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Miners lead European shares higher in early trade

March 2, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

* FTSEurofirst 300 rises 0.9 percent

Stocks

* HSBC falls after results

* Prudential suspended amid deal; other insurers mixed

By Brian Gorman

LONDON, March 1 (Reuters) – European shares were higher in early trade on Monday, the first day of the month, with miners rising after copper supplies were disrupted by an earthquake in Chile, and amid mergers in the drugs and insurance sectors.

At 0914 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European shares was up 0.9 percent at 1,016.56 points.

The European benchmark fell 0.4 percent in February, and is down more than 5 percent from a 15-month peak it hit in January, partly on worries over Greece’s debt. But it is up more than 57 percent from its lifetime low of March 9, 2009.

Miners gained after copper prices MCU3=LX rose following disruption to supplies following an earthquake in Chile. Gold and silver were also higher.

Antofagasta (ANTO.L), BHP Billiton (BLT.L), Fresnillo (FRES.L), Kazakhmys (KAZ.L) and Rio Tinto (RIO.L) rose between 1.9 and 4 percent.

Oils also rose, as the price of crude CLc1 topped $80 a barrel, amid worries that Iran might cut off energy supplies in Europe. [ID:nSGE62004B]

Total (TOTF.PA), ENI (ENI.MI), BP (BP.L), BG (BG.L), Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L), Repsol (REP.MC) and StatoilHydro (STL.OL) rose between 1.1 and 1.8 percent.

Banking giant HSBC (HSBA.L) fell 3 percent, after it missed expectations with a $7.1 billion annual pretax profit, as accounting losses masked record investment bank earnings, and a late year slowdown in bad debts at its troubled U.S. business. [ID:nLDE6200IU]

However, the sector was generally higher.

BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA), Banco Santander (SAN.MC), Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX), Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) and Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) rose between 1.6 and 2.3 percent.

Prudential (PRU.L) shares were suspended after it said it is in talks to buy American International Group’s (AIG.N) Asian life insurance unit. Reports put the price tag at about $35.5 billion, and it would see Prudential launch a $20 billion rights issue. [ID:nLDE6200CL]

Other insurers were mixed, with UK companies Aviva (AV.L) and Legal & General (LGEN.L) down 2 and 1.4 percent respectively.

Allianz (ALVG.DE) and AXA (AXAF.PA) were up 0.6 and 0.9 percent respectively.

“Trading today will be dominated by the HSBC and Pru news,” said Justin Urquhart Stewart, director at Seven Investment Management

“There’s nothing to pull the market much higher. The shadow of Greece is still there.”

Across Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 .FTSE, France’s CAC 40 .FCHI and Germany’s DAX .GDAXI were up between 0.9 and 1.5 percent.

MERCK FALLS

Among other individual companies, Germany’s Merck KGaA (MRCG.DE) fell 1 percent after it agreed to buy U.S. biotech tool maker Millipore Corp (MIL.N) for around $6 billion in cash [ID:nLDE61R0MJ] But most of the drugs sector rose. Novartis (NOVN.VX), Shire (SHP.L), AstraZeneca (AZN.L) and Sanofi-Aventis (SASY.PA) rose between 0.8 and 1.2 percent.

However, Actelion (ATLN.VX) plunged 13.5 percent after its most important drug, Tracleer, suffered a severe setback, failing to help reduce mortality in patients suffering from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.[ID:nLDE62004L]

Europe’s largest entertainment group Vivendi (VIV.PA) rose 3.5 percent after it posted better-than-expected sales and operating profit for 2009, boosted by a buoyant performance at its games and telecoms divisions. [ID:nLDE61P1N3]

In macroeconomics, a rise in new orders helped German manufacturing activity expand in February at its fastest rate since June 2007, a survey showed. [ID:nLAG006138]

Greece may soon announce new steps to cut its budget deficit, a government minister said on Sunday, amid signs that Athens might be nearing a deal with European Union governments to ease the Greek debt crisis. [ID:nLDE61R0BX]

Investors’ attention will turn later to the United States, where data is due on manufacturing and personal consumption and income. (Editing by Rupert Winchester)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: American International Group, Asian Life, Bad Debts, Banco Santander, bhp billiton, Bnp Paribas, bnpp, Brian Gorman, Copper Prices, CSGN, Earthquake In Chile, european shares, Fresnillo, HSBA, insurance sectors, Kazakhmys, life insurance unit, rdsa, rio tinto, Royal Dutch Shell

China and Taiwan agree to strengthen business relations

May 3, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Beijing – Negotiators from Taiwan and China signed a series of agreements Sunday to increase cooperation and investment across the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan’s chief negotiator Chiang Pin-kung, chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation, met Chen Yunlin from the mainland Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits in the southern city of Nanjing.

Taiwan agreed to clear the way for Chinese companies to do business on the island, the state-run news agency Xinhua reported.

“Taiwan sincerely welcomes mainland companies to invest on the island,” according to a foundation statement quoted in the report.

“The goal of economic normalization between the two sides is being realized,” Wang Yi, director of China’s State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, was quoted as saying.

The negotiators, meeting for the third time since China and Taiwan resumed talks last year, also signed three separate agreements.

The first would increase the frequency and routes of cross-strait direct flights, Xinhua reported.

There would now be a total of 270 flights per week, up from 108, and new routes from Guangzhou and Shanghai to Taipei, as well as from Hefei, Harbin, Nanchang, Guiyang, Ningbo and Jinan.

In the second agreement, the two sides reportedly pledged to work together to fight cross border crimes including drugs and human trafficking, and economic crimes involving fraud, money laundering, forging or falsifying currencies and securities.

According to Xinhua, negotiators from both sides will also now consider cases where there are discrepancies between Chinese and Taiwanese laws.

Chen and Chiang also signed an agreement for a cooperative financial regulatory mechanism aimed at overseeing banking, securities, futures and insurance sectors across the Strait.

Under this agreement, financial organizations would be allowed to do business across the straits, and a currency-clearing system will gradually be set up, the report said.

The latest agreements build on six previous joint actions since last June which first saw the establishment of weekend charter flights, and the expansion of cross-strait postal and shipping. (dpa)

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US says military option in Iran would be ineffective

May 3, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 1 (ANI): The use of the military option against Iran to halt that country’s nuclear program would only yield temporary and ineffective results, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday.

Gates said a military attack on Iran would merely send the country’s nuclear program further underground. Instead, the United States and its allies must convince Teheran that its nuclear ambitions would spark an arms race that would leave the Islamic republic less secure.

According to the Jerusalem Post, Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the US should work with its allies on tougher international sanctions.

Gates also said America should pursue partnerships with Russia on missile defense programs in the region to further isolate Iran and to give it economic and diplomatic reasons to abandon its nuclear interests voluntarily.

According to Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, any US-Iranian dialogue should depend on the Iranian regime’s willingness to stop its drive toward a nuclear weapon.

“Israel is not opposed to the American dialogue with Iran, but believes that the US should put a time limit on dialogue while the international community prepares a severe sanctions package that can be in place immediately in case the dialogue fails,” Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in a statement late last week.

He recommended that the sanctions package include the financial and insurance sectors, imports and energy infrastructure, and warned: “Israel has already said that it is not taking any options off the table, and recommends that others do the same.”

Iran will be one of the issues that President Shimon Peres and Obama will discuss when they meet in Washington on Monday. (ANI)

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Telecom, insurance companies allowed to access credit data

April 20, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

In line with the stipulations of the credit flow-regulating Credit Information Companies Act (CICA), 2005, the Credit Information Bureau India Ltd – CIBIL – has been granted ‘in-principle approval’ for Certificate of Registration by the Reserve Bank of India.

The certification allows companies in the telecommunications and insurance sectors to access credit data. Previously, the credit data could be accessed and shared by financial institutions such as banks and NBFCs.

While the CICA does not make it mandatory for the telecom and insurance firms to contribute data, they would be allowed to access data from CIBIL, which presently has more than 135-million accounts directory, thanks to contributions from almost 160 financial and non-banking institutions. After receiving the final registration and operational guidelines, the telecom and insurance companies can collect information from more sources.

The CIBIL functioning includes providing a credit score of up to 900, depending upon the borrower’s liabilities and past payment records, and a deferred installment payment affects the credit score.

According to The Times of India, Terry McCafferty, CIBIL’s Chief Operating Officer, talking about the recent ‘in-principle’ approval said: “The approval gives us the right to continue our operations and allows telecom companies and insurers to access the CIBIL database. We need to develop and enable our systems so that all this can be put to effect soon.”

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: access data, bank of india, banking institutions, certificate of registration, cibil, credit flow, credit information, credit score, financial institutions, india ltd, information bureau, information companies, installment payment, insurance firms, insurance sectors, Mccafferty, operational guidelines, Reserve Bank of India, Telecom Companies, Times Of India

Miners lead European shares higher in early trade

China and Taiwan agree to strengthen business relations

US says military option in Iran would be ineffective

Telecom, insurance companies allowed to access credit data

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