Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
European shares jump on U.S. budget deal
* FTSEurofirst 300 up 1.3 pct, highest since May 2011
* Miners top gainers, copper up strongly
* Euro STOXX 50 volatility index drops 14 pct
By Tricia Wright
LONDON, Jan 2 (Reuters) - European shares rallied across the board at the start of the new year after U.S. lawmakers approved a deal to prevent a fiscal crunch that had threatened growth in the world's largest economy.
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives late on Tuesday finally approved a bill that will raise taxes on top U.S. earners, fulfilling President Barack Obama's re-election promise and avoiding $600 billion in broader-based tax hikes and spending cuts.
Asian shares rose strongly overnight on the news, while copper prices climbed 2.2 percent, with robust manufacturing data from top metals consumer China also aiding the mood.
The FTSEurofirst 300 rose 1.3 percent at 1,148.97 by 0914 GMT, hitting levels last seen in May 2011.
Uncertainty as to whether U.S. politicians would manage to hammer out a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff had cast a shadow over market sentiment in the last weeks of 2012.
"The U.S. news allows some apprehension to be reduced and although we have been confident of a deal being announced last minute we can now see more aggressive buying in today's session," Atif Latif, director of trading at Guardian Stockbrokers, said.
The Euro STOXX 50 Volatility Index, or VSTOXX, Europe's widely-used measure of stock market risk aversion, dropped 14 percent on Wednesday following the U.S. budget deal.
The VSTOXX - which is used to measure the cost of protecting stock holdings against corrections - tumbled to 18.45.
China's official manufacturing purchasing managers' index held steady in December at 50.6, matching November's seven-month high and adding to evidence of a move back toward growth in the world's biggest metals consumer.
That helped basic resources stocks put in a solid showing on Wednesday, the top performing sector with a 3.1 percent advance.
The euro zone's blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 firmed 49.54 points, or 1.9 percent, to 2,685.47.
The Euro STOXX 50 climbed 13.8 percent in 2012, while the FTSEurofirst 300 rose 13.2 percent, boosted by bold measures from central banks to resolve Europe's debt crisis and revive global growth.
Among technical strategists there was optimism as to how 2013 would proceed.
"We've started the year on a positive note, and it does look like the market is pushing on towards 2,722," Barclays Capital's chief European technical strategist Phil Roberts said, referring to the Euro STOXX 50.
The 2,722 level in technical analysis is an equality target - the point at which the rally from the low in 2011 to the high in March 2012 is replicated off the low in June 2012.
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CAR rebels say to join peace talks, halt advance
BANGUI | Wed Jan 2, 2013 4:28am EST
"I have asked our forces not to move their positions starting today because we want to enter talks in Libreville for a political solution," Seleka rebel spokesman Eric Massi told Reuters by telephone from Paris.
"I am in discussion with our partners to come up with proposals to end the crisis but one solution could be a political transition that excludes (President Francois) Bozize."
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TEXT-S&P:Ratings on Citigroup funding unaffected by merger
Jan 02 - Standard & Poor's Rating Services today said that Citigroup's announced merger of Citigroup Funding Inc., an intermediate holding company, with Citigroup Inc., the ultimate parent, does not affect the ratings on any of the debt issues from Citigroup Funding Inc. The ratings on these issues were based on a full and unconditional guarantee from Citigroup Inc. Any debt issues outstanding under Citigroup Funding Inc. will be assumed by Citigroup Inc. (A-/Negative/A-2).
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WRAPUP 13-United States avoids calamity in 'fiscal cliff' drama
* Obama wins victory in tax fight
* Vote caps weeks of budget wrangling
* House Republicans back away from plan to confront Senate
* Bill raises taxes on the wealthiest
By Andy Sullivan and Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON, Jan 1 (Reuters) - The United States averted economic calamity on Tuesday when lawmakers approved a deal to prevent huge tax hikes and spending cuts that would have pushed the world's largest economy off a "fiscal cliff" and into recession.
The agreement hands a clear victory to President Barack Obama, who won re-election on a promise to address budget woes in part by raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans. His Republican antagonists were forced to vote against a core tenet of their anti-tax conservative faith.
The deal also resolves, for now, the question of whether Washington can overcome deep ideological differences to avoid harming an economy that is only now beginning to pick up steam after the deepest recession in 80 years.
Consumers, businesses and financial markets have been rattled by the months of budget brinkmanship. The crisis ended when dozens of Republicans in the House of Representatives buckled and backed tax hikes approved by the Democratic-controlled Senate.
Asian stocks hit a five-month high and the dollar fell as markets welcomed the news. China's state news agency Xinhua took a more severe view, warning the United States must get to grips with a budget deficit that threatened not a "fiscal cliff" but a "fiscal abyss". Most of China's $3.3 trillion foreign exchange reserves are held in dollars.
The vote averted immediate pain like tax hikes for almost all U.S. households, but did nothing to resolve other political showdowns on the budget that loom in coming months. Spending cuts of $109 billion in military and domestic programs were only delayed for two months.
Obama urged "a little less drama" when the Congress and White House next address thorny fiscal issues like the government's rapidly mounting $16 trillion debt load.
There was plenty of drama on the first day of 2013 as lawmakers scrambled to avert the "fiscal cliff" of across-the-board tax hikes and spending cuts that would have punched a $600 billion hole in the economy this year.
As the rest of the country celebrated New Year's Day with parties and college football games, the Senate stayed up past 2 a.m. on Tuesday and passed the bill by an overwhelming margin of 89 to 8.
When they arrived at the Capitol at noon, House Republicans were forced to decide whether to accept a $620 billion tax hike over 10 years on the wealthiest or shoulder the blame for letting the country slip into budget chaos.
The Republicans mounted an effort to add hundreds of billions of dollars in spending cuts to the package and spark a confrontation with the Senate.
RELUCTANT REPUBLICANS
For a few hours, it looked like Washington would send the country over the fiscal cliff after all, until Republican leaders determined that they did not have the votes for spending cuts.
In the end, they reluctantly approved the Senate bill by a bipartisan vote of 257 to 167 and sent it on to Obama to sign into law.
"We are ensuring that taxes aren't increased on 99 percent of our fellow Americans," said Republican Representative David Dreier of California.
The vote underlined the precarious position of House Speaker John Boehner, who will ask his Republicans to re-elect him speaker on Thursday when a new Congress is sworn in. Boehner backed the bill but most House Republicans, including his top lieutenants, voted against it.
The speaker had sought to negotiate a "grand bargain" with Obama to overhaul the U.S. tax code and rein in health and retirement programs that are due to balloon in coming decades as the population ages. But Boehner could not unite his members behind an alternative to Obama's tax measures.
Income tax rates will now rise on families earning more than $450,000 per year and the amount of deductions they can take to lower their tax bill will be limited.
Low temporary rates that have been in place for the past decade will be made permanent for less-affluent taxpayers, along with a range of targeted tax breaks put in place to fight the 2009 economic downturn.
However, workers will see up to $2,000 more taken out of their paychecks annually with the expiration of a temporary payroll tax cut.
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said the bill will increase budget deficits by nearly $4 trillion over the coming 10 years, compared to the budget savings that would occur if the extreme measures of the cliff were to kick in.
But the measure will actually save $650 billion during that time period when measured against the tax and spending policies that were in effect on Monday, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, an independent group that has pushed for more aggressive deficit savings.
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CAR rebels say to join peace talks, halt advance
BANGUI | Wed Jan 2, 2013 4:28am EST
"I have asked our forces not to move their positions starting today because we want to enter talks in Libreville for a political solution," Seleka rebel spokesman Eric Massi told Reuters by telephone from Paris.
"I am in discussion with our partners to come up with proposals to end the crisis but one solution could be a political transition that excludes (President Francois) Bozize."
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Euro STOXX 50 volatility index drops 14 pct
PARIS | Wed Jan 2, 2013 4:11am EST
The VSTOXX - which is used to measure the cost of protecting stock holdings against corrections - tumbled to 18.45, reversing most of a Dec. 28 surge that had been fuelled by fears a deal would not be struck.
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BRIEF-International Mining confirms Afferro approach
LONDON | Wed Jan 2, 2013 3:43am EST
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TEXT-S&P:Ratings on Citigroup funding unaffected by merger
Jan 02 - Standard & Poor's Rating Services today said that Citigroup's announced merger of Citigroup Funding Inc., an intermediate holding company, with Citigroup Inc., the ultimate parent, does not affect the ratings on any of the debt issues from Citigroup Funding Inc. The ratings on these issues were based on a full and unconditional guarantee from Citigroup Inc. Any debt issues outstanding under Citigroup Funding Inc. will be assumed by Citigroup Inc. (A-/Negative/A-2).
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UPDATE 1-CAR rebels halt advance, agree to peace talks
BANGUI Jan 2 (Reuters) - Rebels in Central African Republic said they had halted their advance on the capital on Wednesday and would start peace talks, averting a clash with regionally-backed troops in the mineral-rich nation.
The announcement gave only a limited reprieve for President Francois Bozize as the insurgents told Reuters they might insist on his removal in the negotiations in Gabon's capital Libreville.
Seleka rebels, who accuse the president of reneging on an earlier peace deal, had advanced to within striking distance of the capital Bangui after a three-week onslaught.
"I have asked our forces not to move their positions starting today because we want to enter talks in Libreville for a political solution," Seleka spokesman Eric Massi told Reuters by telephone from Paris.
"I am in discussion with our partners to come up with proposals to end the crisis, but one solution could be a political transition that excludes Bozize," he added.
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European shares jump on U.S. budget deal
* FTSEurofirst 300 up 1.3 pct, highest since May 2011
* Miners top gainers, copper up strongly
* Euro STOXX 50 volatility index drops 14 pct
By Tricia Wright
LONDON, Jan 2 (Reuters) - European shares rallied across the board at the start of the new year after U.S. lawmakers approved a deal to prevent a fiscal crunch that had threatened growth in the world's largest economy.
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives late on Tuesday finally approved a bill that will raise taxes on top U.S. earners, fulfilling President Barack Obama's re-election promise and avoiding $600 billion in broader-based tax hikes and spending cuts.
Asian shares rose strongly overnight on the news, while copper prices climbed 2.2 percent, with robust manufacturing data from top metals consumer China also aiding the mood.
The FTSEurofirst 300 rose 1.3 percent at 1,148.97 by 0914 GMT, hitting levels last seen in May 2011.
Uncertainty as to whether U.S. politicians would manage to hammer out a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff had cast a shadow over market sentiment in the last weeks of 2012.
"The U.S. news allows some apprehension to be reduced and although we have been confident of a deal being announced last minute we can now see more aggressive buying in today's session," Atif Latif, director of trading at Guardian Stockbrokers, said.
The Euro STOXX 50 Volatility Index, or VSTOXX, Europe's widely-used measure of stock market risk aversion, dropped 14 percent on Wednesday following the U.S. budget deal.
The VSTOXX - which is used to measure the cost of protecting stock holdings against corrections - tumbled to 18.45.
China's official manufacturing purchasing managers' index held steady in December at 50.6, matching November's seven-month high and adding to evidence of a move back toward growth in the world's biggest metals consumer.
That helped basic resources stocks put in a solid showing on Wednesday, the top performing sector with a 3.1 percent advance.
The euro zone's blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 firmed 49.54 points, or 1.9 percent, to 2,685.47.
The Euro STOXX 50 climbed 13.8 percent in 2012, while the FTSEurofirst 300 rose 13.2 percent, boosted by bold measures from central banks to resolve Europe's debt crisis and revive global growth.
Among technical strategists there was optimism as to how 2013 would proceed.
"We've started the year on a positive note, and it does look like the market is pushing on towards 2,722," Barclays Capital's chief European technical strategist Phil Roberts said, referring to the Euro STOXX 50.
The 2,722 level in technical analysis is an equality target - the point at which the rally from the low in 2011 to the high in March 2012 is replicated off the low in June 2012.
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Qtel buys further $360 mln stake in Tunisian telco
DUBAI | Wed Jan 2, 2013 3:55am EST
DUBAI Jan 2 (Reuters) - Qatar Telecom (Qtel), the majority state-owned telecommunications operator, has agreed with the Tunisian government to buy a further 15 percent stake in that country's operator Tunisiana for $360 million.
The purchase raises the Qatari firm's stake in Tunisiana to 90 percent, Qtel said in a statement seen on Wednesday. Wataniya , Qtel's Kuwaiti arm, already held 75 percent of Tunisiana.
The Tunisian government will retain a 10 percent holding in Tunisiana with a view to conducting a public offer of shares in future, the statement added.
Qtel has been raising stakes in its subsidiaries, taking advantage of the gas-rich Gulf state's healthy financial position at a time when other large telecommunications firms are shying away from deals.
"We also look forward to continuing our partnership with the Tunisian authorities as Tunisiana enters into a new phase of its development with the continuing expansion of 3G services and the launch of fixed line services in 2013," Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohamed bin Saud al-Thani, chairman of Qtel Group, said in the statement.
Some Gulf investors have been looking to raise their presence in Tunisia, where valuations are low because of the political strife which followed the Arab Spring uprising. Other Arab Spring countries such as Egypt and Libya have also been targeted by cash-rich Gulf buyers.
Qtel has expanded into more than 16 countries in the past decade and spent nearly $4 billion last year to take majority ownership of its Iraqi unit Asiacell and Kuwaiti arm Wataniya in separate deals.
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BRIEF-Brenntag says to take over Altivia for $125 mln
FRANKFURT | Wed Jan 2, 2013 4:25am EST
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DIARY - Schedule of forthcoming world elections
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New airline operating licences in Saudi may take 3-6 months
A model plane stands in an airline ticketing office in Riyadh, July 17, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Fahad ShadeedBy Asma Alsharif and Praveen MenonJEDDAH/DUBAI | Mon Dec 31, 2012 6:06am EST
JEDDAH/DUBAI (Reuters) - Foreign airlines may need about three to six months to obtain operating licences letting them enter Saudi Arabia's domestic aviation market, a spokesman for the General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) said on Saturday.
GACA announced on Friday that Qatar Airways and Bahrain's national carrier Gulf Air had become the first foreign airlines to obtain carrier licences under which they would be able to run local and international flights in the kingdom.
Fourteen foreign and local companies had applied for the licences, which mark a major reform of the aviation market in Saudi Arabia, the biggest Arab economy and by far the largest country in the Gulf geographically.
Currently, only national carrier Saudi Arabian Airlines and budget airline National Air Services serve a domestic market of about 27 million people. Foreign carriers can only fly in and out of Saudi Arabia, not within the country.
Over 54 million passengers passed through Saudi Arabia's 27 airports last year, up 13.6 percent from 2010, according to GACA data. But the kingdom has one of the smallest airline networks in the region relative to its size, and passengers have complained about the limited range of flights as well as the quality of service.
In a statement to Reuters on Saturday, the GACA spokesman said Qatar Airways and Gulf Air were working on final procedures for their operating licences.
He did not comment on whether other firms among the 14 that applied for carrier licences might eventually be successful. The 14 included firms fully owned by Saudis, Gulf-Arab firms, and consortiums of Saudi-Gulf and Saudi-Chinese companies.
OPPORTUNITY
Over the past year, Saudi Arabia has taken steps to liberalise its economy in several areas in an effort to create jobs and diversify away from heavy dependence on oil. For example, it is trying to develop a home mortgage industry.
Earlier this month the information minister said GACA would be allowed to grant permission for airlines to raise their fares under certain circumstances, and that fuel prices at Saudi airports would be reviewed to ensure fairer competition.
Abdulwahab Abu Dahesh, a Saudi financial analyst, said he believed the government would also remove subsidies now provided to existing Saudi airlines.
"This has to happen in 2013 because there will be no competition unless that problem is solved," he said. "This needs to be resolved before these firms start operations."
Qatar Airways could be a strong competitor in Saudi Arabia. It is growing rapidly, and in October became the first major Gulf airline to announce plans to join the oneworld alliance, a global group of carriers which cooperate in areas such as route networks, frequent flyer schemes and procurement.
Akbar Al Baker, chief executive of Qatar Airways, has said he is interested in the possibility of launching an airline in Saudi Arabia.
By contrast, Gulf Air has been struggling; last month it cut an order for Boeing (BA.N) planes and revised a deal with Airbus (EAD.PA) as it restructured its fleet to reduce pressure on its finances.
Nevertheless, Riyadh has been supporting Manama politically and economically during the social unrest that has plagued Bahrain since last year. A Saudi operating licence could help Gulf Air by letting it diversify beyond its weak home market.
Officials for Qatar Airways and Gulf Air declined to comment on the airlines' plans when contacted by Reuters on Saturday. (Writing by Andrew Torchia)
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CAR rebels say to join peace talks, halt advance
BANGUI | Wed Jan 2, 2013 4:28am EST
"I have asked our forces not to move their positions starting today because we want to enter talks in Libreville for a political solution," Seleka rebel spokesman Eric Massi told Reuters by telephone from Paris.
"I am in discussion with our partners to come up with proposals to end the crisis but one solution could be a political transition that excludes (President Francois) Bozize."
View the original article here
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Euro STOXX 50 volatility index drops 14 pct
PARIS | Wed Jan 2, 2013 4:11am EST
The VSTOXX - which is used to measure the cost of protecting stock holdings against corrections - tumbled to 18.45, reversing most of a Dec. 28 surge that had been fuelled by fears a deal would not be struck.
View the original article here
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WRAPUP 13-United States avoids calamity in 'fiscal cliff' drama
* Obama wins victory in tax fight
* Vote caps weeks of budget wrangling
* House Republicans back away from plan to confront Senate
* Bill raises taxes on the wealthiest
By Andy Sullivan and Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON, Jan 1 (Reuters) - The United States averted economic calamity on Tuesday when lawmakers approved a deal to prevent huge tax hikes and spending cuts that would have pushed the world's largest economy off a "fiscal cliff" and into recession.
The agreement hands a clear victory to President Barack Obama, who won re-election on a promise to address budget woes in part by raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans. His Republican antagonists were forced to vote against a core tenet of their anti-tax conservative faith.
The deal also resolves, for now, the question of whether Washington can overcome deep ideological differences to avoid harming an economy that is only now beginning to pick up steam after the deepest recession in 80 years.
Consumers, businesses and financial markets have been rattled by the months of budget brinkmanship. The crisis ended when dozens of Republicans in the House of Representatives buckled and backed tax hikes approved by the Democratic-controlled Senate.
Asian stocks hit a five-month high and the dollar fell as markets welcomed the news. China's state news agency Xinhua took a more severe view, warning the United States must get to grips with a budget deficit that threatened not a "fiscal cliff" but a "fiscal abyss". Most of China's $3.3 trillion foreign exchange reserves are held in dollars.
The vote averted immediate pain like tax hikes for almost all U.S. households, but did nothing to resolve other political showdowns on the budget that loom in coming months. Spending cuts of $109 billion in military and domestic programs were only delayed for two months.
Obama urged "a little less drama" when the Congress and White House next address thorny fiscal issues like the government's rapidly mounting $16 trillion debt load.
There was plenty of drama on the first day of 2013 as lawmakers scrambled to avert the "fiscal cliff" of across-the-board tax hikes and spending cuts that would have punched a $600 billion hole in the economy this year.
As the rest of the country celebrated New Year's Day with parties and college football games, the Senate stayed up past 2 a.m. on Tuesday and passed the bill by an overwhelming margin of 89 to 8.
When they arrived at the Capitol at noon, House Republicans were forced to decide whether to accept a $620 billion tax hike over 10 years on the wealthiest or shoulder the blame for letting the country slip into budget chaos.
The Republicans mounted an effort to add hundreds of billions of dollars in spending cuts to the package and spark a confrontation with the Senate.
RELUCTANT REPUBLICANS
For a few hours, it looked like Washington would send the country over the fiscal cliff after all, until Republican leaders determined that they did not have the votes for spending cuts.
In the end, they reluctantly approved the Senate bill by a bipartisan vote of 257 to 167 and sent it on to Obama to sign into law.
"We are ensuring that taxes aren't increased on 99 percent of our fellow Americans," said Republican Representative David Dreier of California.
The vote underlined the precarious position of House Speaker John Boehner, who will ask his Republicans to re-elect him speaker on Thursday when a new Congress is sworn in. Boehner backed the bill but most House Republicans, including his top lieutenants, voted against it.
The speaker had sought to negotiate a "grand bargain" with Obama to overhaul the U.S. tax code and rein in health and retirement programs that are due to balloon in coming decades as the population ages. But Boehner could not unite his members behind an alternative to Obama's tax measures.
Income tax rates will now rise on families earning more than $450,000 per year and the amount of deductions they can take to lower their tax bill will be limited.
Low temporary rates that have been in place for the past decade will be made permanent for less-affluent taxpayers, along with a range of targeted tax breaks put in place to fight the 2009 economic downturn.
However, workers will see up to $2,000 more taken out of their paychecks annually with the expiration of a temporary payroll tax cut.
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said the bill will increase budget deficits by nearly $4 trillion over the coming 10 years, compared to the budget savings that would occur if the extreme measures of the cliff were to kick in.
But the measure will actually save $650 billion during that time period when measured against the tax and spending policies that were in effect on Monday, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, an independent group that has pushed for more aggressive deficit savings.
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TEXT-S&P:Ratings on Citigroup funding unaffected by merger
Jan 02 - Standard & Poor's Rating Services today said that Citigroup's announced merger of Citigroup Funding Inc., an intermediate holding company, with Citigroup Inc., the ultimate parent, does not affect the ratings on any of the debt issues from Citigroup Funding Inc. The ratings on these issues were based on a full and unconditional guarantee from Citigroup Inc. Any debt issues outstanding under Citigroup Funding Inc. will be assumed by Citigroup Inc. (A-/Negative/A-2).
View the original article here
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European shares jump on U.S. budget deal
* FTSEurofirst 300 up 1.3 pct, highest since May 2011
* Miners top gainers, copper up strongly
* Euro STOXX 50 volatility index drops 14 pct
By Tricia Wright
LONDON, Jan 2 (Reuters) - European shares rallied across the board at the start of the new year after U.S. lawmakers approved a deal to prevent a fiscal crunch that had threatened growth in the world's largest economy.
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives late on Tuesday finally approved a bill that will raise taxes on top U.S. earners, fulfilling President Barack Obama's re-election promise and avoiding $600 billion in broader-based tax hikes and spending cuts.
Asian shares rose strongly overnight on the news, while copper prices climbed 2.2 percent, with robust manufacturing data from top metals consumer China also aiding the mood.
The FTSEurofirst 300 rose 1.3 percent at 1,148.97 by 0914 GMT, hitting levels last seen in May 2011.
Uncertainty as to whether U.S. politicians would manage to hammer out a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff had cast a shadow over market sentiment in the last weeks of 2012.
"The U.S. news allows some apprehension to be reduced and although we have been confident of a deal being announced last minute we can now see more aggressive buying in today's session," Atif Latif, director of trading at Guardian Stockbrokers, said.
The Euro STOXX 50 Volatility Index, or VSTOXX, Europe's widely-used measure of stock market risk aversion, dropped 14 percent on Wednesday following the U.S. budget deal.
The VSTOXX - which is used to measure the cost of protecting stock holdings against corrections - tumbled to 18.45.
China's official manufacturing purchasing managers' index held steady in December at 50.6, matching November's seven-month high and adding to evidence of a move back toward growth in the world's biggest metals consumer.
That helped basic resources stocks put in a solid showing on Wednesday, the top performing sector with a 3.1 percent advance.
The euro zone's blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 firmed 49.54 points, or 1.9 percent, to 2,685.47.
The Euro STOXX 50 climbed 13.8 percent in 2012, while the FTSEurofirst 300 rose 13.2 percent, boosted by bold measures from central banks to resolve Europe's debt crisis and revive global growth.
Among technical strategists there was optimism as to how 2013 would proceed.
"We've started the year on a positive note, and it does look like the market is pushing on towards 2,722," Barclays Capital's chief European technical strategist Phil Roberts said, referring to the Euro STOXX 50.
The 2,722 level in technical analysis is an equality target - the point at which the rally from the low in 2011 to the high in March 2012 is replicated off the low in June 2012.
View the original article here
This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.
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