Finance news

• Buy-to-let lender plots float after Brexit fears halted sale

  06-02-2017 23:41 via news.yahoo.com
  
  A buy-to-let mortgage lender which cancelled a £400m auction last year because of a row over Brexit has begun drawing up plans to list on the London stock market. Sky News has learnt that Charter Court Financial Services, the owner of the Exact and Precise (Shenzhen: 300442.SZ - news) mortgage brands, has drafted in investment bankers to work on an initial public offering later this year. Insiders said on Monday that Charter Court, which is owned by the hedge fund Elliott Associates, had a
  
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• Fed's Harker says March 'should be considered' for next rate hike

  06-02-2017 23:34 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker on Monday said a interest-rate hike should be on the table at the U.S. central bank's next meeting, in March. "I still am supportive of three rate hikes this year, of course with a major caveat depending on how the economy evolves and policy, fiscal policy evolves," Harker told reporters after a speech on regulatory policy for fintech firms. "I think March should be considered as a potential for another 25-basis point increase." Harker v
  
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• Canadian dollar weaker as oil slips; trade, jobs data eyed

  06-02-2017 23:18 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Alastair Sharp TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart on Monday as oil prices fell and bond yields settled at a two-week low, with investors awaiting December trade data due on Tuesday and jobs numbers later in the week for signs of economic growth. The loonie, as Canada's currency is popularly known, had gained for two straight weeks on a combination of favorable economic data and greenback weakness.
  
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• Germany not 'exploiting' euro, says S&P

  06-02-2017 23:03 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Germany has not exploited the weak euro for its own benefit, according to Standard & Poor’s. The rating agency said accusations by Donald Trump’s top trade adviser that Berlin was using the “grossly undervalued” single currency to gain a competitive advantage over the US and the rest of the EU were “inaccurate”. Peter Navarro, who heads the US President’s new National Trade Council, sparked controversy last week after he described the euro as an &ldq
  
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• US stocks close lower, snap S&P 500's 3-day winning streak

  06-02-2017 22:55 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Energy companies led U.S. stocks slightly lower Monday as the price of crude oil declined, snapping a three-day winning streak for the Standard & Poor's 500 index.
  
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• TSX slips as energy stocks fall, gold miners shine

  06-02-2017 22:52 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Alastair Sharp TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index ended lower on Monday, as heavyweight energy stocks weighed with a fall in oil prices, while gold miners caught a boost from bullion jumping to its highest in nearly three months on political uncertainty. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index settled down 19.45 points, or 0.13 percent, at 15,456.94, with seven of its 10 main groups lower. "Uncertainty is still the rule of the day," said Bryden Teich, portfolio man
  
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• Wall Street slips as energy shares, oil prices drop

  06-02-2017 22:31 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - U.S. stocks slipped on Monday, led by the energy sector as oil prices dropped, while investors awaited the next run of major earnings reports and sought further clarity on President Donald Trump's economic policies.
  
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• Energy shares lead Wall Street lower

  06-02-2017 21:02 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Monday, led lower by the energy sector as oil prices slumped, amid a pause in quarterly earnings reports and uncertainty over President Donald Trump's economic policies.
  
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• Credit conditions for most business lending unchanged in fourth quarter : Fed

  06-02-2017 20:24 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Loan officers at U.S. banks reported largely unchanged lending standards and slightly looser terms for business loans in the last three months of 2016, the Federal Reserve reported on Monday in a quarterly survey. About a third of the 69 institutions surveyed, however, said they had "tightened somewhat" the standards for commercial real estate construction and land development loans, and close to a fifth had tightened standards on loans secured by multifamily properties. The survey results indic
  
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• At Hasbro, the glass slipper is a perfect fit

  06-02-2017 19:43 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Hasbro's bet on Disney is paying off. The toy maker's shares hit an all-time high Monday as it posted record annual revenue and breezed past Wall Street expectations after pulling off a coup at the castle. ...
  
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• Canada govt advisors call for deeper trade ties, start-up support

  06-02-2017 19:20 via news.yahoo.com
  
  A Canadian government advisory group on Monday released a number of recommendations to boost the economy, including strengthening the country's trade links and establishing funds to help smaller companies raise capital in order to scale up. The group also advised taking a targeted sector approach to improving growth, highlighting the agriculture and food industry as one that could be better developed to its full potential. Noting the anti-trade sentiment that has been increasing around the world
  
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• ECB's Villeroy says exiting the euro would raise French debt costs

  06-02-2017 19:17 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Ditching the euro to return to the franc would increase French borrowing costs, European Central Bank policymaker Francois Villeroy de Galhau warned in a column for Le Figaro published on Monday. "The idea of leaving the euro and devaluing our currency to run up bigger deficits overlooks the fact that financing French debt would cost significantly more," Villeroy said, predicting that borrowing costs could exceed 30 billion euros. Villeroy, who also heads the Bank of France, defended the single
  
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• Wall Street slips as investors seek fresh catalysts

  06-02-2017 19:01 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Markets rallied sharply after Trump's election victory in November, riding on hopes that his plans including simpler regulations, higher infrastructure spending and tax cuts will boost the economy. Hasbro jumped as much as 16.6 percent to a record high of $96.34 after the toymaker's quarterly results beat expectations.
  
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• Canada government advisors call for stronger trade ties, skills growth

  06-02-2017 18:03 via news.yahoo.com
  
  A Canadian government advisory group on Monday released a number of recommendations to boost the economy, including strengthening the country's trade links and helping to retool workers' skills to deal with a changing labor market. The group also advised taking a targeted sector approach to improving growth, highlighting the agriculture and food industry as one that could be better developed to its full potential. The proposals could be incorporated into the government's next budget, which is ex
  
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• Stocks, euro dip amid political, economic uncertainty

  06-02-2017 17:59 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The euro fell to a one-week low against the dollar on Monday on uncertainty ahead of several impending European elections, while European and U.S. stock markets dipped ahead of a heavy week of corporate results. Concerns over French politics ahead of the presidential vote in April, as well as other elections in Europe later in the year, dented the euro. "Political risk is serving to dampen the euro after last week's stumble from the $1.08 area," said Shaun Osborne, chief FX strategist, at Scotia
  
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• Inflation won't lead ECB to change course soon: Draghi

  06-02-2017 17:57 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Spiking inflation will not prompt the European Central Bank to end its ultra-loose monetary policy sooner than planned, its president Mario Draghi said Monday. "Support from our monetary policy measures is still needed" to drive inflation towards the ECB's target of just below 2.0 percent, Draghi told the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee at a quarterly appearance in Brussels.
  
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• Russia rating to stay in junk for 'for a year or two at least' - S&P

  06-02-2017 17:47 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Russia's sovereign credit rating will likely remain in junk territory for "a year or two at least", the S&P Global agency said on Monday. "We think the rating will remain for a year or two, at least, in the non-investment grade world," Moritz Kraemer, S&P's head of sovereign ratings, told Reuters. "Russia has the long-entrenched problem of a lack of economic dynamism and diversification.
  
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• Wall Street little changed as investors seek fresh catalysts

  06-02-2017 17:29 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Markets rallied sharply after Trump's election victory in November, riding on hopes that his plans including simpler regulations, higher infrastructure spending and tax cuts will boost the economy. Trump's agenda presents risks as tax cuts and infrastructure funding may boost growth, but restrictions on trade and immigration could offset their effect, Goldman Sachs economist Alec Phillips said in a note. The Nasdaq Composite was down 6.59 points, or 0.12 percent, at 5,660.18.
  
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• European Central Bank head Draghi says stimulus still needed

  06-02-2017 17:16 via news.yahoo.com
  
  FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The head of the European Central Bank says that its monetary stimulus efforts are still very much needed to support the continent's economic recovery — despite the recent spike in inflation in the countries that use the euro currency.
  
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• Botswana's growth to almost double as commodity sales rebound

  06-02-2017 17:02 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Botswana's economy will grow by nearly double in 2017 compared to the previous year as Africa's largest exporter of diamonds shakes off a slump in global commodity prices and electricity shortages. In a budget speech to parliament on Monday, Finance Minister Kenneth Matambo said the economy would grow by an estimated 4.2 percent in 2017 compared with 2.9 percent growth in 2016. "The optimistic outlook is based on the anticipated slight improvement in the mining sector and positive growth prospec
  
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• Bill Gross: Central bankers may be trapped in QE forever

  06-02-2017 16:59
  
  Janus Capital manager's warning comes as ECB president says he is 'prepared' for further QE if needed
  
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• Donald Trump's Wall Street deregulation slammed as 'the last thing we need' by ECB head Mario Draghi

  06-02-2017 16:36 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Donald Trump’s roll-back of Wall Street regulation is “very worrisome” and “the last thing we need” the President of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, has warned. Giving evidence to the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs on Monday, Mr Draghi was asked about the American President’s assault on the US post-crisis Dodd-Frank legislation, which had curbed the risk-taking of US banks, raised their capital requirements and
  
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• Global stocks head lower on US political uncertainty

  06-02-2017 16:31 via news.yahoo.com
  
  London (AFP) - World stock markets fell on Monday, led by a weaker opening on Wall Street as investors waited to see what policies US President Donald Trump might come out with this week, traders said.
  
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• Wall Street opens lower as political uncertainty weighs

  06-02-2017 15:55 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. stocks opened lower on Monday as investors sought fresh catalysts after a strong jobs report last week, while uncertainty over President Donald Trump's policies continued to weigh. Investors are wary about Trump's focus on isolationist policies including travel restrictions to the United States. "The market is looking for direction from the White House on policy," said Albert Brenner, director of asset allocation strategy at People's United Wealth Management in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
  
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• Canadian dollar weaker as oil slips; trade data eyed

  06-02-2017 15:50 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart on Monday as oil prices slipped and bond yields set a one-week low, with investors awaiting December trade data due on Tuesday for signs of momentum in a nascent export revival. The loonie, as Canada's currency is colloquially known, has gained for two straight weeks on a combination of favorable economic data and greenback weakness. At 8:47 a.m. ET (1347 GMT), the Canadian dollar was trading at C$1.3073 to the greenback, or 76.49 U.S. ce
  
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• EU falls short in applying air pollution, waste laws: Commission

  06-02-2017 15:15 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - European Union nations could save 50 billion euros ($53.68 billion) a year by fully carrying out existing environmental laws in areas such as air pollution and waste, the European Commission said on Monday. Twenty-three of the 28 member states were breaching air pollution quality standards, according to the Commission's Environmental Implementation Review, which it said was a new way to help track and compare environmental performance. Better health would be the main economic benefit
  
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• Stock-picking hedge funds left desperately seeking alpha

  06-02-2017 15:08
  Quantitative easing by central banks has made it harder to pick winners from losers in the stock markets, managers say
  
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• Metric Capital races to €850m fund limit

  06-02-2017 14:36
  Rapid fundraising comes amid strong investor appetite for private debt
  
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• Investors peer through policy fog - dollar up, stocks dip

  06-02-2017 14:35 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Nigel Stephenson LONDON (Reuters) - The dollar edged higher on Monday but European stocks fell as investors sought clarity in the face of a host of economic and political uncertainties. Wall Street looked set to open lower at the beginning of a heavy week of corporate earnings in Europe and the United States. In the currency market, the question was how Friday's U.S. labour market data will affect the pace of Federal Reserve interest rate rises.
  
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• Cool the Brexit reports – it’s time the City got serious

  06-02-2017 14:25
  
  Not a day seems to pass without another specially-commissioned document on the impact of Brexit. But the City needs to beware mixed messages
  
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• Party on K Street? Why Fat Times May Be Back for Lobbyists

  06-02-2017 14:15 via news.yahoo.com
  
  K Street, the euphemism for influence peddlers in Washington, is the center of the swamp that President Trump said he would drain. Trump's litany of executive orders could bring the fat times back for the army of former government officials, lawyers, and operatives who represent corporate America, Wall Street, Big Pharma, agriculture interests and any other group with an agenda. There was a significant drop last year in the amount of money spent on lobbying -- $3.1 billion, the smallest number s
  
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• Government to securitise £4bn of student loans

  06-02-2017 14:12
  UK Chancellor had said in his Autumn Statement that the first sale would be early this year
  
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• Beset by economic, political woes, Nigerians protest for change

  06-02-2017 13:59 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Angela Ukomadu LAGOS (Reuters) - Hundreds of Nigerians called for a change of government on Monday as they marched through the streets of Lagos, reflecting mounting public anger over a sputtering economy and political tensions blamed on an absentee president. In a rare show of public dissent against the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, more than 500 demonstrators halted traffic in the commercial capital, flanked by a heavy police escort as a truck blasted out protest songs. Buhar
  
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• Tepid start to the week in markets as Trump remains in focus

  06-02-2017 13:46 via news.yahoo.com
  
  LONDON (AP) — European stock markets traded in narrow ranges Monday amid a dearth of economic data and as investors gauged the fallout from President Donald Trump's ban on refugees and travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States.
  
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• Botswana's economy to grow at 4.2 percent in 2017: finmin

  06-02-2017 13:36 via news.yahoo.com
  
  GABORONE (Reuters) - Botswana's economy will grow at 4.2 percent in 2017 compared with an estimated expansion of 2.9 percent in 2016, Finance Minister Kenneth Matambo said in a budget speech on Monday. The southern African nation has been hobbled by electricity shortages and the global downturn in commodity prices, with the economy contracting 0.8 percent quarter-on-quarter in the three months to September. (Reporting by Johannesburg newsroom; Editing by James Macharia)
  
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• Iran's missile test 'not a message' to Trump

  06-02-2017 12:57 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Iran said on Monday a recent missile trial launch was not intended to send a message to new U.S. President Donald Trump and to test him, since after a series of policy statements Iranian officials already "know him quite well". Iran test-fired a new ballistic missile last week, prompting Washington to impose some new sanctions on Tehran. Trump tweeted that Tehran, which has cut back its nuclear program under a 2015 deal with world powers easing economic sanctions, was "playing with fire".
  
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• Global stock markets diverge

  06-02-2017 12:55 via news.yahoo.com
  
  London (AFP) - World stock markets diverged on Monday as investors tracked a record on Wall Street fuelled by a better-than-expected jump in US jobs.
  
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• Portugal is cautioned over high debt, low investment

  06-02-2017 12:54 via news.yahoo.com
  
  LISBON, Portugal (AP) — The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is warning Portugal that its fragile banks and high national debt make it especially vulnerable to international events, such as a slump in world trade or financial difficulties in other eurozone countries.
  
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• SVM’s McLean: 2017 could be turning point for exec pay

  06-02-2017 12:19
  
  The 2014 shareholder revolt had little lasting effect, but Colin McLean thinks this time will be different
  
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• Wealth management rivals team up to promote active model

  06-02-2017 12:12
  The formation of the alliance comes against a backdrop of increased interest in low-cost index funds
  
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• The fearsome City merger that will never happen

  06-02-2017 12:07
  
  Why Lazard, STJ Advisors and Marlborough Partners should consider tying the knot, but won’t
  
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• Morocco threatens to cut EU ties if farm deal founders

  06-02-2017 12:07 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - Morocco threatened on Monday to end economic cooperation with the European Union if the bloc did not honour a farming deal, without giving details on the pact or why it might be at risk. The agriculture ministry issued a statement saying the EU should resist any attempts to block Moroccan products entering the EU market. It came a month after the European Court of Justice ruled that deals involving trade of agricultural products, processed agricultural products and fisheries&nbs
  
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• JP Morgan’s private equity chiefs on Brexit, M&A and China

  06-02-2017 11:53
  
  A year after taking charge, the bankers running JP Morgan's financial sponsors team discuss how they adapted in a tricky 2016
  
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• Dublin is open but there won’t be room for everyone after Brexit

  06-02-2017 11:50
  
  The Irish capital hopes to lure companies and bankers from London - but it may not be able to accommodate everyone
  
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• European shares supported by good earnings updates; Ryanair dips

  06-02-2017 11:48 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Danilo Masoni MILAN (Reuters) - European shares edged up in choppy trade on Monday with better- than-expected corporate results helping support the market, but a disappointing update at Ryanair weighed on shares in the budget airline. London-listed Randgold Resources rose 3.5 percent, among the top gainers on the STOXX, after the gold miner posted a 76 percent rise in fourth-quarter profit and said it would raise its annual dividend. Shares in Telecom Italia rose 4 percent after Italy's bigge
  
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• Clarity on Fed policy sought - stocks, dollar up in meantime

  06-02-2017 11:01 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Investors sought clarity on Monday in the face of a host of economic and political uncertainties but gave the benefit of the doubt to shares and the dollar, lifting both. In the currency market, the question was how Friday's U.S. labor market data will affect the pace of Federal Reserve interest rate rises. French government bonds, meanwhile, underperformed German benchmarks with a gap not seen in four years after French far-right party leader Marine Le Pen launched her bid for the presidency wi
  
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• Tanzania says needs $46 billion in power investment by 2040

  06-02-2017 10:40 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Fumbuka Ng'wanakilala DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Tanzania said on Monday it needs $46.2 billion in investment over the next 20 years to revamp ageing energy infrastructure and meet soaring demand for electricity.     Investors have long complained that a lack of reliable power is an obstacle to doing business in east Africa's second biggest economy.     A power system master plan released on Monday by the country's energy ministry said 70 per cent of capital spend
  
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• FTSE 100 flat after hitting two-week high

  06-02-2017 10:31
  Randgold Resources climbs to the top of the London benchmark
  
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• South Africa to publish contested mining charter by March: minister

  06-02-2017 10:30 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Wendell Roelf CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa will publish its revised Mining Charter by next month, a minister said on Monday, bringing closer legislation meant to redress racial economic inequality but which has concerned companies struggling with lower commodity prices. A separate Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act will be finalised by June, proposing to give the state a 20 percent free stake in new energy projects and the ability to buy further shares. The Mining Charter w
  
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• Brexit already having negative impact on UK business - survey

  06-02-2017 10:23 via news.yahoo.com
  
  More than half of British business leaders believe the vote to leave the European Union has had a negative impact on their companies but most firms are confident they can survive the change, according to a survey on Monday. Britain's economy has performed more strongly than expected since the Brexit vote last June, but an Ipsos Mori survey of more than 100 of the country's top 500 firms found that 58 percent felt the vote to leave had taken a toll. According to the survey, more than two thirds o
  
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