Walt Disney Co. has announced of raising company's annual dividend by 50%. The new dividend will be increased from 40 to 60 US cents and will be delivered on January 18, company said in its statement. Disney who is also an owner of ABC TV network is going to pay back cash also via stock repurchases. Yesterday Disney added 5.4%
Wheat futures have bleak prospects for extending gains in the next year as there is a supply surplus in the market, reported Goldman Sachs ,Wall Street investment bank. Wheat futures declined by 5.5% in November. Investors also look forward to report of U.S. Department of Agriculture due later today that may improve the market sentiment.
Iraq' crude oil production increased by 2.2% in November to 2.135 million bpd from 2.088 million bpd in October. The country signed a contract with Royal Dutch Shell and Mitsubishi envisaging Iraq to process natural gas from oil fields in Basra. The contract is worth $17 billion and is considered to be a milestone in Iraq' history, said Elaibi, the oil minister of Iraq.
China started to adjust its monetary policy in order to adapt the financial system of the country amid deteriorating economic environment. The first step the China's government undertook was a reduction in reserve requirement ratio to 21%. The cut is likely to inject about 350 billion yuan into economy. However, analysts claim the country will adjust the policy further; for example, China may increase interest
China's aluminium output is likely to surge by 60% in the next 4 years, announced Hu Changping, Director of China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association. Total output will increase to 40 milllion tonnes as compared to the current level of 25 million tonnes. However, LME aluminium prices fall this year to $1950/tonne, losing 25% since the beginning of 2011 mostly because of weak economic outlook and
The USD declined against major currencies while the euro edged up slightly on the results of the wake auctions of France and Spain. The dollar index was down to 78.250 from 78.345 in North American trade on Wednesday. The euro remained steady edging higher to $1.3477 from $1.3446.
Wheat futures experienced gains approaching close to two-week high due to improved market sentiment after successful France's and Spain's bond auctions. On the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, wheat futures for March delivery achieved $6.1888 a bushel at the European morning trade, adding 0.78% since opening.
Google Inc.'s Chrome browser has become number two Internet browser overtaking Mozilla's Firefox. Currently Google Chrome has 25.69% market share as compared with 4.66% two year ago. Meanwhile, Firefox has 25.23% as compared to the market leader Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer that holds 40.63% of the worldwide search engine market.
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. stated that the company has found large deposits of the natural gas in Mozambique. The reserves are estimated to be more than 30 trillion cubic feet of gas. About 20% of the project is owned by the Japanese company Mitsui, thus highly benefiting Japan as country's power generation operates mainly on the natural gas.
On Thursday US stock futures traded flat after rocketing during the previous session. Future prices were relatively steady in contrast to successful yesterday's trade as investors absorbed frail economic data regarding China. Bond auctions in France and Spain also calmed the market. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures edged down 12 points attaining 12,022, while Standard & Poor's 500 stock index futures dropped 3
Federal Reserve claimed it might cut US benchmark rate if necessary. Since February 2010 US key interest rate has been set at 0.75% which means European financials after yesterday's swap rate reduction, will pay about 0.6% cheaper for borrowing in dollars than currently US banks do. Therefore Michael Cloherty, RBC Capital Markets' strategist expects 25 b.p. reduction in US discount rate in
French and Spanish bonds extended gains on Thursday's auction as six central banks cut dollar borrowing costs creating additional funds while China eased its monetary restraints. Spanish 5-year note yield declined to 28 b.p. to 5.58% and French 10 year bond yields dropped 21 b.p. to 3.18%. Spain managed to sell all planned amount worth $5.1 bn.
Christine Lagarde, executive of the International Monetary Fund, has welcomed the joint decision of Fed and 5 other central banks to deliver cheaper dollar financing to European financials. According to Lagarde, yesterday's action indicates a high efficiency in international cooperation which has been positively evaluated in markets. IMF also has announced it will collaborate with central banks to support the measures they have
On Thursday Japan's Nikkei Stock Average followed Asian market upward trend, though at a slower pace. Japanese benchmark index gained 1.93% or 162.77 points and closed at 8,597.38. Miner companies provided major positive contribution to the index. JFE Holdings Inc. added 8.9% while Nippon Steel Corp. jumped 7.1%. Japanese auto makers return on positive side as Mazda Corp. traded up 4.38% and
On Thursday Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rallied amid central banks' decision to cut dollar swap rates as well as China's easing monetary policy. Hong Kong's benchmark gained 5.6% or 1,012.91 points and closed at 19,002.36. Financials boosted index heavily: Bank of China Ltd. added 10.4%, China Citic Bank Corp. jumped 10.8% whereas Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. advanced 9%. Chinese real estate
Most European stocks markets opened lower on Thursday as markets gave back part of yesterdays excessive gains that were encouraged by central banks' announcement about reducing dollar borrowing costs. Stoxx Europe 600 lost 0.2% to 239.46, pushed by mining and drug stocks. French CAC 40 and German DAX declined both edged down 0.4% to 3,141.94 and 6,062.69 respectively. FTSE 100 was the
Australian retail sales increased less than expected in previous month, according to official data. The retail sales in the country increased by 0.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis as compared with 0.4% a month before. Experts projected retail sales to increase by 0.4%.
Toyota Motor Corp. and BMW AG announced they started to cooperate in environmental technologies including joint creation of lithium-ion batteries. The batteries will be used for more advanced generation of battery-powered cars. The partnership stipulates that BMW also supplies 1.6-and 2.0 liter diesel engines for Toyota cars for sale in Europe. The partners will share expenses on development of batteries
The Canadian domestic currency gained most since previous year's May as major central banks including Bank of Canada cut the cost of dollar swaps to relieve European debt turmoil. Loonie jumped against greenback to a 2-week high as Canadian statistics reported than country's GDP added at faster pace than expected. Canadian dolllar gained 1.4% against its US peer, reaching C$
Starbucks Corp., one of major coffee-bar chains, announced it plans to open new 200 drive-through stores and some ordinary stores by 2016. The expansion would create 5,000 jobs in the UK. Currently the company has 700 stores in UK. More than a half of planned stores will be opened under license by Euro Garages, the fuel retailer, Starbucks added.
Swiss manufacturing activity declined more than expected for the third month in line, according to industry data. Purchasing managers' index lost 2.1 points on a seasonally adjusted basis to 44.8 in November as compared with 46.9 in October, reported Swiss SVME, the purchasing manager's association, and Credit Suisse.
Use of the ECB overnight deposit achieved a new high for 2011 after global central banks took a coordinated action to ease cost of USD borrowings. The deposit level reached EUR 304.42 billion on Wednesday up from EUR 297.112 billion on Tuesday. Banks borrowed EUR 4.638 billion from the overnight facility on Wednesday as compared with EUR 2.705 billion on Tuesday, ECB reported.
Copper prices are highly dependent on China consumption and market deficit. Recent fall in China's PMI led to a decrease in copper prices. LME copper currently is traded at $8000/tonne falling by more than 20% since the beginning of 2011. However, the expected 250,000 tonnes copper deficit in 2012 may stimulate the growth of prices, however in case the metal's consumption also decreases, the deficit
European manufacturing activity decreased at the fastest speed in the last 28 months. The PMI tumbled from 47.1 in October to 46.4 in November. Analysts expected the indicator will be unchanged for the period. All euro-zone countries experienced a fall that signals spreading downturn, said Chris Williamson, Markit chief economist.