Markets subdued as Dow remains in focus

LONDON (AP) — Markets were subdued Monday following a stellar finish to last week, when many stock indexes around the world hit multiyear highs following encouraging U.S. economic figures.U.S. stocks are particularly in focus as the Dow jones industrial average closed above 14,000 on Friday for the first time in over five years. It’s now not far off its all-time high.Hopes over the U.S. economy have...

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Restive Cities Threaten Egypt’s Suez Canal

Attempting to quell unrest, President Mohamed Mursi declared a state of emergency in Port Said, Ismailia, and Suez. The cities straddle an important source of hard currency, but canal traffic has so far escaped disruption.Graphic by Bloomberg Businessweek; Data: Suez Canal Authority, UN Conference on Trade and DevelopmentBusinessweek.com — Top NewsTitle Post: Restive Cities Threaten Egypt’s Suez CanalUrl...

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S.Africa’s rand recovers against dollar, eyes 8.85

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa‘s rand was on track for a second day of gains against the dollar on Friday, eyeing 8.85 as investors that had sold the currency due to a gloomy economic outlook readjust their positions.Government bonds took their cue from the stronger currency, with the yield on the heavily-traded benchmark 2026 bond shedding 5 basis points to 7.295 percent.The yield for the...

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Markets higher as investors await US jobs report

LONDON (AP) — Some rare good economic news from Europe pushed stock markets higher on Friday as investors awaited a key U.S. employment report that is expected to show steady, if unremarkable, job growth.The unemployment rate in the 17-country eurozone was at a lower-than-expected 11.7 percent in December, unchanged from the previous month’s rate, which was revised down from 11.8 percent, a record...

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‘Major failures’ over rail deal

31 January 2013 Last updated at 06:05 ETPlease turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Lousie Ellman MP: “There were major failures by civil servants and ministers”The fiasco over the collapse of the West Coast Main Line franchise deal was the result of “irresponsible decisions”, an MPs’ committee has said.The transport committee blamed “major failures” at the Department for Transport...

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UK petrol market ‘working well’

30 January 2013 Last updated at 06:06 ETA study of the UK petrol and diesel market by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has said little action is needed.“The evidence gathered by the OFT suggests that at a national level, competition is working well in the UK road fuel sector,” its report said.It found the UK has some of Europe’s cheapest fuel prices before tax.It said there was very little evidence...

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Peugeot job cuts halted by court

29 January 2013 Last updated at 06:13 ETA court in France has suspended the restructuring plans of Peugeot Citroen, saying the carmaker had failed to consult some of its employees properly.The plans are controversial in France, as they involve 8,000 job cuts in the country and closure of a Paris factory.Peugeot said it would continue to negotiate the cuts with unions, despite the Paris appeal court...

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Scots cities top house price list

25 January 2013 Last updated at 19:36 ETHouse prices have risen faster in Aberdeen and Inverness than any other UK cities over the past decade, a survey has suggested.The Bank of Scotland report said average prices rose by 94% in the Granite City between 2002 and 2012.Inverness saw prices climb by 81%, with Dundee (+73%) and Perth (+70%) also featuring in the top five UK cities.The bank said Aberdeen...

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Apple steps up labor audits, finds underage workers

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Apple Inc stepped up audits of working conditions at major suppliers last year, discovering multiple cases of underage workers, discrimination and wage problems.The iPhone and iPad maker, which relies heavily on Asian-based partners like Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology Group to assemble the vast majority of its iPhones and iPads, said on Thursday it conducted 393 audits, up 72...

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Stock futures signal losses; all eyes on Apple

PARIS (Reuters) – Stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.22 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.02 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 1.3 percent at 1014 GMT.Shares of Apple Inc will be in the spotlight after the world’s biggest tech company missed Wall Street’s revenue forecast for the third straight quarter after iPhone sales...

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Wanted: People to Serve on the ‘Death Panel’

Republican Representative Phil Roe frequently gives speeches about what he calls the perils of Obamacare. A gynecologist from Tennessee, he’s especially worked up about one part of the law: the Independent Payment Advisory Board, a government-appointed panel intended to help slow the growth of Medicare spending. The 15-person IPAB will propose Medicare cost cuts if the growth in the program’s spending...

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South Africa protesters burn tyres, loot shops

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Thousands of South Africans burnt tyres and vehicles, barricaded streets and looted shops in the industrial town of Sasolburg near Johannesburg on Monday, the worst social unrest this year around the commercial hub of Africa’s biggest economy.Three police officers were injured when a mob threw stones at them in the town, 90 km (55 miles) south of Johannesburg, Constable Peter...

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American Airlines Repaints Its Planes, to Much Carping

The downside of creating a classic brand image is that you can never change it without killing a classic brand image. And thereby poking the Internet anger gods.On Thursday morning, American Airlines (AAMRQ) did both when it unveiled a flashy new paint job for its fleet of aircraft. The brazenly patriotic, hot-rod look supplants the airline’s classic, mid-20th century design—one that once called to...

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Why Obama’s Gun Plan Didn’t Target Video Games

When President Obama revealed his proposal to curb gun violence on Wednesday, one industry largely went overlooked: video-game makers. Obama announced an executive order to end an industry-backed freeze on federal research into the linkage between violent behavior and violent content in games, and he recommended that Congress authorize $ 10 million for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control to...

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Chinese, U.S. data push shares to 20-month high

LONDON (Reuters) – World shares hit a 20-month high on Friday as encouraging data from the United States and China boosted prospects for the global economy, while the yen hit new lows ahead of next week’s Bank of Japan meeting.China’s economy grew at a slightly faster-than-expected 7.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012, the latest sign it is pulling out of a post-global financial crisis slowdown...

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Futures signal mixed Wall Street open

LONDON (Reuters) – U.S. stock futures pointed to a mixed open on Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500 rising 0.1 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.2 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures falling 0.1 percent.Airlines scrambled on Thursday to rearrange flights as Europe, Japan and India joined the United States in grounding Boeing Co‘s 787 Dreamliner passenger jets while battery-related...

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German govt cuts 2013 growth forecast to 0.4 pct

BERLIN (AP) — The German government has lowered its growth forecast for the country’s economy, Europe’s biggest, and now says it will expand by only 0.4 percent in 2013.In October, the government had predicted growth of 1 percent for this year. But the economy hit a weak patch in the fourth quarter amid trouble elsewhere in the euro area.Economy Minister Philipp Roesler said Wednesday that the economy...

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Congress Works Better With Bribes–Er, Pork

“I haven’t seen so much lard,” said Ronald Reagan, “since I handed out blue ribbons at the Iowa State Fair.” It was March 1987, and the president was using his weekly radio address to blast a highway spending bill he’d just vetoed. The next month 13 Republican senators deserted him by voting to help Democrats override the veto. As the late Senator Robert Byrd, a Democrat legendary for bringing money...

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Record year for Heathrow airport

14 January 2013 Last updated at 04:58 ETHeathrow has said that it handled 70 million passengers in 2012, the highest number on record, as the crowded airport saw bigger and fuller planes.Numbers rose 0.9% from 2011, with 3.2% growth in its staple North Atlantic business, and traffic to the Far East and Brazil boosted by new routes.December was also a record month at the airport, with China traffic...

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As Trip Planning Moves Online, AmEx’s Travel Agents Get Bumped

American Express, responding to the growing acceptance among business travelers of arranging trips online, is laying off thousands of employees as travel planning shifts to the digital world. The 5,400 job cuts announced Jan. 10 will fall heavily on the bank’s travel services division, which caters predominantly to companies that contract with American Express (AXP) to arrange their employees’ business...

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