| Wall Street rallies after EU agreement Posted: 29 Jun 2012 07:43 AM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street rallied on Friday, with major indexes trimming quarterly losses, after euro zone leaders agreed to allow rescue funds to be used to stabilize the region's banks. Details of the agreement, which includes the creation of a single supervisory body for euro area banks, remain to be worked out. But Italian and Spanish borrowing costs fell, though they remained not far from recent highs, as market expectation for any action during a two-day European Union summit had all but vanished. ...
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| Consumer spending stalls, morale at six-month low Posted: 29 Jun 2012 08:08 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Consumer spending stalled in May as purchases of autos flagged while confidence dropped to a six-month low in June, the latest signs of trouble for the economy. Although another report on Friday showed manufacturing activity in the Midwest picked up this month, factories saw a modest decline in new orders. The Commerce Department said consumer spending was unchanged in May, failing to rise for the first time since November, after nudging up 0.1 percent the prior month. Consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity. ...
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| EU deal for Spain, Italy buoys markets but details sketchy Posted: 29 Jun 2012 08:38 AM PDT  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Under pressure to prevent a catastrophic breakup of their single currency, euro zone leaders agreed on Friday to let their rescue fund inject aid directly into stricken banks from next year and intervene on bond markets to support troubled member states. They also pledged to create a single banking supervisor for euro zone banks based around the European Central Bank in a landmark first step towards a European banking union that could help shore up struggling member Spain. ...
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| WTO rules against U.S. in meat labeling case Posted: 29 Jun 2012 08:28 AM PDT  GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States lost the bulk of its appeal against a World Trade Organization ruling on meat labeling rules on Friday, meaning it may have to stop forcing retailers to display the country of origin on meat they sell. The WTO Appellate Body said the U.S. country-of-origin labeling rules, commonly known as COOL, were wrong because they gave less favorable treatment to beef and pork imported from Mexico and Canada, which brought the case, than to U.S. meat. The decision gives the United States time to comply and does not immediately alter the labeling rules. ...
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| Oil jumps but still faces deep quarterly loss Posted: 29 Jun 2012 08:03 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - Oil rose on Friday, with U.S. futures up more than 5 percent, after European leaders agreed on a strategy to tackle borrowing costs in Italy and Spain, but both U.S. and Brent benchmarks were still set for their deepest quarterly losses since 2008. Euro zone leaders agreed to bend their aid rules to shore up banks and bring down the borrowing costs of stricken members, in a sign the bloc is adopting a more flexible approach to solving its two-year old debt crisis. ...
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| Fed's Dudley eyeing U.S. jobs, Europe but mum on policy Posted: 29 Jun 2012 06:35 AM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - An influential Federal Reserve official said he modestly lowered his expectations for inflation in coming months, but added greater clarity on the U.S. jobs market and the European crisis was required before taking a firmer stance on the health of the U.S. economy. New York Fed President William Dudley, a close ally of Chairman Ben Bernanke and a key barometer of the thinking inside the U.S. central bank, said on Friday employment growth has "slowed considerably of late" as the economy has lost momentum. ...
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| Sony group wins U.S. approval to buy EMI music publishing Posted: 29 Jun 2012 07:40 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Trade Commission has approved a Sony-led consortium's purchase of EMI Music Publishing, without having to make any divestitures, the FTC said on Friday. U.S. antitrust regulators gave the nod to the $2.2 billion deal in a brief letter to the companies. The agency is expected to issue a decision in coming months on a related and more controversial deal -- Universal Music's plan to buy EMI's recorded music catalog from Citigroup Inc for $1.9 billion. ...
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| Wall Sreett boosts QE3 expectations after May jobs shock Posted: 29 Jun 2012 08:22 AM PDT NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A much weaker-than-expected U.S. labor market alongside escalating financial turmoil in Europe raised Wall Street's expectations the Federal Reserve will intervene to protect the fragile U.S. economic recovery, according to a Reuters poll. The median of forecasts from 15 primary dealers - the large financial institutions that do business directly with the Fed - showed a 50 percent chance the central bank would eventually launch another round of quantitative easing, known as QE3. ... |
| Bank rate rigging scandal widens; Diamond fights on Posted: 29 Jun 2012 08:56 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - A scandal over the rigging of key interest rates could plunge the global banking industry into a legal morass for years, analysts said, as the head of Barclays fought to hold onto his job. With the Times newspaper naming RBS as the next bank facing a fine for its alleged involvement in manipulating the key lending rate between banks, the head of the Bank of England said there needed to be "real change" in the industry's culture. ...
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| Euro zone inflation steady, room for ECB move Posted: 29 Jun 2012 04:26 AM PDT  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Euro zone inflation held steady at a 16-month low in June, kept in check by a sharp fall in oil prices and supporting an already strong case for a near-term interest rate cut by the European Central Bank. Consumer prices in the 17 countries sharing the euro rose 2.4 percent year on year in June, EU statistics office Eurostat said on Friday, the same rate as in May and as expected by economists in a Reuters poll. The ECB left rates at a record low of 1 percent earlier this month. ...
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| GSK further extends $2.6 billion Human Genome offer Posted: 29 Jun 2012 07:15 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline has again extended its $2.6 billion offer to buy long-time partner Human Genome Sciences in a hostile stand-off with the U.S. biotech. The offer - now extended until July 20 - remains pitched at $13 per share. The decision by Britain's biggest drug maker to push back the closing date comes as no surprise, since Human Genome effectively extended the battle two weeks ago by setting a July 16 deadline for definitive takeover offers. ...
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| June consumer sentiment drops to six-month low Posted: 29 Jun 2012 07:36 AM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Consumer sentiment dropped to a six-month low in June as Americans' view of the economy soured, a survey released on Friday showed. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's final reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment fell to 73.2 in June from 79.3 in May. It was the lowest level since December and fell short of economists' expectations for the index to hold at the same level as June's preliminary reading of 74.1. ...
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| ICAP cuts up to 100 staff as industry struggles Posted: 29 Jun 2012 07:20 AM PDT NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - ICAP is cutting up to 100 staff in London and New York, people familiar with the matter told Reuters, as the world's largest derivatives broker aims to drive down costs by 50 million pounds ($77.5 million) this year. The cuts could affect up to 70 people in the firm's London office, sources said. But another source with knowledge of the matter said only 60 jobs would be cut in London. The broker, which draws revenue from matching buyers and sellers of bonds, currency and swaps, is cutting 27 jobs from its flagship U.S. ... |
| FBI arrests Bernard Madoff's brother Posted: 29 Jun 2012 07:18 AM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - The FBI said on Friday it had arrested Peter Madoff, the younger brother of swindler Bernard Madoff, who is serving a 150-year prison sentence for his multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme. The arrest of Peter Madoff had been expected as he is due in federal court in Manhattan later Friday to plead guilty to charges related to his brother's decades-long fraud. Peter Madoff was arrested at his lawyer's office, Federal Bureau of Investigation spokesman Peter Donald said. ...
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| RIM prospects dire after launch delay: analysts Posted: 29 Jun 2012 08:19 AM PDT  (Reuters) - Research In Motion Ltd could run out of cash and ultimately fail, even with the launch of its now-delayed BlackBerry 10 device early next year, Wall Street analysts said. At least 10 brokerages cut their price targets on the stock, some by as much as 50 percent, a day after the company reported worse-than expected quarterly results and said it would delay the launch of its next-generation device to early 2013 from late this year. RIM shares were down 16 percent in pre-market trading on the Nasdaq. ...
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| RBS CEO Hester to waive bonus after IT debacle Posted: 29 Jun 2012 06:28 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - Part-nationalized Royal Bank of Scotland confirmed Chief Executive Stephen Hester will waive his bonus this year following the computer systems failure which caused disruption to millions of its customers. "I think it's inappropriate for me to have a bonus this year. We have let our customers down," Hester said in an interview with the BBC on Friday. ...
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| AB InBev buys out Corona maker Modelo for $20 billion Posted: 29 Jun 2012 08:13 AM PDT  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's biggest brewer, is to buy the half of Mexican group Modelo it does not already own for $20.1 billion, the latest big deal by brewers looking for growth in emerging markets. The owner of Budweiser and Stella Artois beers said on Friday it had reached agreement with Grupo Modelo's controlling families to secure a leading position in a growing domestic beer market and capture best-selling Mexican beer Corona Extra. ...
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| Fed official floats stress tests of money funds Posted: 29 Jun 2012 04:30 AM PDT  AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A top U.S. Federal Reserve official floated the idea on Friday of expanding bank "stress tests" to include the likely support those institutions would need to provide to sponsored money market mutual funds. The likely capital support for such funds could be calculated and revealed to financial regulators, thereby cutting down on so-called "capital arbitrage," Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren said in prepared remarks. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has circulated draft rules that would reform the $2. ...
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| Global investment banking fee income fell 25 percent in Q2 Posted: 29 Jun 2012 03:43 AM PDT  LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global investment banks' fee income dropped by about 25 percent in the second quarter, reaching its lowest level since early 2009 as the widening euro zone crisis weighed on securities underwriting and merger activity, Thomson Reuters data show. The fees totaled nearly $14 billion in the second quarter, down from more than $18 billion in the first quarter of 2012. Year to date, fees have totaled $32 billion, down 25 percent from the same period in 2011. ...
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| AIA sells part of stake in Thai CP All: brokers Posted: 29 Jun 2012 03:41 AM PDT  BANGKOK (Reuters) - American International Assurance (AIA) sold some of its shares in Thailand's largest convenience store chain, CP All Pcl , in big-lot transactions on the Thai market's local and foreign boards on Friday, broker sources said. AIA, part of Hong Kong-based AIA Group , remains a major shareholder of CP All after the stake sales, an executive at a local brokerage, which executed the big lot deals, told Reuters. According to Thai stock exchange data, about 126.2 million shares were sold with an estimated value of about 4.5 billion baht ($143 million). ...
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| Nomura halves CEO pay in bid to close insider probe Posted: 29 Jun 2012 02:33 AM PDT  TOKYO (Reuters) - Nomura Holdings admitted to widespread failures in protecting confidential client information on Friday and will slash pay for top executives and shut down an equity sales operation for a week as Japan's largest brokerage tries to resolve a damaging insider trading probe. Nomura said CEO Kenichi Watanabe's pay would be halved for six months to take responsibility for the brokerage's third insider trading scandal since he took the helm four years ago. The announcement confirmed the terms of a Reuters report late on Thursday. ...
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| Tight credit is hampering UK recovery: Bank of England's King Posted: 29 Jun 2012 03:50 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - Tight credit conditions are holding back Britain's economy, the Bank of England's governor said on Friday, urging banks to use the leeway given by regulators to lend more to companies and consumers. "Uncertainty and tighter credit conditions have acted as strong headwinds to our recovery," BoE governor Mervyn King said in a media conference presenting the central bank's financial stability report. ...
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| Demand for iPads, e-readers lift John Lewis sales Posted: 29 Jun 2012 12:53 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - John Lewis, Britain's biggest department store group, posted another strong rise in weekly sales, driven by strong demand for technology products and the start of its clearance sale. The employee-owned retailer, which has a bias to the south east of England, said on Friday its sales increased 9.9 percent year-on-year to 76.12 million pounds ($118.03 million) in the week to June 23. Sales of electricals and home technology items jumped 28.2 percent, fashion revenues rose 6.9 percent and homewares sales were up 1.6 percent. ...
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| RBS set for fine as Barclays boss remains defiant Posted: 29 Jun 2012 12:55 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Scotland could face a hefty fine from the same interest rate rigging scandal that has hammered Barclays this week and left its boss Bob Diamond fighting for his job. Taxpayer-backed RBS is set to be fined about 150 million pounds ($233 million) for participating in market manipulation offences similar to those engaged in by Barclays, the Times newspaper said. RBS said it, like many others, is continuing to co-operate with regulators on the ongoing investigation. Any resolution of its case is months away, a person familiar with the matter said. ...
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| Greek deposit flight hits record high in May Posted: 29 Jun 2012 03:09 AM PDT FRANKFURT (Reuters) - A rush by firms and consumers to pull their money out of Greek banks accelerated to record levels in May, European Central Bank data showed on Friday, piling further misery on the country's already crippled banking system. Speculation about Greece possibly quitting the euro was at its most intense in May when anti-bailout parties saw a strong showing in elections, and analysts and bankers said the situation might have improved since then. ... |
| EU summit deal sends shares, euro sharply higher Posted: 29 Jun 2012 12:28 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - European shares were sharply higher and the single currency surged over 1 percent on Friday after euro zone leaders agreed a deal to stabilize the region's debt markets and recapitalize its banks, easing the funding strains on Spain and Italy. The deal caught markets by surprise, sending safe-haven German bonds and the dollar lower, while prices for gold, oil and copper rose by over 1 percent. Ten-year Spanish and Italian bond yields fell to 6.44 and 5.84 percent, respectively. ...
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| SEC may order Nasdaq to upgrade trading systems: WSJ Posted: 28 Jun 2012 10:28 PM PDT (Reuters) - U.S. securities regulators may force Nasdaq OMX Group Inc to upgrade its trading systems following last month's glitch-ridden IPO of Facebook Inc , the Wall Street Journal reported. The Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into what caused the glitches that left the market makers - who facilitate trades for brokers - in the dark for hours as to which trades had gone through. ... |
| Supreme Court upholds Obama's healthcare law Posted: 29 Jun 2012 07:18 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court upheld President Barack Obama's healthcare law on Thursday in an election-year triumph for him and fellow Democrats who championed the most sweeping overhaul since the 1960s of the unwieldy U.S. healthcare system. In a 5-4 ruling based on the power of Congress to impose taxes, the nation's highest court preserved the law's "individual mandate" requiring that most Americans obtain health insurance by 2014 or pay a tax. The justices also preserved, with some changes, a provision of the law expanding the Medicaid health insurance program for the poor. ...
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| JPMorgan's internal controls under increased scrutiny: WSJ Posted: 28 Jun 2012 09:10 PM PDT (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s internal controls have come under increased scrutiny by regulators who have asked the bank to demonstrate its risk models are designed and working properly, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing to people close to the situation. The bank's primary regulator, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, has requested reviews of models that measure the possible effects of everything from trading losses to interest-rate moves, the Journal said. ... |
| Exclusive: Microsoft tie-up, network sale among RIM options: sources Posted: 28 Jun 2012 07:41 PM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Research In Motion Ltd's board is under mounting pressure to consider unpalatable options such as selling its network business or forming an alliance with Microsoft Corp after the Blackberry maker again delayed the release of its next-generation smartphones, said three sources familiar with the situation. Shares in the Canadian company, which announced a steeper-than-expected quarterly operating loss on Thursday, plunged 18 percent in extended trading, slashing its market value to $4.1 billion. The stock has fallen about 70 percent in the past year. ...
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| Stocks rally as Europe unveils debt crisis plans Posted: 29 Jun 2012 09:00 AM PDT  The Dow Jones industrial average jumped more than 200 points, joining a surge in global markets, after European leaders agreed to easier bank bailouts and regional oversight for their troubled financial sector.
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| Europe summit surprises with bold moves Posted: 29 Jun 2012 09:00 AM PDT  After 18 disappointing summits since the start of the debt crisis, Europe's leaders appeared Friday to have finally come up with quick fixes and long-term plans that show they are serious about restoring confidence in their currency union.
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| Court won't hear 'wardrobe malfunction' appeal Posted: 29 Jun 2012 08:35 AM PDT  The Supreme Court decided Friday not to consider reinstating the government's $550,000 fine on CBS for Janet Jackson's infamous breast-bearing "wardrobe malfunction" at the 2004 Super Bowl.
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| Academic panel says Romanian PM plagiarized Posted: 29 Jun 2012 08:32 AM PDT An academic panel has ruled that Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta plagiarized large sections of his doctoral thesis and called for him to be stripped of his doctorate. |
| Wait for it: Earth adds leap second Saturday night Posted: 29 Jun 2012 08:29 AM PDT Saturday night will stretch longer by a second. A leap second. |
| Agriculture secretary presses House on farm bill Posted: 29 Jun 2012 08:22 AM PDT  Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Friday urged the Republican-led House to vote on a long-term farm policy bill, saying failure to act could leave livestock producers exposed to disasters and other farmers uncertain about the future.
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| Alcoa to sell hydroelectric project for $600M Posted: 29 Jun 2012 08:10 AM PDT Alcoa is selling its 351-megawatt Tapoco hydroelectric project to power provider Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners for about $600 million. |
| Italy celebrates a magical night against Germany Posted: 29 Jun 2012 08:06 AM PDT It was Italy's night against the Germans, on and off the field. |
| Merkel defends concessions in euro crisis Posted: 29 Jun 2012 08:00 AM PDT  German Chancellor Angela Merkel defended concessions made to struggling Spain and Italy at a European Union summit on Friday as she prepared to address lawmakers at home, where media headlines loudly proclaimed her political defeat.
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| Sara Lee spinoff Hillshire begins trading on NYSE Posted: 29 Jun 2012 07:54 AM PDT Hillshire Brands Inc. rose in morning trading in its debut on the New York Stock Exchange Friday after emerging from Sara Lee Corp. |
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