China's SOEs' profits are expected to jump to about 900 billion yuan this year from 848.98 billion yuan in 2010. State enterprises saw stable growth in 2011 despite global economic challenges, said Huang Shuhe from Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. The companies enhanced innovation and corporate management this year that allowed them to raise profits by 3.6% on a yearly basis.
New York Times announced it is going to sell 16 of its regional newspapers across the California and US Southeast to Halifax Media Holdings to reduce costs and concentrate on its most significant newspapers and their websites. The deal is valued at $143 million. Regional newspapers have been suffering from decline in national advertising and local retail, reflecting broader economic struggles.
Gold prices decreased as investors tend to increase the Dollar positions avoiding the yellow metal as they are worried about the spreading Euro Zone crisis. Gold futures for delivery in February traded at USD1,556.15 a troy ounce during the Asian morning traded, on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, losing 0.51%.
On Wednesday Standard & Poor's decided to put retailer Sears Holdings Corp. for a probable downgrade. S&P agency insists that closing more than 100 stores is not very likely to improve Sears performance. Sears corporate credit rating affirmed by S&P currently is at B. Sears stocks plunged on Tuesday after retailer announced it will shut between 100 and 120 Sears and Kmart stores to reduce costs.
China will go on increasing its currency flexibility and boosting domestic demand, according to foreign ministry. Since last year, the exchange rate had become much more flexible, said Hong Lei. The country's foreign trade is more balanced with decreasing current account surplus to 3% of the GDP in the first nine months of 2011, he added.
Alibaba group hired Washington based lobbying company signaling that China's e-commerce firm is interested to make a bid for whole Yahoo Inc. Hiring a US lobbying company could aid Alibaba avoid US political opposition against a full takeover of Yahoo Inc. by a firm from a nation that censors and controls the Internet.
US crude oil inventories data are likely to show a drop in inventories last week with the refining operations remaining unchanged. Analysts expect oil inventories to decrease by 2.2 million barrels for the last week, currently investors anticipate the EIA report on the oil inventories due on Thursday.
17-nation currency depreciated on Wednesday against greenback, reaching 15-record low after ECB issued report on its lending processes. The Euro tumbled from $1.3074 to $1.2938. During trade common currency hit $1.2910 which is the lowest reading since September 2010. US dollar index jumped from 79.792 to 80.526. Yesterday ECB issued report showing its balance sheet increased to a record €2.73 trillion after bank boosted lending from €214 bn
China's fiscal spending on rural development and agriculture is expected to amount more than 1 trillion yuan this year. The government introduced various reforms like grain subsidies, upgrade of irritation systems and enhancement of education to strengthen the national economy, said Zhang Ping, Minister of the NDRC. The policies have already brought the results as grain harvest is a record high this year amounting 571.21
US stock markets experienced a decline on Wednesday as investors were concerned about forthcoming Italian 10-year bond auction on Thursday. Italian 10-year borrowing costs currently are fluctuating near 7%. Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.1% or 139.94 points at 12,151.41. S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite fell 1.3% or 15.79 and 35.22 points to 1,249.64 and 2,589.98 respectively.
Most of Asian equities kept downward path on Thursday and closed lower as investors remained concerned about debt woe across the Europe. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 0.9%, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.6% while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 0.4%. Nevertheless Shanghai Composite and South Korea's Kospi managed to recover adding 0.1% and 0.3% respectively.
After substantial gains on Tuesday, German benchmark DAX index was marginally up on Wednesday. At the moment of writing DAX index is 0.07% or 4.21 points up at 5,893.97. Among main decliners were German automakers BMW AG and Volkswagen AG tumbling 1.2% and 1% respectively. Financial stocks also provided negative contribution as Deutsche Bank AG gave up 2% while Commerzbank AG lost 1.6%.
After prolonged Christmas holidays UK benchmark FTSE 100 opened 0.3% higher on Wednesday and extended gains later during day as Italy successfully sold bonds and their yields declined. At the moment of writing FTSE 100 trades 0.65% or 35.63 points higher at 5,548.33. Grocer Tesco PLC gained 2.2% after retailer reported strong Christmas sales. Drug producer GlaxoSmithKline PLC added 1% amid positive expectations about sector. Among main
S&P 500 Index added 0.01% or 0.1 point on Tuesday and finished at 1,265.43 led by utility stocks. On year-to-date basis the index is 0.6% up. Most negative contribution came from Sears Holdings Corp. after the retail company announced it will close 120 stores. Financials also weighted down on index as Morgan Stanley lost 2.98% and Citigroup Inc. was down 2.04%. Main gainers who helped
Dow Jones Industrial Average traded nearly flat on Tuesday following 427 point increase previous week. Blue chip index slipped 0.02% or 2.65 points closing at 12,291.35. Dow Jones was higher most of the session but retreated shortly ahead of closing as Sears announced about closing 120 of its stores. On the downside were financials J P Morgan Chase & Co and Bank of America Corp. falling
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average traded almost flat on Wednesday giving up 0.2% or 16.94 points, finishing at 8,423.62 amid tedious US data. Tokyo Electric Power Co plunged 12% after Yukio Edano, minister of Japan's trade and industry suggested company to consider nationalizing as firm's shares have lost around 90% of value after nuclear catastrophe in its Fukushima plant. Among main gainers were Toyota Motor Corp. and
After returning from holidays in Hong Kong's markets Hang Seng index dropped 0.59% or 110.50 points to 18,518.67 led by resource stocks. Analysts explain decline in the index with dreary US data as home prices fell more than expected while consumer confidence surged. China Coal Energy Co lost 1.9% while Zijin Mining Group Co. traded down 2.3%. China Overseas Corp. tumbled 2.95% and China Resource Land
Saudi Arabia may fill in the gap in oil supplies in case western economies impose sanctions on Iranian oil. Moreover, Iran will face difficulties in exporting its oil if it continues its nuclear programme. The country is most likely to turn to China to export oil while China will insist on price discounts hence Iran profit generated from oil will fall.
Copper futures increased on the fears of the global supply disruptions as workers of the Freeport mine announced they would go on new strike if management continues layoffs. Copper futures for delivery in March traded at USD3.429 a pound at the early European trade, on the New York Mercantile Exchange, advancing 0.59%.
Italian Treasury sold 9 billion euros in six-month Treasury bills eyeing sharp decline in yields to 3.25% from 6.50% on the same papers in November. The demand for bills improved since November with bids exceeding supply 1.7 times as compared to 1.5 times a month ago. The yields on 10-year bonds fell to 6.77%.
The world's largest LCD screens manufacturers agreed to pay $553m to settle claims on price fixing in 8 states in the US. Despite paying the amount, companies continue to deny accusations. Samsung will have to pay $240m, Sharp $115.5m while Chimei Innolux will pay $110m.
Workers of Freeport McMoRan's Grasberg mine stopped working because of the dispute with management. Workers protest against forthcoming redundancies as company already laid off 18 workers and kept 101 additional employee on a temporary basis. To end the previous strike that stopped mine production for three months, management agreed to increase wages and not to reduce number of staff. However, currently company considers new
Italian sovereign bonds climbed as the country prepared to sell around 11.5 bn euros of debt. 10-year borrowing costs on Italian bills gave up 12 basis points reaching 6.88%. Five-year bond yields lost 19 basis points reaching 6.16%. Yields on Spanish 10-year notes declined 23 basis points to 5.10% while those on 2-year papers dropped 28 basis points attaining 3.35%
Spain's residential mortgages fell for a 18th consecutive month as banks were reluctant to lend amid increase both in bad loans and borrowing costs. In October the number of housing loans dropped 43.6% on a yearly basis compared to 42% fall in September. Total financing on all types of mortgages lost annual 40.6%. The proportion of bad loans to total loans reached