Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Bank of Nova Scotia this year had the biggest jump in incentive compensations among six top banks in Canada as record profits created 6.9% surge in bonuses. According to reports, Canada's leading banks in total put aside $9.39 bn for incentive yearly compensations or about $0.5bn more than last year.
British stocks gained on Thursday after Bank of England decided to keep its key interest rate unchanged and ECB announced the cut of its lending rate. Main supporters for UK's benchmark FTSE 100 were tobacco producers and telecommunications firms. British American Tobacco PLC added 1.7% while BT Group PLC and Vodafone Group PLC ascended 1.6% and 1.4% respectively. Nevertheless, after Draghi's statement that ECB will not buy
On Thursday German stocks experienced sharp decline after ECB President Mario Draghi said the bank will not boost sovereign debt purchases. Germany's benchmark index DAX 30 fell for a third day in a row losing 1.1% to 5,927.27 in Frankfurt afternoon trade. Main downside contribution was provided from German financials as Commerzbank AG and Deutsche Bank AG gave up 5.3% and 1.6%, respectively. Automakers also declined with
After a two-day straight drop, Dow Jones Industrial Average Index gained 0.4% or 46.24 points and closed at 12,196.37 on Wednesday. Gain was mainly supported by a 2.3% increase in JPMorgan Chase & Co. after the bank reported it has decided to buy back extra shares after paying less than supervisors allowed in dividends. Mc Donald's Corp. also boosted index adding 1.4% after company announced
On Wednesday S&P 500 gave up 0.2% or 2.54 points up at 1,261.01. On the upside were financials: Morgan Stanley gained 4.58%, Goldman Sachs Group added 3.92% and Bank of America Corp. ascended 1.90%. Nevertheless, U.S. benchmark index opened lower on Thursday. At the moment of writing S&P 500 is trading at 1,252.80 or 0.65% down as ECB president Mario Draghi rejected the idea that
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average traded down 0.66% or 57.59 and ended trade at 8,664.58. The slight decline can be explained by investors' anxiety regarding Friday's summit and Germany's announcement it will not support two bailout funds. Main losers were Japanese exporters as US Dollar dropped against Japanese Yen. Honda Motor Co. lost 1.8%, and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. declined 3.2%. On the upside were Olympus
On Thursday Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 0.7% or 132.77 points and closed at 19,107.81, as investors were concerned about the outcome of upcoming summit, ECB decisions on interest rate as well as German government's refusal to operate two bailouts simultaneously. Shares of companies that are highly exposed to Chinese markets provided most negative contribution. Tsingtao Brewery Co. fell 3.2%, Gome Electrical Appliances Holding Ltd. declined
Costco Wholesale Corp., reported net increase in revenues for the Q1 by 2.6% with the jump in sales by 13%. For the last quarter earnings approached to $320 million or 73 cents a share as compared to $312 million or 71 cents apiece in the same period last year. Current share price of the company is 87.47 a share.
The ECB decreased the key interest rate for the second month in line with the aim to boost the economic recovery of the area. The bank set the interest rate at all-times low of 1.0% down from 1.25% in the previous period. The move was expected by experts. Following the shift the, euro declined against the greenback with the EUR/USD pair trading at 1.3394,
The Bank of England announced it left the key interest rate unchanged at 0.50% for the 33rd month in line. The decision was expected by analysts. The asset purchasing programme's budget stayed at the same level of GBP275 billion. After announcement the pound advanced against the USD. At the moment of writing GBP/USD pair is trading at 1.5716, or 0.03% up.
Despite gold prices being below their absolute record of $1923 an ounce in September 2011, the worldwide trade is expanding. Last month investors put over $3.1 bn in SPDR Gold, the largest gold exchange fund. The Bank of Korea boosted its gold reserves to 54.4 tons, while Japan's gold exports hit the record of 955.6 metric tonnes. Moreover, many investors embarked on selling gold on
McDonald's Holdings Co. announced that sales in Japan grew by 8.7% in November, signaling extension in gains for three consecutive months. The launch of new products such as croquette burger coupled as aggressive sales campaign contributed to the performance improvement.
Wheat futures decreased to one-week low following the forecast of high crop in Australia weighting up worries over fierce competition for US exports. On the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, wheat futures for delivery in March were traded at USD5.9538 a bushel at the early European trade, losing 0.85% since opening.
Stock futures in the US drift ahead of the ECB's decision and euro-zone summit. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 17 points to 12,197, while those on Standard Poor's 500 index declined by 3.2 points to 1,260.80. At the same time Nasdaq 100 futures decreased by 2.25 points to 2,319.25.
The project of building the first hydro-power dam on the lower Mekong has been delayed again due to environmental concerns. The project will allow Laos to generate additional power that was planned to be sold to Thailand. However, opponents claim the dam will impact fragile ecology and people living downstream of the river.
Copper trading volumes declined by 42% in five days as market sentiment was affected by further European summit. Trade volume of copper futures for March delivery decreased from 37,563 to 65,750. Open interest remained steady at about 70,000 with only 500 position decrease since November.
OAO Severstal, Russian steel producer, announced the decrease in net profit in Q3 by 29% to $429 million. The decline was mainly caused by forex losses Severstal experienced because of weakening ruble. Experts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires expected the net income to be $480.3 million.
Asian shares closed lower as market sentiment was impacted by the ECB decision and the euro-zone summit. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index and Japan's Nikkei Stock Average both lost 0.7%. South Korea's Kospi lost 0.4%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index tumbled by 0.3% while the Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.1%.
Platinum group metals might be backed up by the probable supply disruptions based on the new indigenization law in Zimbabwe, the world largest producer of platinum group metals. The new regulation stipulates that overseas companies having over $500,000 of net assets will be obligated to cede not less than 51% of their operations to citizens of Zimbabwe. The indigenization minister warned it can cancel licenses
Growing number of natural gas supplies and more deposits discovered may make the natural the second-largest energy source in US, said Exxon Mobil. With the surging world population which is expected to reach 9 billion in 2040, the demand for energy will increase by 30% and the natural gas consumption will undertake the coal becoming the second-largest energy source, according to Reuters.
Australian employment change declined last month, according to official data. The employment change decreased by 6.3K from 16.8K on a seasonally adjusted basis in November, the change in September was 10.1K, reported Australian Bureau of Statistics. Analysts projected the change to increase to 10.6K in November.
The debt crisis and political turmoil add the safe-haven appeal for the yellow metal, according to Profit Confidential. Currently markets are trading on the investors' worries, so different eventualities to all asset classes are possible, said Mitchell Clark, long-time analyst at Profit Continental. In case of the force asset liquidation the gold positions may increase, he added.
Canadian housing starts decreased more than expected in November, according to official data. The housing starts in the country decreased to 181,000 units last month, compared to expected drop to 200,000 units, reported the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. After data release, the Canadian dollar rose against the USD by 0.18%. The pair USD/CAD is currently trading at 1.0079.
WTI Crude Oil prices are likely to approach $112.5/bbl in 2012 and $126/bbl in 2013 while Brent crude oil my swing around $130/bbl in 2013, reported Goldman Sachs. Taking the rising capacity of Seaway pipeline, the Brent-WTI spread is expected to narrow, the company added. Oil outlook is turning to bullish on the growing tensions between Middle-East and Western economies.