Imperial Tobacco closes $13 billion of loans
LONDON (Reuters) – British cigarette maker Imperial Tobacco has closed loans of about $13 billion to back its acquisition of selected brands and assets from Reynolds American Inc, the lead banks said on Monday.
Twenty years on, Schaeuble pleads again for core Europe
PARIS (Reuters) – German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble renewed a call for a core group of European Union countries to move ahead faster with economic and political integration, 20 years after his ground-breaking proposal fell on deaf ears in key …
France’s Moscovici set for EU economy role, under supervision
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Former French finance minister Pierre Moscovici has a “good chance” of being named to the European Commission’s top economic and monetary job, a French diplomatic source said on Monday, as attention turned to the line-up of the nex…
Factory activity in Europe, Asia cools; demand lull a concern
BANGALORE/SYDNEY (Reuters) – Factory activity in Europe and Asia cooled in August after a strong July, as new orders dwindled in the face of escalating tensions in Ukraine and a patchy recovery in China, purchasing managers indexes showed.
U.S. inflation bonds back in vogue
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. investors are back in the hunt for inflation protection for the first time in two years as rising housing costs – particularly for rent – suggest inflation may finally be waking from its post-recession slumber.
KPMG refuses to approve BES accounts, warns of further loss
LISBON (Reuters) – Auditor KPMG has refused to approve bailed-out Banco Espirito Santo’s first-half report and accounts, published on Monday, citing the bank’s failure to provide adequate information on its financial position and also warned of possibl…
Central European PMIs point to slowdown as sanctions hit sentiment
PRAGUE (Reuters) – Polish manufacturing activity shrank for a second straight month in August and Czech expansion slowed more than expected, adding to signs weaker euro zone economies and crisis in Ukraine are cooling growth in the EU’s east.
China gives Microsoft 20 days to provide explanation in anti-trust probe
BEIJING (Reuters) – A Chinese anti-trust regulator said on Monday it has given Microsoft Corp 20 days to reply to queries on the compatibility of its Windows operating system and Office software suite amid a probe into the world’s largest software comp…
Euro zone factory growth slows in August amid Ukraine tension: PMI
LONDON, (Reuters) – Euro zone manufacturing growth slowed slightly more than initially thought last month as new orders dwindled and factories suffered amid rising tensions in Ukraine, a business survey showed on Monday.
Weak data to test BOJ’s rosy economic view, policy on hold
TOKYO (Reuters) – The Bank of Japan will maintain its existing stimulus policy and optimistic economic view when it meets on Thursday, sources say, preferring to take more time to gauge whether a run of weak data is sufficient to threaten a fragile rec…
