U.S. consumer confidence dips from 5-year high

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Americans' confidence in the economy fell only slightly in July but stayed close to a 5 1/2-year high, a sign that consumers should continue to help drive growth in the coming months. The Conference Board, a New York-based private research group, said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index dipped to 80.3 in July. That’s down from a reading of 82.1 in June, which was revised slightly higher and the best reading since January 2008. Despite the slight drop in July, confidence

July 31, 2013

Facebook rebuffs U.N. team request on Somali pirates

NAIROBI (AP) ― United Nations investigators hoped they would get some help from Facebook when they asked to see information on suspected pirates operating in Somalia. But Facebook refused. A report by the U.N. Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea this month pointed out that while many private companies helped in the group’s investigative work on matters such as piracy, al-Qaida-linked militants and government corruption, Facebook provided no such assistance. “Despite repeated official corresp

July 31, 2013

Spanish recession eases in second quarter

MADRID (AFP) ― Spain’s recession eased in the second quarter, official data showed Tuesday, raising hopes the eurozone’s fourth largest economy may finally be on the road to recovery.Gross domestic product shrank by 0.1 percent in the three months ending June as booming exports helped to offset weak domestic demand, compared to a 0.5 percent contraction in the first quarter, data from the national statistics institute showed.The improved data came just days after the country reported that unempl

July 31, 2013

Deutsche Bank says profits halved on legal provisions

BERLIN (AFP) ― Deutsche Bank, Germany’s biggest bank, said on Tuesday its net profits were halved in the second quarter, as it made massive provisions to meet litigation costs.The bank’s net profits fell to 335 million euros ($444 million) for the three months ending June, down from 666 million in the second quarter last year.This missed market expectations by a wide margin. Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast about 869 million euros in profits.But 630 million euros set aside by

July 31, 2013

Banco Santander’s profits rise on lower provisions

MADRID (AP) ― Spain’s Banco Santander SA said Tuesday that a sharp reduction in write-offs to cover toxic real estate loans helped second-quarter net profit jump to 1.1 billion euros ($1.45 billion) from 123 million euros for the same period last year. Santander, along with many Spanish banks, had to write off huge amounts from the value of loans following a 2008 collapse of Spain’s property market that has led to nearly four years of recession and an unemployment rate of 26.3 percent. The large

July 31, 2013

Switzerland’s UBS to buy back risky asset fund

BERLIN (AP) ― Swiss bank UBS says it plans to buy back a fund set up during the 2008 financial crisis into which it offloaded high-risk assets. UBS AG says it expects to exercise an option to buy the so-called StabFund from the Swiss National Bank in the fourth quarter. It says the move will boost its capital position. The fund purchased $38.7 billion in UBS assets using money provided by the central bank ―less than foreseen in the bailout package originally designed by the government, which res

July 31, 2013

World Bank staff to refocus on poverty goal in shake-up

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said two senior executives will leave and others will get new responsibilities, part of a management shake-up 13 months after he took over the institution as he prepares a new global poverty-reduction strategy.Caroline Anstey, a managing director who worked for 18 years at the Washington-based bank, will step down after the member countries’ annual meetings in October, Kim said in an email to staff obtained by Bloomberg. Pamela Cox, a veteran of 33 years who mos

July 31, 2013

Barclays to issue new shares worth $8.9b to fill capital hole

LONDON (AP) ― Barclays, Britain’s second-largest bank, plans to issue new shares worth 5.8 billion pounds ($8.9 billion) to shore up its capital and satisfy new regulatory requirements meant to prevent a repeat of the 2008 crisis. Its stock price plunged as investors worried dividends would be cut and share value diluted. The sale of stock to existing shareholders was announced Tuesday along with the bank’s first half earnings, and came after the Prudential Regulation Authority told Barclays and

July 31, 2013

Fed opens meeting with few seeing new direction

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The Federal Reserve opened a two-day monetary policy meeting on Tuesday expected to steer a steady course and provide little insight into the eventual reeling back of enormous stimulus.The Federal Open Market Committee’s post-meeting statement will be parsed for clues on when, and how quickly, the Fed will begin to taper its $85 billion-a-month asset-purchases program.The FOMC meeting opened at 2:00 p.m., a Fed spokesman said.The policymakers gathered after news that consumer

July 31, 2013

China’s Xi calls for curbing financial risks

BEIJING (AP) ― President Xi Jinping called Tuesday for authorities to curb financial risks as concerns mount in China about rising debts owed by companies and local governments.Xi’s order, in a speech at a cabinet meeting, came after the government this week announced a nationwide audit of local government debts.The rare public comments about the economy by China’s president and Communist Party leader come as Beijing faces pressure to reverse a downturn that depressed growth to a two-decade low

July 31, 2013

Bernanke to give deposition in AIG bailout lawsuit

WASHINGTON (AP) ― A U.S. judge has ordered that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke can be questioned in a lawsuit against the government filed by the former head of American International Group Inc. It is rare for a Fed chairman to be deposed in a lawsuit. But Judge Thomas Wheeler of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims said Monday that he made an exception because Bernanke has firsthand knowledge of the government’s decision to bail out AIG at the height of the financial crisis. Hank Greenberg,

July 30, 2013

Omnicom and Publicis Groupe agree to merge

PARIS (AP) ― Omnicom Group Inc. and Publicis Groupe SA say they are combining in a “merger of equals” that will create the world’s largest advertising firm, one worth more than $35 billion.The combined company will be called Publicis Omnicom Group and be jointly led by Omnicom CEO John Wren and Publicis CEO Maurice Levy as co-chief executives. The move is designed to bolster the companies’ focus on growing Asian and Latin American markets such as China and Brazil, where they each have ramped up

July 29, 2013

Audi targets expansion in smaller Chinese cities to drive growth

Audi AG, the world’s second-largest maker of luxury cars, forecast sales in China will increase by about 11 percent this year, driven by rising incomes and expansion into smaller cities in the country. Deliveries should reach 450,000 units this year in China, Chief Executive Officer Rupert Stadler told reporters in the southern Chinese city of Foshan, where the automaker is building its second factory in the country. Audi sold 405,838 vehicles last year, a 30 percent increase from the year earli

July 28, 2013

Latest incidents keep spotlight on Boeing 787

NEW YORK (AFP) ― Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner airplane continued to face scrutiny Friday following recent incidents, but the company described them as normal growing pains for a young aircraft.The aircraft has been under the spotlight since the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and other regulators grounded the aircraft globally for three months earlier this year due to overheating batteries.An aviation source told AFP Friday that a 787 operated by Qatar Airways had been grounded in Doha since Mon

July 28, 2013