Europe stocks opened lower after yesterday's rapid increase as investors await the meeting of the EU finance ministers aimed at easing the debt crisis. Report of Standard & Poor's plan to downgrade France's credit rating also contributed to the share price decline. The Stoxx Europe 600 index decreased by 0.3% to 229.23, the French CAC 40 index lost 0.5% to 2,997.94, the German DAX 30
Facebook Inc. is going to raise funding worth about $10bn by initial public offering (IPO). After the deal, the value of world's biggest social networking website could reach $100 bn. Facebook Inc. may apply for the IPO by the end of year 2011. Company's $100 bn valuation would double the one that was reached in January when Facebook raised $1.5 bn investment from Goldman Sachs
Canadian largest lenders such as Bank of Montreal and Royal Bank of Canada are expected to report a drop in revenue from their investment banking units in 4th quarter amid capital markets' slow down due to European debt affliction. According to Sumit Malhotra, analyst at Macquarie Capital Markets, income from asset management and capital markets may fall by 6% reaching $5.5 bn.
In today's auction Italy's yields are again expected to surpass critical level of 7%. Treasury in Rome is planning to offer 3-year notes worth 3.5 bn euros, 10-year bonds worth 2.5bn euros and bonds maturing 2020 worth 2 bn euros. Italy was forced to borrow above 7 % in auctions yesterday and on November 25. Chiara Cremonesi, a strategist at Unicredit predicts 10-year notes may
Acer Inc. announced it still hopes the company will break even in Q4 despite problems caused by insufficient quantity of hard disks because of severe floods in Thailand. The effect of the dick shortage will be the strongest between December and February and the company plans to increase prices for some models of PC by 2%-3%, said Acer spokesman.
Chancellor George Osborn is going to present plans for stimulating British economy against pessimistic forecasts. He will update on issues regarding credit easing, increase of investments in infrastructure and youth unemployment. Moreover, he is going to announce his view on the projections of the Office for Budget Responsibility. George Osborn will deliver his statement today in the House of Commons.
South Africa's credit market soared by 5.5% in October compared to previous year. The growth is 0.2 percentage points lower than economists surveyed by Bloomberg predicted. Lower-than-expected increase in crediting reflects concerns about European debt crisis, forcing businesses and consumers to borrow less while banks are struggling to meet regulatory requirements.
Alliance Aviation Services, Australia-based transportation company, pulled its IPO in order to raise about 120 million Australian dollars despite market being bleak and IPO market being tough in Australia. It is the largest IPO in Australia after Collins Foods listing in August. The S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.7% on Tuesday.
The jobless rate in Japan increased unexpectedly in October. The jobless rate for the last month reached 4.5% as compared with 4.1% in September, according to Finance Ministry. The expected rate for October was 4.1%. The increase in unemployment rate signals that the country was impacted by global recession and strong yen more severely than expected.
Hungary is planning to increase its borrowing costs in order to strengthen domestic currency forint after Moody's Investors Service downgraded country's credit rating to junk. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect Magyar Nemzeti Bank to raise 2-week deposit rate from 6% to 6.5%. The Hungarian forint's weakness boosts payments on mortgages denominated in foreign currency accounting for 2/3 of property loans.
An increase in UK's net lending to private individuals exceeded the forecast, according to official data. Net lending climbed by GBP1.3 billion in previous month, above expected GBP1.0 billion. However, net consumer credit remained the same despite expected increase by GBP0.5 billion. After the report GDP appreciated against USD by 0.34% to GDP/USD being 1.5567.
Swiss UBS, Swiss bank, consumption increased in October after essential fall in summer, according to industry data. Consumption indicator added 0.09 points to 0.91 last month. However, after the report Swiss franc decreased by 0.08% against USD and the pair USD/CHF is traded at 0.9231.
Federal judge refused Citigroup Inc's $285 m settlement with US Securities and Exchange (SEC) saying there were not provided enough facts to support it. Judge Jed Rakoff rejected the agreement and appointed a trial day. Rakoff also criticized SEC's way of permitting banks to settle without denying or admitting liability. Last month Citigroup agreed to settlement after being accused for misleading investors regarding CDOs linked to subprime mortgage securities.
Remy Cointreau SA, French liquor producer, stated that its first-half profit increased by 22% with 11% revenue rise. The total profit for half ended in September was €61.5 million as compared with €50.6 million in the previous period. Remy Cointreau shares gained 3% after release of the report.
Crude oil futures decreased after a yesterday's rapid growth that pushed prices above USD100-a-barrel. On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for January delivery cost USD97.74 a barrel at the early European trade, losing 0.48%. Analysts say the fall in oil demand was caused by high investors' attention to the today's summit of the EU finance ministers.
1. Moody's Investors Service announced it is considering reducing credit ratings for financial institutions in 15 European countries to mirror the prospective exclusion of government support. Banks in France, Spain, Italy and Austria are most exposed to review of ratings as their governments face restrained fiscal flexibility.
US stocks rebounded on Monday experiencing the best trading in 4 weeks as European officials are expected to reach a consensus on its fiscal policy to solve sovereign debt crisis. Higher than expected Black Friday's retail sales also boosted the stock price. S&P 500 Index gained 2.9% or 33.88 points closing at 1,192.55, Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 2.6% or 291.23 points ending trading at
Although Fitch still assigns US to top AAA grade, it emphasized in its statement that reduced outlook indicates diminishing confidence that appropriate fiscal actions will be undertaken to put in order US finances. Fitch said the probability of downgrade in two years has exceeded 50%. Fitch cut the outlook after super-committee failed to agree on budget deficit reductions.
Aussie and Kiwi are recovering rapidly from previous week's losses as European Finance Ministers meet today in Brussels boosting optimism that they will be able to provide a quick solution to Eurozone's debt crisis. Australian dollar gained 0.6% against US dollar reaching $0.9969 in Sydney trade, while its New Zealand's peer added 0.4% to $0.7585. AUD/USD currently is trading at $0.9957 whereas NZD/USD is trading
1. President Obama pushes European officials to avoid knocking down the common currency ahead of today's meeting in Brussels. 17-member countries' Finance ministers today will attempt to develop details how the EFSF will increase its firepower to back national debts with guarantees. Officials are preparing for the summit scheduled on December 9 to recoup investors' confidence.
According to economists familiar with the region, Asian national banks might be preparing to reduce interest rates, as the increasing negative impact from European debt trouble hurts growth. Thailand is planning to cut its borrowing rate tomorrow, while Philippines is expected to lower its benchmark on December 1. Last week Citigroup Inc and Morgan Stanley lessened economic estimates for Asian countries.
Japan's unemployment rate soared more than was predicted by economists. In October jobless rate surged to 4.5% compared to 4.1% in September. The actual rate exceeded the forecast by 0.3 percentage points and reached 3-month high. Rising unemployment level pushes central bank to intervene an increase stimulus package as Europe's crisis spreads.
Asia's stocks closed higher on Tuesday expressing investors' optimism about European leaders' ability to provide solution for debt turmoil. Shanghai Composite rose 0.6%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.5%. South Korea's Kospi added 1.7%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index experienced modest increase of 0.2% and Japan's Nikkei Stock Average surged 1%.
Standard & Poor's may decrease France's triple-A credit rating to negative in a period between seven to 10 days, reported La Tribune, France's newspaper. The newspaper referring to anonymous source announced the agency planned to report about credit downgrade last Friday but delayed it for unknown reasons.