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April 2012
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Asian markets sell off on Bernanke remarks, China PMI

By Masayuki Kitano and Hideyuki Sano SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Hawkish comments by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and weakness in China's factory activity rattled Asian markets on Thursday, sending stock prices down, the U.S. dollar to three-year highs, and Japanese government bond yields to their highest in a year. Stock and bond markets took their cue from the drop in U.S. equities and Treasuries after Bernanke's remarks at a Congressional hearing sparked worries of an earlier than expected reduction in U.S. monetary stimulus. ...

China factory activity shrinks for first time in seven months: flash PMI

By Aileen Wang and Koh Gui Qing BEIJING (Reuters) - China's factory activity shrank for the first time in seven months in May as new orders fell, a preliminary manufacturing survey showed, entrenching fears that its economic recovery has stalled and that a sharper cooldown may be imminent. The flash HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for May fell to 49.6, slipping under the 50-point level demarcating expansion from contraction for the first since October. The final HSBC PMI stood at 50.4 in April. ...

HP raises 2013 outlook as Whitman's plan takes hold

By Poornima Gupta SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co raised its 2013 earnings outlook after quarterly results beat low expectations, as CEO Meg Whitman's turnaround plan helped offset shrinking personal computer sales with enterprise computing services. While fiscal second-quarter profit plummeted 32 percent, Wall Street had braced for worse. HP shares gained 14 percent after the company projected full-year earnings per share of $3.50 to $3.60, raising the lower end by 10 cents, and fiscal third-quarter profit that topped analyst estimates. ...

Exclusive: Glencore, Trafigura deals with Iran may have skirted sanctions - U.N

By Louis Charbonneau and Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Metals swap deals with Iran by Switzerland-based commodities giants Glencore Xstrata and Trafigura could have been a way of skirting international sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program, according to a confidential U.N. Panel of Experts report seen by Reuters on Wednesday. Reuters reported on March 1 that Glencore had supplied thousands of tons of alumina to an Iranian firm that has provided aluminum to Iran's nuclear program, an allegation Glencore confirmed as accurate. ...

Pfizer takes its shot at a vaccine for evasive superbug

By Julie Steenhuysen CHICAGO (Reuters) - Kathrin Jansen is a microbiologist with at least two breakthrough vaccines to her name: she brought the cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil to market for Merck and helped develop the $4 billion a year pneumonia and meningitis vaccine Prevnar 13 for Pfizer. Jansen's next vaccine success could come by taming the superbug MRSA, a drug-resistant bacterium that she has seen ravage a healthy man up close and personally. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infects an estimated 53 million people globally and costs more than $20 billion a year to treat. ...

Average U.S. 401(k) balance tops $80,000, up 75 percent since 2009

BOSTON (Reuters) - The average 401(k) retirement balance for U.S. workers hit a record high of $80,900 in the first quarter, a growth spurt of 75 percent since the stock market's nadir in March 2009, Fidelity Investments said on Thursday based on a survey of its accounts. Most of the recovery is linked to a stock market rally that has lifted the broad S&P 500 Index 145 percent since the close of trading on March 9, 2009. The 401(k) recovery looks even better for workers 55 and older, according to Boston-based Fidelity, the largest U.S. administrator of 401(k) retirement plans. ...

Latam, Africa surges ensure SABMiller profit growth

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - SABMiller , the world's second biggest brewer, reported profit growth in line with expectations thanks to a surge in earnings in Latin America and Africa and said its markets should be broadly unchanged in the coming months. The maker of Grolsch, Peroni and Pilsner Urquell, said on Thursday adjusted earnings per share rose 11 percent to 238.7 U.S. cents in the year to the end of March, almost matching the Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S average forecast of 239 cents. ...

SoftBank would appoint "security director" to Sprint board

(Reuters) - SoftBank Corp would appoint a "security director" to Sprint Nextel's board if its takeover bid succeeds, and would give the U.S. government the right to approve the nominee, an attempt to address security concerns raised by the proposed deal. Sprint said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on May 1 that the new director appointed by the Tokyo-based SoftBank would oversee public safety concerns related to Sprint's wireless and wireline operations. ...

Nissan to recall 841,000 vehicles due to steering wheel glitch

TOKYO (Reuters) - Nissan Motor Co Ltd will recall about 841,000 vehicles worldwide including the Micra compact car, also known as the March, as a result of a steering wheel glitch, Japan's No.2 automaker said on Thursday. Nissan is recalling certain models of the Micra compact car produced in Britain and Japan between 2002 and 2006, as well as the Cube, produced in Japan around the same period. It is pulling back vehicles in Japan, Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. ...

AIG eyes new director with regulatory experience

By Nadia Damouni and Paritosh Bansal (Reuters) - American International Group Inc's board is looking for a new director with regulatory experience, as the insurer readies for the government to classify it as big enough to merit greater scrutiny, according to two sources familiar with the situation. AIG, which is already regulated by the U.S. Federal Reserve, expects more oversight if it is declared a "systemically important financial institution," or SIFI. The designation is widely expected after the U.S. Financial Stability Oversight Council told the company in October that it may do so. ...

Archive for April 16th, 2012

16 Apr

Asian stock markets shaky as Europe debt woes brew

Asian stock markets vacillated between gains and losses Tuesday as signs of a recovering U.S. economy were offset by fears that Spain might need an expensive financial bailout.
Original post by Associated Press and software by Elliott Back

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Archive for April 16th, 2012

Asian stock markets shaky as Europe debt woes brew