sarah N. Lynch and Lisa Lambert WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday ordered reviews of major banking rules that were put in place after the 2008 financial crisis, drawing fire from Democrats who said his order lacked substance and squarely aligned him with Wall Street bankers. [.N] At a White House forum on Friday with U.S. business leaders, including JPMorgan Chase's CEO Jamie Dimon, Trump said his administration expects "to be cutting a lot out of Dodd-Frank." That
  
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• Wal-Mart CEO discusses economy, job creation at Trump meeting

  03-02-2017 22:44 via news.yahoo.com
  
  CHICAGO (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc Chief Executive Officer Doug McMillon said on Friday his meeting with President Donald Trump offered an important opportunity to discuss the economy and job creation.
  
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• Trump inherits a healthy job market, with solid hiring

  03-02-2017 22:37 via news.yahoo.com
  
  President Donald Trump has inherited a healthy-looking job market from his predecessor, with the U.S. economy registering a burst of hiring in January and an influx of Americans looking for work. U.S. ...
  
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• Banks, jobs data send Wall Street higher

  03-02-2017 22:37 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. stocks climbed on Friday, with the S&P 500 closing just short of a record high, boosted by gains in financial shares as President Donald Trump moved ahead with deregulation action and by a strong payrolls report. The S&P financial sector jumped 2 percent to score its best day since mid-November after Trump signed an executive order to scale back regulations in the industry that were implemented in the wake of the financial crisis, including the Dodd-Frank law. JP Morgan Chase shares
  
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• Connecticut fund manager linked to 'Hamilton' Ponzi case pleads guilty

  03-02-2017 22:29
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Connecticut hedge fund manager has pleaded guilty in a case linked to an alleged Ponzi scheme involving the resale of tickets for popular events, including smash Broadway...
  
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• Wall Street stands with two Fed-hike outlook for 2017 - Reuters poll

  03-02-2017 22:28 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Wall Street's top banks expect just two rate hikes from the Federal Reserve this year and see only modest risk to the U.S. central bank being pressed into a more aggressive pace of monetary policy tightening, a Reuters poll showed on Friday. The poll of primary dealers - the 23 banks that do business directly with the Fed - indicated none expect the next rate hike to occur before the second quarter, despite a report on Friday that employers added far more workers than expected in January. While
  
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• From Wall Street to Wisconsin, brokers cheer Trump's order

  03-02-2017 22:27 via news.yahoo.com
  
  With a swipe of his pen, U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday started killing off a retirement advice rule that wealth managers from Wall Street to Wisconsin have spent the last six years lobbying against. A landmark policy from the Obama era, the so-called fiduciary rule requires brokers and financial advisers to act in the best interest of retirement savers. Wall Street has argued it would harm consumers because it would raise compliance costs and therefore fees, and force them to get rid of
  
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• Wall Street gains as financials surge

  03-02-2017 22:04 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks climbed on Friday, with the S&P 500 closing just short of a record high, boosted by gains in financial shares as President Donald Trump moved ahead with deregulation action and by a strong payrolls report.
  
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• Trump may look to strengthen, not shred, Iran nuclear deal

  03-02-2017 21:56 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Jonathan Landay, Matt Spetalnick and Parisa Hafezi WASHINGTON/ANKARA (Reuters) - Instead of tearing up the Iran nuclear deal, the Trump administration is exploring how to tighten its enforcement and renegotiate key terms, but it may prove impossible to get other major powers and Iran to consider revising the agreement. Under the 2015 accord between Tehran and six world powers, Iran agreed to curb its nuclear program in exchange for relief from some U.S., European and U.N. economic sanctions.
  
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• U.S. charges fired Morgan Stanley wealth manager with theft

  03-02-2017 21:09
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former Morgan Stanley wealth manager in New Jersey has been criminally charged with stealing about $5 million from clients, and then going on a spending spree including private...
  
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• Wall Street powered higher by banks, jobs data

  03-02-2017 20:14 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Chuck Mikolajczak NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street stocks climbed on Friday, with the S&P 500 nearly topping its record high, boosted by gains in financial shares as President Donald Trump moved ahead with deregulation action and a strong payrolls report. The S&P financial sector jumped 1.9 percent and was on pace for its best day since mid-November after Trump signed an executive order to scale back regulations in the industry that were implemented in the wake of the financial crisis
  
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• Banks lead stock surge as investors hope for regulation cuts

  03-02-2017 20:14 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are climbing Friday after the government said employers stepped up their hiring last month, another positive sign for the economy. That's helping small-company stocks, which stand to benefit more than others from faster economic growth. Banks are jumping after President Donald Trump took a step to cut back financial industry regulations.
  
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• Highlights: The Trump presidency on February 3 at 1:45 P.M. EST/1845 GMT

  03-02-2017 19:49 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - Highlights of the day for U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on Friday: DODD-FRANK Trump will scale back major regulations that resulted from the financial crisis, directing a review of the Dodd-Frank Act and putting the brakes on a rule regarding retirement advice. President of the Chicago Fed defends the sweeping Wall Street reforms that Trump wants to rethink, saying they are helping protect against a new financial crisis. IRAN The United States ratchets up pressure on I
  
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• Canadian job growth revised up, part-time growth persists

  03-02-2017 19:12 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The Canadian economy created slightly more jobs than previously thought in 2016, with much of the growth coming from part-time employment, though economists expect some of that deterioration in the quality of jobs to dissipate this year. Canada added 229,000 jobs as of the end of 2016 compared with December the year before, according to revised data from Statistics Canada. "It definitely softens the picture of labor market strength," said Robert Kavcic, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets.
  
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• Canadians not feeling 'wealth effect' as stock market nears high

  03-02-2017 19:09 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Fergal Smith TORONTO (Reuters) - A rising domestic stock market will barely lift the confidence of ordinary Canadians, who are more concerned about job prospects in an economy threatened by a more protectionist United States, economists say. Canada's S&P/TSX Composite index was up 34 percent as of Friday afternoon from its January 2016 trough and last week it briefly came within 11 points of its all-time high at 15,685.13. Stock market gains usually add to financial security and boost peo
  
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• Fed's Evans defends Wall Street reforms, invokes mother-in-law

  03-02-2017 18:51 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Ann Saphir OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. (Reuters) - Chicago Federal Reserve President Charles Evans on Friday defended the sweeping Wall Street reforms that U.S. President Donald Trump wants to rethink, saying they are helping protect against a new financial crisis. “I think that many of the things that we’ve been able to achieve have been extremely helpful for better ensuring financial stability,” Evans told reporters after a fundraiser for Prairie State College in Olympia Fields,
  
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• Jobs data, bank stocks lift Wall Street higher

  03-02-2017 18:50 via news.yahoo.com
  
  "Continued strong job creation is tempered by the renewed sluggishness in wage growth, raising questions once again about the extent to which the functioning of the labor market has evolved," said Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic adviser at Allianz in Newport Beach, California. Bank stocks gained as President Donald Trump prepared to sign orders to scale back the Dodd-Frank reform law, enacted in the wake of the 2007-2009 financial crisis. The S&P 500 financial sector , already the best-perf
  
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• Botswana opposition groups unite to challenge ruling BDP

  03-02-2017 18:48 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Botswana's four main opposition parties launched a coalition on Friday to challenge the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) in 2019 elections. The BDP has been in power since 1966, but saw its share of the popular vote sink below 50 percent for the first time in elections in 2014, as it paid the price for sluggish economic growth and high youth unemployment. The four parties - the Botswana National Front, the Botswana Movement for Democracy, the Botswana Congress Party, and the Botswana Peopl
  
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• Trump moves to ease Wall Street regulations, review 'fiduciary rule' for retirement advisers

  03-02-2017 18:40 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. President Donald Trump signed two executive actions aimed at reforming financial services regulations on Friday. One was an executive order to review the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act regulating banks and the other was a presidential memorandum calling for review of a rule requiring retirement advisers to act in their clients' best interests. "We expect to be cutting a lot out of Dodd-Frank," Trump told the press before sitting down with top U.S. business leaders an
  
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• Trump to order 180-day delay of Labor Dept 'fiduciary' rule

  03-02-2017 18:37 via news.yahoo.com
  
  President Donald Trump on Friday will call on the U.S. Labor Department to delay for 180 days the implementation of its fiduciary duty rule requiring brokers offering retirement investment advice to put their clients' interest first, according to a draft memo seen by Reuters. The draft memo also calls for the Labor Department to conduct a legal and economic review of the rule. If the department then concludes the rule is out of step with the administration's policies, the draft memo says the dep
  
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• Your Money: Three big ideas to make it easier to save for college

  03-02-2017 18:36
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Surveys regularly find that Americans have no idea what a 529 college savings plan is, so a little tinkering under the hood is definitely needed.
  
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• Buyout firm Apollo Q4 earnings beat forecasts

  03-02-2017 18:16 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Asset manager Apollo Global Management LLC said on Friday it is monitoring details of the expected U.S. tax reform after its fourth-quarter earnings beat forecasts, as sturdy financial markets buoyed its buyout investments. A steady stock market and a recovery in the energy sector have helped to lift the performance of private equity managers, who took a drubbing a year ago when oil prices slumped below $30 a barrel. "We need to know a lot more about what the tax reform is going to look like dow
  
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• European shares end the week higher on positive earnings and U.S. jobs growth

  03-02-2017 18:01 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Danilo Masoni and Helen Reid LONDON (Reuters) - European shares ended a mixed week on a positive note on Friday, helped by well-received company earnings and buoyant economic data, while mining stocks were hit by weaker metal prices. The index ended the week down 0.6 percent this week as concerns about the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump's policies have halted a rally in risky assets.
  
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• RBS pays $85m to settle US interest-rate case

  03-02-2017 18:00
  
  Payment by taxpayer-owned bank follows similar penalties on Goldman Sachs, Citi and Barclays
  
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• Deutsche Bank to cut back on equity trading staff - sources

  03-02-2017 17:50 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Deutsche Bank is set to cut roughly one in five equity trading jobs as part of a scheme to cut costs across the globe, two people with knowledge of the matter said on Friday. The latest cuts, part of a drive announced roughly a year ago to reduce staff by 9,000 from just under 100,000 now, will result in a reduction of about 20 percent in equity trading, the people said. The Wall Street Journal said that 300 people would be affected by broader cuts that include paring back bond trading.
  
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• S&P closes in on record, boosted by banks and jobs data

  03-02-2017 17:41 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Wall Street extended gains on Friday, with the S&P 500 coming within a hair's breadth of its record high, following robust nonfarm payrolls data and as banks gained on expectations of simpler regulations. The U.S. Labor Department said 227,000 jobs were created in the public and private sectors in January, far higher than the 175,000 economists had expected, as construction firms and retailers ramped up hiring. "Continued strong job creation is tempered by the renewed sluggishness in wage gr
  
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• Hudson's Bay makes takeover approach for Macy's: source

  03-02-2017 17:05 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Shares of Macy's, which had a market value of about $9.4 billion as of Thursday's close, surged 7.3 percent to $32.96 in morning trading on Friday. Shares of Hudson's Bay, which also owns the Saks Fifth Avenue store, were up 2.1 percent at C$10.26. Hudson's Bay could raise equity and debt against its real estate portfolio, which could be worth $14 billion, to fund the deal, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news.
  
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• IHS Markit’s head of trading analytics departs

  03-02-2017 16:56
  
  Market structure expert says he will look for opportunities arising from the 'evolution of investment management'
  
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• Amazon shares dip as cloud revenue misses Street; analysts still upbeat

  03-02-2017 16:48 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Amazon.com Inc's shares fell as much as 4.2 percent on Friday after the company missed Wall Street targets for its closely watched cloud computing business. Shares fell to $804 in early trading, a day after the company reported lower-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue and said it would continue to spend heavily this year, as it looks to take control of its delivery chain and expand its video service around the world. At least six brokerages cut their price targets on the stock, bringing the me
  
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• Risks and rewards eyed as Trump sharpens Dodd-Frank axe

  03-02-2017 16:28
  
  Banks could find themselves billions of dollars better off, but industry onlookers are concerned about the impact on global rule-making
  
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• Pakistan kicks off $11.5 billion road-building plan

  03-02-2017 16:27 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday inaugurated one of the first highway sections of his government's planned $11.5 billion spending plan on roads intended to expand trade and speed up economic growth. Pakistan is embarking on the biggest road-building program in its history, with Sharif's office saying projects worth 1,200 billion Pakistan rupees ($11.5 billion) are under way. Pakistan's national network of highways now stretches to about 12,000 kms, according to the National Highwa
  
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• Activity at US services companies slipped in January

  03-02-2017 16:20 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The pace of growth for U.S. services companies slipped a tad in January, but employment measures improved in a positive for the economy. The Institute for Supply Management, a trade organization of purchasing ...
  
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• Jobs surge sends stocks higher

  03-02-2017 16:08 via news.yahoo.com
  
  European and US stock markets advanced Friday on data showing a surge in new job creation in the United States last month, but the dollar slumped as it didn't boost the case for a quick hike in interest rates. While the job creation rate was considerably higher than the average in recent months, "the bad news was that wage growth was virtually non-existent and the unemployment rate was higher than thought," said Neil Wilson, senior market advisor at ETX Capital. The US Federal Reserve on Wednesd
  
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• US stocks jump following strong January jobs report

  03-02-2017 16:07 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are climbing Friday morning after the government said employers stepped up their hiring last month, another positive sign for the U.S. economy.
  
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• Wall Street higher on strong jobs data; banks rise

  03-02-2017 15:55 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - Wall Street climbed higher on Friday, lifted by a much better-than-expected nonfarm payrolls data and as financial stocks gained on expectations of simpler bank regulations.
  
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• Trump to issue directives targeting Dodd-Frank, retirement advice rule

  03-02-2017 15:54 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Ayesha Rascoe and Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday will fire the opening salvo in his campaign to scale back major regulations that resulted from the financial crisis, directing a review of the Dodd-Frank Act and putting the brakes on a retirement advice rule. The executive order that Trump will sign on the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law will not overhaul the legislation, a senior official told reporters in a briefing late Thursday. Rather, i
  
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• Investment bankers heartened by strong start to 2017

  03-02-2017 15:52
  
  M&A and capital markets deal values had their best January for several years
  
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• Victory for May as court throws out EU single market challenge

  03-02-2017 15:47 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The British government welcomed the dismissal on Friday of a legal bid to force parliament to approve any attempt to take Britain out of the European Economic Area (EEA) and the single market as part of its exit from the European Union. The British Influence think-tank had argued that although last June's referendum had resulted in a "leave" vote, it had not been a mandate for the government of Prime Minister Theresa May to take Britain out of the single market. Campaigners for a so-called soft
  
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• Victory for May as UK court throws out EU single market challenge

  03-02-2017 15:44 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The British government welcomed the dismissal on Friday of a legal bid to force parliament to approve any attempt to take Britain out of the European Economic Area (EEA) and the single market as part of its exit from the European Union. The British Influence think-tank had argued that although last June's referendum had resulted in a "leave" vote, it had not been a mandate for the government of Prime Minister Theresa May to take Britain out of the single market. Campaigners for a so-called soft
  
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• Wells Fargo customers to get easier access to online finance tools

  03-02-2017 15:39
  
  (Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co reached an agreement with Intuit Inc to allow the bank's customers who use financial management applications such as Mint, TurboTax and QuickBooks to choose the...
  
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• US job creation surges in January

  03-02-2017 15:35 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Job creation surged in the US economy in January while the unemployment rate drifted marginally higher as more people joined the job hunt, the Labor Department reported Friday. The result far surpassed a consensus forecast for 170,000 new positions, although economists were warning in recent days there could be a big upside surprise based on other recent labor indicators. The new figures, which include the first 11 days of Donald Trump's presidency, largely confirm the health of the economy he i
  
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• Wall Street opens higher on strong jobs data; banks up

  03-02-2017 15:33 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - U.S. stocks opened higher on Friday as investors cheered a much better-than-expected nonfarm payrolls report and the possibility of simpler bank regulations drove up financial stocks. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 114.93 points, or 0.58 percent, at 19,999.84, the S&P 500 was up 9.88 points, or 0.433172 percent, at 2,290.73 and the Nasdaq composite was up 14.53 points, or 0.26 percent, at 5,650.73. (Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kall
  
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• U.S. job growth accelerates in January, but wages lag

  03-02-2017 15:24 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. job growth surged more than expected in January as construction firms and retailers ramped up hiring, which likely gives the Trump administration a head start as it seeks to boost the economy and employment. Federal Reserve officials view the labor market as being at or near full employment.
  
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• Populist on the Trail, Trump Pivots Toward the Banking Industry

  03-02-2017 15:00 via news.yahoo.com
  
  After a campaign spent railing against his opponent’s connections to Wall Street banks and promising to stand up for ordinary Americans against the moneyed interests holding them back, President Trump is preparing to take major regulatory action in the financial services field. On Friday, Trump is expected to sign an executive order launching an effort to roll back regulations associated with the Dodd-Frank Act, a post-financial crisis law that created mechanisms to prevent the sort of out
  
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• Has Donald Trump really inspired the US stock market to new heights?

  03-02-2017 14:59 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Investors have given Donald Trump the thumbs up, so far, but trader sentiment can't be guaranteed.
  
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• Wall Street to open higher on robust jobs data; banks up

  03-02-2017 14:52 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Wall Street looked set to rise at the open on Friday after a much better-than-expected nonfarm payrolls data underscored a strong labor market, while bank shares added to the potential upside. Bank stocks were up in premarket trading as President Donald Trump prepared to scale back the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law. Citigroup, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan were up more than 1.5 percent.
  
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• Bearish investors have increased appetite for gold

  03-02-2017 14:47
  
  Hedge fund manager Crispin Odey said this week that 'gold is one of the few things you should own'
  
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• Futures extend gains on strong jobs data

  03-02-2017 14:40 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures extended gains on Friday after better-than-expected payrolls data underscored a strong labor market, while big banks added to the upside.
  
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