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
The New Zealand and Australian dollars experienced increase on Friday and posted substantial weekly advance against their major peers as US statistics is going to publish data on increasing employment level. Aussie has climbed 5.3% on weekly basis and traded at $1.0221 on Sydney trade while Kiwi has added 5.3% since November 25 and traded at $0.7800. AUD/USD currently is
Russian voters may prompt PM Vladimir Putin from holding the power and boosting public spending. United Russia party led by Putin may get only 53% of votes in parliamentary elections on December 4 to compare with 64% in 2007. Therefore United Russia party may lose nearly 65 seats in the State Duma. Voters are dissatisfied with leading parties inability to
Russian voters may prompt PM Vladimir Putin from holding the power and boosting public spending. United Russia party led by Putin may get only 53% of votes in parliamentary elections on December 4 to compare with 64% in 2007. Therefore United Russia party may lose nearly 65 seats in the State Duma. Voters are dissatisfied with leading parties inability to
Standard & Poor's after revision of its criteria downgraded Commonwealth Bank of Australia and three its most significant competitors. Westpac Banking Corp, Commonwealth, National Australia Bank Ltd. and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. were downgraded on level from AA to AA-. Chirs Viol UBS AG' credit analyst suggests it still is a good rating as it keeps Australian banks among top rated financials globally.
Citigroup is considering to replace its Japanese division CEO Darren Buckley in forthcoming month, said 2 officials familiar with situation. Buckley is expected to resign after the Citibank Japan has been penalized by Financial Services Agency for inappropriately explaining product risk exposure to retail clients. The bank has received punishment for the 3rd time in 7 years. Citigroup is looking for
On Friday Asian stocks were modestly fluctuating around yesterday's closing prices awaiting for US nonfarm payrolls statistics due later Friday. Economists expects jobless rate to be steady at 9% with 125,000 jobs added. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 0.5%, South Korea's Kospi edged down 0.4% while Shanghai Composite Index dropped 1.4%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index added 0.5% while Japan's Nikkei Stock Average advanced 0.2%.
On Thursday US shares experienced mild fluctuations ahead of Friday's US jobs report. S&P 500 Index declined 0.2% or 2.37 points to 1,244.59. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also lost 0.2% or 25.65 points to 12,020.03. Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.2% 5.86 points to 2,626.20.
The IMF announced it is going to lower the projected growth rate as difficulties in financial system triggered by the debt crisis in the euro-zone push down global economic output. The expected growth rate is 4% in 2011 being 0.3% lower than it was projected in June this year, according to IMF WEO report.
The USD rose at the Asian trading as investors' confidence in the greenback improved slightly anticipating the US jobs report due today. The dollar index approached to 78.329, edging up from 78.293 at the late North America trade on Thursday. The euro lost 0.02% against greenback falling to $1.3461 from $1.3467.
China's grain production increased by 4.5% on a yearly basis achieving 571.21 million tonnes this year, according to National Bureau of Statistics. The country China reaped 546.48 million tonnes of the commodity in 2010 indicating 4.5% increase in grain output in 2011.
Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President announced France and Germany have to cooperate as close as possible to facilitate stabilization in the euro-zone. He stressed that the euro will exist only if the Eurozone economies are tied together and put joint efforts to resolve the crisis. More rigorous financial discipline is necessary with sanctions for members that did not comply with their obligations, he added.