Business Blog Posts

Oil fell for a second day as investors took profits from a sharp year-end rally. Gold inched up, though, after sinking more than 2 percent in the previous session.

The fall in commodities to their lowest level in seven weeks weighed on shares of resource companies in early Asia trade, although market analysts said it was likely to have a limited impact.

"I would expect Asian stocks to be slightly weaker although in Japan the weaker yen will probably help its important export sector," said Jamie Coutts, a technical analyst at BGC Securities in Tokyo.

The MSCI index of Asian shares excluding Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS fell 0.50 percent while Japan's benchmark Nikkei .N225 was little changed, shrugging off concerns about the lower commodity prices and holding on to the previous day's gains.

But analysts say stocks will likely continue to be supported by optimism that the U.S. economy is gathering momentum, albeit slowly.

"Investors are focusing on the U.S. payroll data this week (Friday), so they may stay on the sidelines for this week, but the mood is positive," said Hiroichi Nishi, general manager at Nikko Cordial Securities.

The U.S. dollar bounced from three-week lows against the euro on Tuesday and held firm in early Asia trade at around 82 yen after the upbeat U.S. manufacturing data, and more gains are seen likely given the heavy sales of euro zone bonds anticipated this year.

The dollar index which measures the greenback's performance against a basket of currencies .DXY rose 0.2 percent to its highest level since Dec 30.

"Incoming U.S. data is quite good and that's part of the reason why I think the dollar is going to remain with a reasonable bid tone," said Richard Grace, chief currency strategist at Commonwealth Bank.

There was little reaction in Asian markets to minutes of the Federal Reserve's December meeting released on Tuesday, which revealed policy makers felt the U.S. economy still needed help despite signs of strength.

The U.S. economy, having emerged from its deepest recession in generations in the summer of 2009, has since expanded in fits and starts. Gross domestic product rose at a 2.6 percent annual rate in the third quarter, a pace still seen as too low to bring down the country's 9.8 percent jobless rate.

Data showed new orders received by U.S. factories rose in November and orders, excluding transportation, recorded their largest gain in eight months.

The stronger dollar weighed on copper futures after prices slid from record highs in the previous session that saw commodities suffer their biggest daily fall in seven weeks.

Crude oil slipped 20 cents to $89.18 a barrel after sliding 2.4 percent on Tuesday, but spot gold rose 0.3 percent to $1,383.40 an ounce.

(Additional reporting by Ian Chua in SYDNEY, Editing by)

Volume was strong for a second day as investors reshuffled their portfolios at the beginning of the year, and analysts said the attractiveness of equities was intact.

Recent stock gainers topped Tuesday's list of losers, falling as copper, oil and other commodities slipped from multiyear highs.

The S&P materials index .GSPM fell 0.5 percent and the energy index .GSPE lost 0.6 percent. Materials and energy were among the top-performing sectors in 2010.

"The S&P is pretty buoyant because of the fact that there seems to be a little bit of a renewed interest in the market," said Nick Kalivas, senior equity index analyst at MF Global in Chicago.

"I think it's subtle, but I do think it's present. How long it lasts is obviously the million dollar question."

Shares of grocer Supervalu Inc (SVU.N) fell more than 6 percent and was the top percentage decliner on the S&P 500 after Morgan Stanley told investors to cut holdings in the stock, saying rising food costs will crimp margins. Safeway Inc (SWY.N) and Whole Foods Market (WFMI.O) also slid.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI added 20.43 points, or 0.18 percent, to 11,691.18. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX dipped 1.67 points, or 0.13 percent, to 1,270.20. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC was off 10.27 points, or 0.38 percent, to 2,681.25.

The S&P and Nasdaq pared losses modestly and the Dow edged higher following minutes from the Federal Reserve's December policy meeting that showed officials felt the U.S. economic recovery was still weak enough to warrant monetary support in the form of bond purchases by the Fed.

The market was also supported by strength in defensive shares, including the utilities and telecom sectors. The defensive tone aided blue chips as the Dow ended higher.

The market's weakness followed a strong start to the new trading year on Monday. The Dow and S&P 500 recently hit two-year highs as data pointed to a U.S. recovery.

While many analysts see another year of gains for the S&P 500, Morgan Stanley offered a contrarian view, forecasting the S&P 500 would end the year lower.

Shares of Supervalu dropped 6.3 percent to $9.00. Safeway was down 3.8 percent at $21.64, and Whole Foods fell 3.4 percent to $49.04.

About 8.38 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, just below last year's estimated daily average of 8.47 billion.

Declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,889 to 1,103, while on the Nasdaq, decliners beat advancers 1,805 to 844.

(Reporting by Leah Schnurr; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

The men are Walter Shimoon, a former Flextronics employee in California accused of leaking secrets about Apple Inc's iPad ahead of its launch; James Fleishman, who is on leave from his sales job at the California-based research firm Primary Global Research; and Mark Longoria, a Texas-based supply chain manager for Advanced Micro Devices.

They were all arrested on December 16 and freed on bail as part of a probe by federal prosecutors in New York that began at least three years ago, but has been pushed forward by authorities trying to flex their muscles after failing to win any major convictions tied to the 2008 financial crisis.

The arrests of seven people in November and December focused on the use of so-called "expert network" firms that connected hedge funds with employees at various technology companies and in one instance, a drugmaker.

Prosecutors also revealed in December that a former Dell Computer employee, Daniel DeVore, and a former independent consultant in California to hedge funds, Karl Motey, were cooperating in the investigation and had pleaded guilty to conspiracy and securities fraud charges.

In Manhattan federal court on Tuesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge James Francis approved bond that included some travel restrictions for Shimoon of $150,000, for Fleishman of $700,000 and Longoria of $50,000. Their next appearance was scheduled for February 3.

Their lawyers declined to comment.

Legal experts say those arrested on allegations they shared confidential corporate information may have a window to negotiate favorable terms with U.S. prosecutors before they are formally indicted.

In California on Monday, a federal magistrate judge declined to grant bail to Winifred Jiau, who prosecutors accuse of selling inside information about publicly traded companies while consulting for Primary Global Research. The government considers her a flight risk.

Jiau is accused of providing information about computer chipmakers Marvell Technology Group Ltd and Nvidia Corp to hedge funds, including the founder of a New York fund that prosecutors did not identify.

The case is USA v Shimoon et al, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 10-mj-2823.

(Reporting by Grant McCool, editing by Dave Zimmerman)

The December results capped a year of gradual recovery for the industry overall that is expected to continue in the new year.

GM said sales rose 16 percent in its four remaining U.S. brands in December from a year earlier, led by percentage gains in Buick and GMC. Retail sales to consumers jumped in the month and it reduced sales to rental car companies.

GM said results were led by a 42 percent jump in sales of its crossovers in December from a year earlier. The automaker also sold 29 percent more full-sized pickup trucks, most of those 2011 model year vehicles that command higher prices.

A year after its 2009 bankruptcy, and less than two months after its largest-ever IPO, GM remains the top-selling automaker in the United States. GM's U.S. sales rose 6.3 percent to 2.2 million in 2010 from the prior year.

Economists surveyed by Reuters expect automakers to report sales at a 12.3 million vehicle annualized rate in December, which would be the third consecutive month above the 12 million unit annualized rate followed by economists.

Ford Motor Co, Toyota Motor Corp, Honda Motor Co, Chrysler Group LLC and Nissan Motor Co are expected to report U.S. sales results later on Tuesday.

Toyota is expected to be the only top-selling automaker to report a U.S. sales decline for December.

Automakers have expected the U.S. market to show gradual growth while the economy shows some signs of stability with nagging concerns about slow job creation and persistent weakness in the housing market.

Overall, U.S. auto sales are expected to come in at about 11.5 million light vehicles in 2010. Industry tracking firm J.D. Power and Associates expects U.S. auto sales to rise to about 13 million vehicles in 2011.

GM said on Tuesday that it expects 2011 U.S. auto industry sales of 13 million to 13.5 million vehicles including medium and heavy trucks.

The auto industry snapped a four-year streak of declining annual sales in 2010 and growth in 2011 beyond expectations could force automakers to deal with capacity constraints, a luxury of a problem given recent years.

GM already has been adding capacity for strong-selling SUVs including the Chevy Equinox and GMC Terrain.

Growth is expected to stay strong in developing auto markets over the next several years including China and India.

Car sales in India were reported strong in December with Fitch expecting sales growth of up to 15 percent in 2011 driven mainly by a growing middle class and more financing opportunities.

The Commerce Department said on Tuesday orders for manufactured goods increased 0.7 percent after dropping a revised 0.7 percent in October.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast factory orders slipping 0.1 percent in November from a previously reported 0.9 percent decline in October. Orders have risen in four of the last five months.

Manufacturing has been the star performer during the recovery from the worst recession since the 1930s and continues to expand. Factories appear to be ramping up activity to meet a pickup in demand from consumers and businesses.

Analysts have forecast economic growth at an annual pace of between 3 percent and 3.5 percent in the fourth quarter after a 2.6 percent expansion in the third quarter.

U.S. financial markets had little reaction to the data. Stocks were little changed as optimism over the economic outlook was offset by a decline in consumer stocks.

U.S. Treasury debt prices edged higher The euro climbed to a three-week high against the dollar.

On Monday the Institute for Supply Management said its index of national factory activity climbed to a seven-month high in December, hoisted by sturdy gains in new orders and production.

The Commerce Department report showed orders excluding transportation increased 2.4 percent in November, the highest since March, after a 0.1 percent gain the prior month.

Unfilled orders at factories increased 0.6 percent in November after rising 0.7 percent the prior month. Shipments increased 0.8 percent, rising for a third consecutive month, while inventories gained 0.8 percent after rising 1.1 percent in October.

The department revised durable goods orders for November to show a much smaller 0.3 percent fall rather than the previously reported 1.3 drop. Excluding transportation, orders for durable goods increased a bigger 3.6 percent in November instead of 2.4 percent.

Orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, seen as a measure of business confidence, increased 2.6 percent after 3.2 percent decline in October.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Neil Stempleman)

BP shares were up 5.6 percent to 491.7 pence by 1351 GMT (8:51 EST).

The Daily Mail newspaper, citing sources close to the Anglo-Dutch group, reported Shell weighed an opportunistic bid for BP as crude gushed into the Gulf last summer, but was discouraged by the potentially uncapped legal liabilities.

The newspaper said Shell could yet bid for BP if another suitor emerged but Europe's largest oil company by market value was unlikely to be the "first mover" for number two, BP.

Dealers and analysts including Mic Mills, head of electronic trading at ETX Capital, said BP was also being boosted by comments late on December 31 from the lawyer running BP's gulf oil spill compensation fund that suggested damages payments could be half the expected level.

Ken Feinberg, the independent administrator of the $20 billion fund set up by BP told Bloomberg Television about half the fund's assets should be adequate to cover claims for economic losses.

One dealer said the news reports focused minds on the fact BP shares were cheap compared to rivals. "BP remains cheap and vulnerable at these levels but I do not think a bid is likely."

BP shares trade on a price-earnings ratio of 6.5 times, consensus 2011 earnings, while Shell trades at 8.9 times, partly reflecting the fact BP's actual earnings could be far lower if it was found to have been grossly negligent in causing the oil spill which would boost legal costs and fines.

However, Feinberg's comment highlighted how the picture could also be brighter than the company has predicted.

The reports come ahead of a final report, to be released January 11, by the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, which was convened by President Barack Obama to uncover what led to the U.S.'s worst ever oil spill.

Comments by Commission members and documents previously released by the Commission suggest the report will be highly critical of BP, and could lead the way to multi-billion dollar federal fines.

Analysts and industry sources said during the crisis last summer it was likely that both U.S. oil giant Exxon Mobil and Shell -- the only companies considered large enough to mount a bid -- would run some calculations on a possible bid for BP.

However, the two notoriously conservative companies were seen as likely to be discouraged by the open-ended nature of BP's liabilities.

Now BP's shares have rebounded 65 percent from their June low at 296 pence, to give BP a market value of around $140 billion, a bid would be much harder to mount, especially for Shell which is worth over $210 billion.

Exxon has a market value of almost $370 billion.

The attorney-general group expects to reach five separate agreements with the five largest servicers, the news agency said, quoting Miller, who heads the multi-state probe.

Miller could not be immediately reached for comment by Reuters outside regular U.S. business hours.

The other three large servicers are Citigroup Inc, Wells Fargo & Co and Ally Financial Inc.

The group has had at least one face-to-face meeting with representatives from all five of the largest banks and will reach individual settlements rather than a global agreement with the servicers, Bloomberg reported.

Mortgage servicers have come under fire in recent months for abuses of the foreclosure process.

All 50 state AGs formed a joint probe in October to investigate the use of "robo-signers" in foreclosure proceedings.

Ally Financial, Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo could not be immediately reached for comment by Reuters outside regular U.S. business hours.

(Reporting by Abhinav Sharma and Santosh Nadgir in Bangalore; Editing by David Holmes)

Shares in Borders Group Inc (BGP.N) will be in the spotlight after the company, which has been seeking financing to fight credit woes, said late on Monday that two top executives resigned, sending its shares falling 8 percent after-hours. Borders shares traded in Frankfurt (BGP.F) were down 4.2 percent.

Japanese stocks led Asian equities higher on Tuesday, and oil prices hovered near a 27-month high, as investors bet the improving U.S. recovery may be reflected in monthly jobs data later in the week.

European stocks were up 0.7 percent in morning trade, with oil major BP (BP.L) hitting a six-month high, up 4.9 percent, after The Daily Mail newspaper reported rival Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) had considered a takeover bid during the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The dollar edged broadly higher on Tuesday, with the yen on the back foot after upbeat U.S. data suggested the world's biggest economy will accelerate in 2011.

Miners will be in focus as floodwaters eased in Australia's major coal mining region on Tuesday, allowing some mines to slowly resume production although most remained idle, as devastating floods affect some 200,000 people and force towns to be evacuated.

General Motors (GM.N) said on Tuesday it sold 2.35 million vehicles in China in 2010, up 28.8 percent from a year earlier.

Economic data on tap on Tuesday includes factory orders for November, while Federal Reserve issues minutes from its meeting of December 14.

Investors will also keep a close eye on monthly auto sales figures. Fifteen economists surveyed by Reuters forecast December auto sales of about 12.3 million on the annualized and seasonally adjusted basis tracked by the industry.

U.S. stocks greeted the new year with a rally on Monday as encouraging signs about the outlook for manufacturing around the world prompted investors to inject new money into the market.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI gained 93.24 points, or 0.81 percent, to 11,670.75. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX rose 14.23 points, or 1.13 percent, to 1,271.87. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC climbed 38.65 points, or 1.46 percent, to 2,691.52.

(Reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by Hans Peters)

Rival Borders Group Inc (BGP.N), which has been seeking financing to fight credit woes, said on Monday that two top executives resigned. Its shares fell 8 percent after-hours.

Borders has been hurt by an industry-wide decline in sales of physical books and has not developed an e-reader to compete with Amazon's popular Kindle device.

Barnes & Noble said that same-store sales, or sales at superstores open at least 15 months, rose 9.7 percent for the nine-week period ended on January 1.

Barnes & Noble, which put itself up for sale in August, introduced the Nook in 2009 to compete with Amazon.com Inc's (AMZN.O) market-leading Kindle e-reader as it seeks to prove itself viable amid bookbuyers' shift to digital formats.

In the fall, the retailer introduced a well-reviewed, enhanced version of the device, NookColor, which has some functions similar to those of Apple's (AAPL.O) iPad tablet.

Barnes & Noble in November had forecast same-store sales for the entire current quarter, including the holiday period, would rise between 5 and 7 percent.

Barnes & Noble's numbers include Nook devices sold in stores but not on its website. Last week, Barnes & Noble, which operates 717 namesake stores in the United States, said the Nook had become its best-selling single item ever. The retailer said it would release more detailed sales figures on Thursday.

Barnes & Noble stands to win market share from smaller rival Borders, which said last week it would delay payments to some vendors as it seeks to negotiate new loan terms, putting into question publishers' willingness to ship it new books.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group Inc, which publishes its own titles and distributes books for several hundred publishers through its National Book Network, said it would temporarily stop shipping books to Borders.

The New York Times reported that a spokesman for Ingram Book Company, a major book wholesaler, said on Monday the company was still shipping books to Borders.

Last week, Borders said it was delaying payments to some of its vendors, just weeks after the company said it was trying to obtain new financing to avoid violating the terms of its credit agreements early in 2011.

BORDERS' TROUBLES AGGRAVATE

Standard & Poor's analyst Michael Souers downgraded Borders' shares to "sell" from "hold," saying that even if Borders manages to restructure its debt, the new terms would be "onerous."

Souers called Borders' situation "dire" and said its current crisis could benefit Barnes & Noble permanently. He said Borders' lack of a proprietary e-reader was damaging.