Italian bond yields decline for a third consecutive day as French President Sarkozy claimed more discipline is needed to solve Eurozone's debt turmoil. The 10-year Italian borrowing costs dropped 13 b.p. or 0.13 percentage points reaching 6.52%. In contrast German bond yields added 2 b.p.reaching 2.18%. ECB's President Draghi confirmed that bank could help to fight the woe if stricter
France and Germany are emphasizing the need of stronger economic ties among common currency countries and pushing for stricter enforcement of budget cuts to stop debt crisis escalation. President Sarkozy called for stronger discipline and penalizing countries that do not follow fiscal rules. German Chancellor Merkel reminded that ECB should not accept political pressure.
The Russian Ruble depreciated against US dollar for a second consecutive day after Urals crude dropped yesterday. Russian domestic currency gave up 0.2% reaching 30.806 per dollar. Urals crude which is the country's main exporter lost 1.3% yesterday reaching $109.52 per barrel as French President Sarkozy claimed the Eurozone risks collapse if member countries will not manage to agree on
Switzerland's retail sales decreased more than projected in November falling for the third consecutive month, according to official data. The sales dropped by 0.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis as compared to 0.9% in the previous month, reported Federal Statistics Bureau. Economists expected an increase of 1.2% in November.
Rio Tinto PLC is able to sell all iron ore it is capable to produce despite global downturn and tightening policies of the China's government, said the executive of Rio Tinto PLC. Many iron ore producers experience difficulties in raising credit but Rio Tinto claims that its exports continues to expand.
Natural gas futures increased essentially on Thursday after the release of U.S. Energy Information Administration report that indicated commodity's inventory decline last week. The decline signals on the beginning of the heating season in the country. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for January delivery were traded at USD3.683 per million British thermal units during U.S. early trade, surging 3.73% since opening.
Stocks of Hop Hing Group Holdings, large producer of edible oils, increased essentially after the company stated it agreed to purchase the company that owns a franchise of the Yoshinoya and Dairy Queen fast food chains in China. Shares of Hop Hing Group will take over the company for HK$3.48 billion using convertible securities. Hop Hing's shares closed the session being 60% higher.
The construction industry in the UK slowed down in November while new orders jumped in Q3, according to official data. Construction PMI indicated the expansion in the construction activity but the pace is considerably lower than in previous month. New orders increased by 12.8% in Q3 as compared to 15.7% in Q2, according to National Statistics data. Meanwhile, CIPS construction activity index was it 52.3
Rio Alto Mining Ltd., Canadian resource company developing copper/gold projects of the La Arena located in Peru, reported that its output is in line with expectations despite blockade conducted illegally in September. The output approached 39,125 ounces from May to November. The company also plans to increase its iron ore production to 36,000 tons per day.
Tom Glocer, CEO of news group Reuters, announced he is stepping down after running the company for 10 years. He will step down on 1 January and the current chief operating officer, James Smith will replace him. The change follows the worries about a decline in the company's share price by 29% this year.
Shares of Yahoo increased after announcements that China's Alibaba Group, one of the largest China's internet companies, is planning to place a bid to have a stake in Yahoo. Yahoo shares jumped by 3.3% on the Nasdaq exchange. Unknown sources claim Alibaba is ready to pay about $20 per share that is higher than yesterday's close of $16.23 a piece. Alibaba has not made
Australian court approved an acquisition of Foster's, Australian brewer, by SABMiller, UK's brewer. The deal worth A $9.9bn overcame the last obstacle. About 99% of the shareholders of Forester's agreed on takeover. The final sale is planned to be finished by the end of December 2011.
European shares opened higher on Friday led by banks and miners. Markets are looking forward for Merkel's parliamentary speech and US nonfarm payroll statistics. Stoxx Europe 600 added 1.1% to 241.14 and UK's FTSE 100 index gained 1.2% reaching 5,552.53. French CAC 40 index jumped 1.5% while German DAX edged up 1.6%.
Crude oil market is likely to experience tightness due to market facing long-term restrictions in inventories, said Dawood Nassif from BAPCO. Crude oil prices achieved $100/bbl and will remain at this level but prices are likely to peak by 2017-2021, he added. Refineries in Europe will face fierce competition from refineries in the Middle East in the next five years, he warned.
Honda announced it is going to recall 304,000 cars worldwide because of worries about faulty airbags. Quality check indicated that some models' airbags may burst due to problem with automatic inflators. There have been 20 accidents related to the matter so far, reported AP.
Australia's real estate market showed signs of recession as construction level contracted essentially, according to official data. House building activity dropped by 10.7% in October after tumbling by 14.2% in September, reported Australian Bureau of Statistics. Housing starts decreased by 30% on a yearly basis. Analysts warn Australian real estate market resembles situation in the US before the property market crash.
The US Senate denied the motion of Republicans to enlarge employee payroll tax reduction for 2012 while covering the cost of cut by 10% decrease in federal workforce and freezing federal workers' salary. Tonight's vote missed 60 votes necessary to approve the legislation. Tax reduction which eased employee's portion of Social Security tax from 6.2% to 4.2% expires December 31 this year
The so-called loonie extended gains against greenback for the sixth consecutive day ahead of US jobs report which is expected to confirm that the number of hired workers has increased. For Canadian dollar this is the longest appreciation period since January. The loonie jumped 0.4% reaching C$1.0139 per US dollar during Toronto trade. The pair currently is trading at C$1.0136.
Sweden has the lowest sovereign bond yields ever when compared with Germany as investors are considering biggest Scandinavian country as safe haven for their assets. Almost 20 years after tackling its own banking crisis, Sweden is leading with the best performing bond-market in the world. Sweden enjoys budget surplus this year and borrowing costs for Swedish 10-year notes are 40
Economists questioned by Bloomberg predict that hiring in US probably did not manage to decrease the overall unemployment level as employers still are concerned US economy may slow down. Economists' median estimate for payroll increase is about 125 000 workers while the jobless rate is expected remain unchanged at 9%. Labor Department will present actual data at 8:30 am Washington
Benchmark New York crude-oil futures remained steady during the Asian trade on Friday after jumping by 1.6% on Wednesday. Crude oil for January delivery was traded at $100.19 a barrel in New York Mercantile Exchange electronic trading as compared to $100.20 during the late US session on Thursday.
Capital spending among the Japanese companies declined unexpectedly during the last quarter, according to official data. Japanese capital spending decreased by 9.80% on a yearly basis being higher than 7.80% decrease in the previous quarter. Experts projected country's capital spending to fall by 3.60% in the period.
African economies are impacted by the euro-zone debt crisis as Europe countries are the largest trading partners of Africa, said Pravin Gordhan, South Africa's finance minister. Europe dictates the investment pattern and when Europe experienced downturn Africa sees money outflow from its economy, he added. European crisis increases volatility of the commodity prices and currencies in Africa, claimed Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria's finance minister.
Coeur, the largest white metal producer in US, is discussing Sprott's advice of holding a part of total reserves in the commodity instead of holding them in cash. Weak USD prices stimulate demand for gold and silver, said Mitchell Krebs, CEO of Coeur. The company expects prices of the white metal to rise as turmoil in financial system continues and plans to manufacture 19.5 million ounce