Finance news

• Trump tax pledge pushes US stocks to record highs

  09-02-2017 23:48 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Wall Street stocks pushed to fresh records Thursday after US President Donald Trump promised to give details soon about his tax cut proposals. The blue-chip Dow, the broader S&P 500 and the tech-rich Nasdaq all jumped to fresh all-time peaks following the comments, each closing up 0.6 percent. The US rally was jump-started by Trump's comments at a meeting with airline executives, saying he would release details of a "phenomenal" tax cut plan in the next two or three weeks.
  
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• Expedia revenue rises more than expected as bookings increase

  09-02-2017 23:29 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - Online travel services company Expedia Inc reported a better-than-expected increase in fourth-quarter revenue, helped by higher gross bookings. However, the company's adjusted profit fell short of Wall Street estimates, due to higher expenses in the quarter. The company said gross bookings rose 8 percent to $16.10 billion in the quarter ended Dec. 31, primarily driven growth in Expedia.com and Hotels.com. Bellevue, Washington-based Expedia said domestic gross bookings increased 5 per
  
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• Strong company earnings drive US stock indexes to new highs

  09-02-2017 22:59 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Strong company earnings put investors in a buying mood Thursday, lifting the major U.S. stock indexes to record highs.
  
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• News Corp posts second loss in a row as ad sales decline

  09-02-2017 22:51 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - News Corp , the owner of Dow Jones Newswires and book publisher HarperCollins, posted its second quarterly loss in a row as it struggles to offset the decline in advertising income in its newspaper business. The company's news and information business, which includes newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal and the Times in London, has been suffering from lower advertisements as readers prefer the quick and free news on websites and mobile apps. Revenue in the business fell nearly
  
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• Wall Street, dollar, surge higher after Trump tax talk

  09-02-2017 22:48 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Hilary Russ NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street stocks surged to record highs on Thursday and the U.S. dollar and bond yields rose after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would release a "phenomenal" tax plan in the next few weeks. Investors have been waiting for details on Trump's election campaign pledge to stimulate economic growth with large-scale fiscal stimulus through infrastructure spending and tax cuts. The three main U.S. stock indexes ended in record territory as most sectors gained
  
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• TSX nears record as oil rallies, U.S. tax cut hopes revive

  09-02-2017 22:47 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Fergal Smith TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose on Thursday to its highest close in two weeks, nearing an all-time peak, as higher oil prices and the prospect of U.S. tax cuts helped trigger gains for heavyweight energy and financial shares. U.S. President Donald Trump said he would be releasing a "phenomenal" tax plan in the next few weeks, reviving bets for pro-growth policies from the new administration. "If he cuts corporate taxes ... it would obviously be very positive fo
  
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• Nasdaq plans venture arm to invest in financial technology: sources

  09-02-2017 22:45 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Anna Irrera NEW YORK (Reuters) - Exchange operator Nasdaq Inc plans to set up a venture capital arm to invest in financial technology companies that can help grow its own businesses, two people familiar with the plans told Reuters. The amount Nasdaq would invest could not be learned, though one person described it as "modest" relative to its broader earnings and capital plans. Nasdaq generated $2.3 billion in net revenue last year.
  
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• Keynote Zuma speech disrupted as lawmakers brawl, walk out

  09-02-2017 22:41 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Wendell Roelf CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - A session of South Africa's parliament convened for a keynote address by the president descended into chaos on Thursday as far-left lawmakers brawled with orderlies after interrupting the speech and the main opposition party walked out. Deputies from the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party fired questions at Jacob Zuma for more than an hour, forcing the president - whose authority has been tarnished by a series of scandals - to halt his state-of-the-natio
  
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• Trump tax talk lifts Wall Street to record high

  09-02-2017 22:33 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Wall Street's three main indexes surged to fresh record highs on Thursday after President Donald Trump said he would make a major tax announcement in a few weeks. "Lowering the overall tax burden on American business is big league," Trump said during a White House meeting with airline industry executives. The benchmark S&P 500 has rallied 7.9 percent since Trump's Nov. 8 election amid expectations he will usher in lower corporate taxes, but also reduce regulations and increase infrastructure
  
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• US STOCKS-Trump tax talk lifts Wall St to record high

  09-02-2017 22:24 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Wall Street's three main indexes surged to fresh record highs on Thursday after President Donald Trump said he would make a major tax announcement in a few weeks. "Lowering the overall tax burden ...
  
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• Trump teases tax reform within 'weeks'

  09-02-2017 22:16 via news.yahoo.com
  
  US President Donald Trump suggested that corporate tax reform could come within "weeks" Thursday, teasing a policy that could have significant implications for trade and the economy. Republicans in Congress have been mulling a package of corporate tax cuts that would be paid for by higher import tariffs. The Peterson Institute for International Economics has estimated that retaliatory tariffs from China, Europe, Mexico, Canada and Japan could be worth up to $220 billion.
  
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• More than 700 protest against government in Nigerian capital

  09-02-2017 21:46 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Abraham Terngu ABUJA (Reuters) - More than 700 people took to the streets in the Nigerian capital Abuja on Thursday to protest against the government's economic policy in a sign of mounting public anger in the oil producer grappling with recession. Africa's largest economy is mired in its first recession for 25 years as low oil prices have hammered public finances and foreign reserves while driving up annual inflation to almost 20 percent. President Muhammadu Buhari was elected in 2015 on ple
  
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• Dollar gains broadly after Trump says to announce major tax plan

  09-02-2017 21:08 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Dion Rabouin NEW YORK (Reuters) - The dollar rose across the board on Thursday, posting its best one-day gain against the yen in three weeks, after comments from U.S. President Donald Trump that he would make a major announcement on a "phenomenal" tax plan in the next few weeks. Investors have been waiting impatiently for details on Trump's campaign trail pledges to inject the U.S. economy with large-scale fiscal stimulus through additional spending and tax cuts.
  
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• Republican Hensarling plans to ease Wall Street rules: memo

  09-02-2017 21:07 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Patrick Rucker and Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican leader of the House Financial Services Committee plans to scale back banking reforms, curb the consumer finance agency and ease regulations on financial institutions and companies looking to raise capital, according to a proposal seen by Reuters on Thursday. In a four-page memo on the legislation he intends to introduce, Texas Representative Jeb Hensarling made a slew of proposals, including one that Wall Street banks' "s
  
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• Thomson Reuters' earnings beat forecasts but raise questions about coming quarters

  09-02-2017 21:05 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Thomson Reuters Corp reported higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Thursday but its revenue missed forecasts and investors showed concern that one gauge of future demand from financial clients declined for the first time in almost three years. The news and information company's Financial & Risk unit, its biggest, showed cancellations outpacing sales for the first time in 11 quarters, helping push the stock down 3.8 percent. Revenue rose 1 percent to $1.5 billion in Financial & Risk,
  
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• U.S. dollar, bond yields rise after Trump promises tax plan

  09-02-2017 21:03 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Hilary Russ NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar and bond yields rose on Thursday after comments from President Donald Trump that he would be releasing his "phenomenal" tax plan in the next few weeks. Investors have been waiting for details on Trump's election campaign pledge to stimulate economic growth with large-scale fiscal stimulus through infrastructure spending and tax cuts. In a meeting with airline executives at which Trump talked about the need to modernize the U.S. air traffic cont
  
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• Wall Street rises to records as Trump ignites tax-cut hopes

  09-02-2017 21:00 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Wall Street's three main indexes hit record highs on Thursday after President Donald Trump said he would make a major tax announcement in a few weeks. "Lowering the overall tax burden on American business is big league," Trump said during a White House meeting with airline industry executives. U.S. stocks have rallied since Trump's Nov. 8 election amid expectations he will not only usher in lower corporate taxes, but also reduced regulations and increased infrastructure spending.
  
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• US STOCKS-Wall St rises to records as Trump ignites tax-cut hopes

  09-02-2017 20:43 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Wall Street's three main indexes hit record highs on Thursday after President Donald Trump said he would make a major tax announcement in a few weeks. "Lowering the overall tax burden on American ...
  
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• Trump to meet Canada's PM amid tensions over trade, immigration

  09-02-2017 20:26 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By David Ljunggren OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will hold his first talks with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday amid tensions over whether the administration plans protectionist measures that could cripple Canada's economy. The two leaders also have differing views about immigration from predominantly Muslim nations and Trump is likely to press his Canadian counterpart to ramp up defense spending and thereby help shore up NATO. Although the progressive 45-year-o
  
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• Trump tax plan to help businesses, working Americans: White House

  09-02-2017 20:25 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's forthcoming tax reform plan will be comprehensive and aims to give companies incentives to keep jobs in the United States and help spur American economic growth, the White House said on Thursday. Speaking to reporters at a daily press briefing, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Trump's plan will aim to provide tax relief to middle-class Americans. He said more details will come when the plan is released in coming weeks. ...
  
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• Hedging demand perks up even as volatility craters

  09-02-2017 20:22 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Soaring U.S. share prices and plunging market volatility measures may paint a picture of optimism, but there are signs in the equity options market that investors have started to question how long this goldilocks period can last. The post-election share rally has quieted the CBOE Volatility Index , the most the widely followed barometer of expected near-term stock market gyrations. Away from this view of the market, however, investors have increased bets over the last two weeks with more protect
  
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• Brawl in South Africa's parliament as far-left lawmakers ejected

  09-02-2017 20:05 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Lawmakers of South Africa's far-left Economic Freedom Fighters party brawled with parliamentary orderlies as they were ejected from the chamber for interrupting President Jacob Zuma's state-of-the-nation speech on Thursday. Scuffling spilled over into the precincts of the building, Reuters reporters saw, as the lawmakers, clad in their trademark red overalls, continued to push the orderlies ejecting them on the Speaker's orders. Police fired stun grenades outside to disperse supporters of the EF
  
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• Twitter advertising revenue falls, shares drop more than 10 percent

  09-02-2017 19:49 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Twitter Inc posted the slowest revenue growth since it went public four years ago, sending shares down more than 10 percent on Thursday on fears that rivals Snapchat and Facebook Inc were winning the war for advertising. Revenue from advertising fell from a year ago and a 4.0 percent year-on-year rise in users to 319 million fell short of Wall Street forecasts as well. The election of prolific tweeter Donald Trump as U.S. president failed to produce a "Trump Bump" in Twitter's results, and Twitt
  
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• Egypt's AMOC to make secondary share offering in Cairo and offer GDRs in London

  09-02-2017 19:46 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Ehab Farouk and Abdel Rahman Adel ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (Reuters) - Egypt's Alexandria Mineral Oils Co (AMOC) plans a secondary offering of 10-20 percent of its shares on the Cairo stock market and will also issue 10 percent as global depositary receipts in London, its chairman said. The oil company first floated on the Cairo exchange in 2005 and around 20 percent of its shares are currently listed there. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's office said in January that Egypt plans to list shares in s
  
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• Brawl in South Africa's parliament as opposition EFF lawmakers ejected

  09-02-2017 19:30 via news.yahoo.com
  
  CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South African lawmakers of the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters party brawled with parliamentary orderlies as they were ejected from the chamber for interrupting President Jacob Zuma's state-of-the-nation speech on Thursday. Scuffling spilled over into the precincts of the building, Reuters reporters saw, as the lawmakers, clad in their trademark red overalls, continued to push the orderlies ejecting them on the Speaker's orders. Police fired stun grenades outside to di
  
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• Wall Street hits record high as Trump promises tax plan soon

  09-02-2017 19:23 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - Wall Street's three main indexes hit record intraday highs on Thursday after President Donald Trump said he would make a "phenomenal" tax announcement over the next two or three weeks.
  
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• South African opposition lawmakers interrupt Zuma speech

  09-02-2017 19:09 via news.yahoo.com
  
  CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Members of the South Africa's Economic Freedom Fighters opposition party repeatedly interrupted President Jacob Zuma's state-of-the-nation speech in parliament on Thursday, raising points of order and saying he was not fit to hold office. The 74-year-old leader started speaking, then sat down as members of the far-left party kept up the questions for about an hour. Zuma's popularity has waned after a series of scandals - an anti-corruption watchdog called for a judicial inq
  
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• U.S. dollar and bond yields rise after Trump promises tax plan soon

  09-02-2017 18:51 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Hilary Russ NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar and bond yields rose on Thursday after comments from President Donald Trump that he would be releasing his "phenomenal" tax plan in the next few weeks. Investors have been waiting for details on Trump's election campaign pledge to stimulate economic growth with large-scale fiscal stimulus through infrastructure spending and tax cuts. In a meeting with airline executives at which Trump talked about the need to modernize the U.S. air traffic cont
  
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• AXA shuffles investment leaders

  09-02-2017 18:48
  
  Fund managers announces new leaders of its real asset and Rosenberg equities brands
  
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• Venezuela falls behind on oil-for-loan deals with China, Russia

  09-02-2017 18:29 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Marianna Parraga and Brian Ellsworth HOUSTON/CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's state-run oil company, PDVSA, has fallen months behind on shipments of crude and fuel under oil-for-loan deals with China and Russia, according to internal company documents reviewed by Reuters. The delayed shipments to such crucial political allies and trading partners - which together have extended Venezuela at least $55 billion (£43.9 billion) in credit - provide new insight into PDVSA's operational failures
  
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• Bats reports profit increase ahead of CBOE merger

  09-02-2017 18:11
  
  Merger with the operator of the Chicago Board Options Exchange is expected to complete by the end of the first quarter
  
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• BlackRock’s Larry Fink sees ‘dark shadows’ in markets

  09-02-2017 17:42
  
  High consumer confidence and stock prices ‘horrifying’, says CEO of the world's largest fund manager
  
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• Bank, energy stocks lift Wall Street indexes to record highs

  09-02-2017 17:41 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Wall Street's three main indexes hit record highs on Thursday, amid gains across sectors, led by financial and energy stocks. The S&P 500 financial index rose 1.06 percent and was on track to snap a three-day losing streak after President Donald Trump said he would make a tax announcement in a few weeks. The S&P 500 energy sector was up 1.05 percent.
  
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• Bank, energy stocks lift Wall St indexes to record highs

  09-02-2017 17:36 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Wall Street's three main indexes hit record highs on Thursday, amid gains across sectors, led by financial and energy stocks. The S&P 500 financial index rose 1.06 percent and was on track to snap a three-day losing streak after President Donald Trump said he would make a tax announcement in a few weeks. The S&P 500 energy sector was up 1.05 percent.
  
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• New inflation measures not the only focus: Bank of Canada's Schembri

  09-02-2017 17:33 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Mina Mohit LONDON, Ontario (Reuters) - - The divergence of the three measures of core inflation used by the Bank of Canada is not a weakness, but rather validates the central bank's decision to use all three to measure price pressures in the economy, Deputy Governor Lawrence Schembri said on Thursday. In a speech outlining the strengths and weaknesses of the bank's new inflation measures, Schembri said the three new consumer price index measures were not the only thing policymakers consider w
  
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• Standard Life raps Thomas Cook on pay

  09-02-2017 17:25
  
  Vote comes just weeks after the body representing UK pension schemes urged fund managers to challenge 'provocative' levels of executive pay
  
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• Global stocks gain as sturdy earnings offset political worry

  09-02-2017 17:09 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Hilary Russ NEW YORK (Reuters) - Key world stock indexes climbed on Thursday, while yields fell on some of the euro zone's battered low-rated bonds as investors took inspiration from corporate earnings and put aside for now the political risks that have dominated markets this week. Investors had in recent weeks been pondering the potential impact of the protectionist policies of U.S. President Donald Trump, an unpredictable European electoral future and a potential winding-down of central ban
  
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• Stocks gain as sturdy earnings offset political worry

  09-02-2017 17:07 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Key world stock indexes climbed on Thursday, while yields fell on some of the euro zone's battered low-rated bonds as investors took inspiration from corporate earnings and put aside for now the political risks that have dominated markets this week. Investors had in recent weeks been pondering the potential impact of the protectionist policies of U.S. President Donald Trump, an unpredictable European electoral future and a potential winding-down of central bank stimulus that has lifted risky ass
  
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• GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks gain as sturdy earnings offset political worry

  09-02-2017 17:05 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Key world stock indexes climbed on Thursday, while yields fell on some of the euro zone's battered low-rated bonds as investors took inspiration from corporate earnings and put aside for now the political ...
  
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• European stocks creep higher amid uncertain outlook

  09-02-2017 17:00 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Europe's main stock markets rose Thursday in tentative trading as growing concerns over Greece and looming elections in France and Germany gnawed at sentiment. "European markets have traded sideways... as investors look for direction in an uncertain environment," noted CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.
  
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• Bullard: uncertainty over Trump policies won't be resolved by March meeting

  09-02-2017 16:59 via news.yahoo.com
  
  St. Louis (Reuters) - Uncertainty over how the new Trump administration will effect the economy won't be resolved in time to justify an interest rate increase at the Federal Reserve's March meeting, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said on Thursday.
  
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• Dollar jumps as Trump announces forthcoming 'phenomenal' tax plan

  09-02-2017 16:56 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Dion Rabouin NEW YORK (Reuters) - The dollar surged more than 1 percent against the yen and rose broadly on Thursday after comments from U.S. President Donald Trump that he would be releasing his "phenomenal" tax plan in the next few weeks. Investors have been waiting impatiently for details on Trump's campaign trail pledges to inject the U.S. economy with large-scale fiscal stimulus through additional spending and tax cuts. Trump said his administration will be announcing "something phenomen
  
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• Enel confirms targets after core earnings beat guidance

  09-02-2017 16:49 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Italy's biggest utility Enel confirmed its business plan targets on Thursday after core earnings in 2016 beat company guidance, lifted by firmer margins in Latin America, Italy and Spain. In preliminary results, Enel said ordinary earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were 15.2 billion euros (13 billion pounds), above a target of 15 billion euros given in November. "The solid results attained in 2016 also allow us to confirm our group plan targets," CEO Francesco
  
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• Thomson Reuters reports profit rise, but revenue miss hits stock

  09-02-2017 16:41 via news.yahoo.com
  
  News and information company Thomson Reuters Corp reported higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Thursday but missed expectations on revenue and its stock opened down more than 2 percent. A key barometer of future demand in Thomson Reuters' largest business, Financial & Risk, showed its first decline in years. Total company revenue of $2.86 billion was slightly below Wall Street estimates of $2.89 billion.
  
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• U.S. jobless claims near 43-year low; wholesale inventories surge

  09-02-2017 16:40 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week to near a 43-year low, amid a further tightening of the labor market that could eventually spur faster wage growth. Other data on Thursday showed inventories at wholesalers surged in December for a second straight month and sales recorded their biggest increase since 2011, signs of confidence in the economy as domestic demand strengthens. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped by 12,000 to a seas
  
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• Bank of England names markets and banking head

  09-02-2017 16:39
  
  New appointee will be a prominent regulatory figure in the City as the UK prepares to leave the EU
  
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• Average US 30-year mortgage rate slips to 4.17 percent

  09-02-2017 16:33 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Long-term US mortgage rates eased slightly this week. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac says the rate on 30-year fixed-rate loans slipped to an average 4.17 percent from 4.19 percent last week. That was still ...
  
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• BGC moves closer to IPO of real estate services arm

  09-02-2017 16:30
  
  The New York-based broker reported higher revenues in 2016
  
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• More than 700 stage anti-government protest in Nigerian capital

  09-02-2017 16:23 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Abraham Terngu ABUJA (Reuters) - More than 700 people took to the streets in the Nigerian capital Abuja on Thursday to protest against the government's economic policy in a sign of mounting public anger in the oil producer grappling with recession. Africa's largest economy is mired in its first recession for 25 years as low oil prices have hammered public finances and foreign reserves while driving up annual inflation to almost 20 percent. President Muhammadu Buhari was elected in 2015 on ple
  
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• Oil prices prop up Wall Street; Nasdaq hits record high

  09-02-2017 16:05 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Thursday, with the Nasdaq hitting a record high, helped by higher oil prices.
  
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