Business Recorder! Markets syndication. http://www.brecorder.com Tue, 21 May 2013 00:32:01 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.brecorder.com/images/M_images/livemarks.png http://www.brecorder.com Business Recorder! Markets syndication. http://www.brecorder.com/markets/equity/americas/120368-oil-prices-gain-for-fourth-straight-session.html NEW YORK: World oil prices pushed higher Monday for the fourth straight session after reversing an early sell-off chalked up to profit-taking.New York's main contract, WTI light sweet crude for June delivery, added 69 cents from Friday's close to $96.71 a barrel.Brent North Sea crude for delivery in July gained 16 cents to $104.80 a barrel in London."It is a very quiet day in the markets due to holidays across several European countries while economic data is non-existent, meaning crude oil is driven more by technical buying and selling rather than the fundamentals today," said analyst Fawad Razaqzada at trading group GFT Markets."Profit-taking is also playing a key part especially after the sharp rally we saw in the second half of last week. Thus it is hardly surprising that we are seeing prices fall today."Crude futures surged late last week after a better-than-expected reading on US consumer confidence boosted hopes for stronger energy demand in the world's biggest economy and sent Wall Street to new record highs on Friday.Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2013 Mon, 20 May 2013 19:12:24 +0100 http://www.brecorder.com/markets/equity/americas/120367-us-stocks-dip-in-cautious-trade.html NEW YORK: US stocks closed slightly lower in thin trade Monday ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony on the economic outlook to Congress.At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 18.35 points (0.12 percent) at 15,336.05.The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index edged down 2.53 (0.07 percent) to 3,496.43 and the broad-market S P 500 lost 1.21 (0.07 percent) at 1,666.26.The leading indices drifted in mixed fashion around the unchanged mark for much of the day, after surging to new record-high closes Friday.Analysts said the market was taking a breather ahead of Bernanke's testimony to Congress Wednesday and the release of the Fed minutes from the last policy meeting."It looks as if there will be another opportunity in the stock market to buy the dip. With the Fed chairman's testimony lurking around the corner, though, there may not be the same rush to do so that was seen last week," said Patrick O'Hare of Briefing.com.Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2013 Mon, 20 May 2013 19:11:24 +0100 http://www.brecorder.com/markets/fxmm/americas/120364-euro-rebounds-yen-gains-on-ministera39s-comments.html NEW YORK: The euro rebounded against the dollar Monday after sharp losses last week, while the yen also pushed higher after Japan's economy minister said it may have fallen far enough.At 2100 GMT, the euro was at $1.2884 compared to $1.2834 late Friday.The dollar fell to 102.26 yen from 103.19, while the euro moved to 131.76 yen from 132.44.The dollar mostly traded in a narrow range in the absence of fresh economic data and in anticipation of Wednesday's testimony on the economy by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and the release, the same day, of minutes from the Fed's last policy meeting.The yen's push higher came after Economy Minister Akira Amari suggested that further weakening of the yen could be harmful after a long, steady fall from last year."It's being said that the correction of the strong yen is largely completed. If the yen keeps on weakening a lot more, it will have a negative impact on peoples' lives," he said."The comments from Mr. Amari suggest the government appears to be satisfied at the levels achieved by the yen at present," said analysts at FXstreet.com.Some traders used Amari's comments as "an excuse to take profits after the dollar breached 103... Mon, 20 May 2013 19:05:13 +0100 http://www.brecorder.com/markets/equity/americas/120363-us-stocks-dip-despite-maa-activity.html NEW YORK: US stocks slipped Monday despite a flurry of merger and acquisition news as investors looked ahead to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony to Congress this week.Yahoo!'s $1.1 billion deal to buy blogging platform Tumblr temporarily helped to lift the Nasdaq above the flat line, but not enough to keep it there.The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 19.12 points (0.12 percent) at 15,335.28.The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index edged down 2.53 (0.07 percent) to 3,496.43 and the broad-market S P 500 lost 1.18 (0.07 percent) at 1,666.29.The leading indices drifted for much of the day after surging to new record-high closes on Friday.Analysts said the market was taking a breather ahead of Bernanke's testimony on the US economic outlook to Congress Wednesday and the release of the Fed minutes from the last policy meeting.Yahoo! shares rose 0.2 percent after announcing an agreement to buy Tumblr for $1.1 billion in cash.The two firms confirmed weekend reports of the tie-up, in a deal which helps the struggling Internet pioneer connect with the privately held Tumblr's youthful users."Tumblr gives Yahoo! scale in social media, and, that by itself is enough to argue the deal, at $1.1 billion, is brilliant," said Douglas McIntyre... Mon, 20 May 2013 19:04:10 +0100 http://www.brecorder.com/markets/equity/europe/120332-european-stocks-rise-in-muted-trading.html LONDON: European stock markets rose in muted holiday trading on Monday amid weak Italian economic data despite a strong start to the new week for Asian equity prices. London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares added 0.48 percent to 6,755.63 points, while in Frankfurt the DAX 30 index set a fresh record high close after climbing 0.69 percent to 8,455.83 points, and in Paris the CAC 40 rose 0.54 percent to 4,022.85 points.European markets edged up on Monday "following another record finish in US markets on Friday and an upbeat session in Asia overnight", said Ishaq Siddiqi, market strategist at traders ETX Capital."Volume today however is on the light side due to... (the public) holiday in Germany and France." Milan's main index slid 0.55 percent to 17,506 points as official data revealed industrial orders in Italy plunged by 10 percent in March on a 12-month comparison. They however rose by 1.6 percent from February, as eurozone member Italy suffers its longest-ever recession.In foreign exchange deals, the European single currency grew to $1.2868 from $1.2834 late in New York on Friday.The dollar dropped to 102.51 yen from 103.19 yen on Friday, when the Japanese currency had reached the lowest level versus... Mon, 20 May 2013 13:23:57 +0100 http://www.brecorder.com/markets/fxmm/europe/120334-sterling-climbs-off-6-week-low-vs-dollar.html LONDON: Sterling recovered from a six-week low against the dollar on Monday as the US currency dipped after recent strong gains, but it was still vulnerable to signs the US central bank may scale back monetary stimulus.The pound could be lifted by Bank of England minutes on Wednesday and a string of UK data this week, including retail sales and revised first quarter gross domestic product figures, if they continue to point to an improving UK economy.But analysts expected gains to be limited, especially against the dollar which has gained broadly recently.Sterling was up 0.2 percent at $1.5204, off a low of $1.5158 hit on Friday when the dollar gained after US Federal Reserve officials called for the central bank to start tapering bond buying under its quantitative easing programme.As well as UK data, focus will centre on Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony to Congress on Wednesday to see whether he also favours scaling back QE."BoE minutes and GDP data might cause the pound to react but I don't think there will be any sustainable new trends in the short term when the market is dominated by dollar direction," said John Hardy, currency strategist at Saxo.UK inflation data is also... Mon, 20 May 2013 13:20:55 +0100 http://www.brecorder.com/markets/energy/europe/120333-hellenic-issues-tender-to-buy-russian-oil.html LONDON: Hellenic Petroleum, Greece's largest refiner, has issued a tender to buy an 80,000 tonne cargo of Russian Urals crude oil for early June delivery, a trading source said, the first in months as its finances improve.The tender was issued on Friday and closes today. The payment will be on open credit terms, which means that the seller will cover the trade financing for the deal.Traders said it has been a long time since the refiner last issued a tender. Hellenic held a similar tender in June of last year.The refiner has been struggling to buy crude and products as the financial crisis in Greece has led international banks to stop dealing with many Greek institutions and accepting their letters of credit, fearing defaults.Hellenic was forced to rely on an open credit line mainly with Glencore, a major trading company with enough liquidity to take on the risk of non-payment.The refiner has been finding it easier to buy crude after a financial bailout of Greek banks and after Hellenic was able to refinance 1.2 billion euros in loans.More traders have started selling to the refiner, including on a cash-and-barter system.Ratings agency Fitch upgraded Greece's sovereign credit rating by one notch... Mon, 20 May 2013 13:18:11 +0100 http://www.brecorder.com/markets/equity/europe/120330-shares-grind-higher-yen-edges-up-global-markets.html LONDON: Optimism about global growth pushed world shares to a near five-year high on Monday, while debate about the future of the US Federal Reserve's stimulus programme extended gold's longest losing streak in four years.Data last week that showed US consumer sentiment at its strongest in nearly six years continued to support equity markets ahead of this week's forward-looking PMI numbers from most of the world's top economies.Futures prices pointed to a steady start for a Wall Street at record highs after earlier minor gains on European and Asian indexes lifted MSCI's world shares index 0.3 percent to its highest since June 2008.A constant drip of central bank stimulus and pledges of support over that have driven a 40 percent surge in global stocks and squeezed core bond yields over the last year.But with signs that growth in key economies is slowly improving, investors are starting to wonder what lies ahead.The near 20 percent slump in yen since the start of the year has been the most recent example of the impact of such stimulus programmes, thanks to the Bank of Japan's $1.4 trillion plan to boost growth through inflation.It was off Friday's 4-1/2-year low, however, at 102.5 yen to... Mon, 20 May 2013 13:10:19 +0100 http://www.brecorder.com/markets/fixed-income/europe/120328-india-says-foreign-investors-may-buy-inflation-linked-bonds.html MUMBAI: India's new inflation-linked bonds will be sold to foreign investors as part of an up to $25 billion investment limit for government debt allotted for demand from overseas, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officials said on Monday.However, inflation-linked bonds will be issued separately from a scheduled weekly auctions of government bonds, the officials said in a teleconference providing details about the upcoming sales of the debt.The RBI plans to kick-off monthly sales of inflation-linked bonds on June 4, with an inaugural sale of 10 billion to 20 billion rupees worth.The central bank may also consider eventually linking inflation-indexed bonds to the consumer price-led inflation (CPI) once the price measure stabilises, said R. Gandhi, executive director of the RBI, without providing a timeframe.The RBI plans to initially index the bonds to the wholesale price index with a four-month lag, unlike elsewhere in the world, where these bonds are typically pegged to CPI.India's annual consumer price inflation, which was launched in February 2012, slowed for the second straight month in April 2013 to 9.39 percent, but remains well above the central bank's comfort level.Inflation bonds will also be eligible for short-selling, repo transactions.Inflation-linked bonds are part of the several measures India... Mon, 20 May 2013 13:06:21 +0100 http://www.brecorder.com/markets/energy/europe/120326-oil-slips-towards-104-on-demand-outlook.html LONDON: Brent crude oil slipped towards $104 per barrel on Monday, weighed by ample supplies, weaker demand for fuel and a strong dollar, despite gains in equity markets.The dollar was within 0.2 percent of its highest level since July 2010 against a basket of currencies, keeping a lid on a range of commodities prices.A strong dollar tends to depress oil and other commodities that are priced in the US currency on international markets.The fundamental outlook for oil also looked less positive with a weaker demand growth for 2013 as well as higher supply, according to the West's energy watchdog, the International Energy Agency.Brent crude futures for July were down 50 cents at $104.14 per barrel by 1240 GMT, after three straight sessions of gains. US crude fell 30 cents to $95.72."The strength of the dollar has been negative for commodities," said Olivier Jakob, analysts at Swiss energy consultancy Petromatrix."But short-term the market looks fairly balanced, with Brent trading in a range between $90 and $110 per barrel. It is difficult to see it breaking out of that for a while."Gold fell for an eighth session to its weakest in over a month as fears the US Federal Reserve may wind... Mon, 20 May 2013 13:01:21 +0100