Asia’s manufacturing powers stutter, stir talk of policy support
BEIJING/TOKYO (Reuters) – Asia’s major economies finished the first quarter on a weak note with manufacturing surveys in China and Japan fueling expectations that policymakers will be forced to act in coming months to prop up faltering growth.
Hong Kong, New Zealand investigate banks for alleged FX manipulation
(Reuters) – Regulators in Hong Kong and New Zealand said on Tuesday that they are investigating banks’ conduct in the foreign exchange market as part of an investigation tied to the global probe into FX markets.
Santander says U.S. unit capital levels sufficient
MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish bank Santander’s U.S. unit does not need additional capital after stress tests done by the Federal Reserve, Chief Executive Javier Marin said on Tuesday.
Low inflation to spark policy debate, but ECB seen holding steady
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The European Central Bank is not expected to announce any new measures on Thursday to boost the euro zone economy, although inflation dropping to close to zero could well prompt active discussion about stimulus.
BHP Billiton weighs spin-off of unloved assets
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – BHP Billiton is weighing a range of options to simplify its portfolio of assets, including a possible spin-off of unwanted businesses such as aluminum and nickel into a separate company, the top global miner said on Tuesday.
China factories struggle, adds to expectations for stimulus
BEIJING (Reuters) – Persistent weakness in China’s manufacturing sector reinforced fears of a sharper-than-expected slowdown at the start of 2014, and some government economists think authorities have already started boosting spending to put a floor un…
Tax hike hurts Japan business mood more than in 1997: BOJ tankan
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese business sentiment barely improved in the three months ending March and the corporate outlook is now considerably weaker than when Japan last raised its sales tax in 1997, the Bank of Japan’s tankan survey showed on Tuesday.
Singapore’s OCBC offers $4.95 billion for Wing Hang Bank in bet on China growth
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Ltd (OCBC) has offered to pay almost $5 billion for one of Hong Kong’s last remaining family-owned banks, in a deal that would give the Singapore lender a much sought-after gateway to the Greater China…
Citigroup uncovered rogue trading in Mexico, fired two bond traders
(Reuters) – Citigroup’s Mexican subsidiary Banamex fired two bond traders after uncovering rogue trading last year, two sources close to the matter said, raising fresh questions over what controls the troubled unit had in place to police employees.
HP agrees to pay $57 million to settle shareholder lawsuit
(Reuters) – Hewlett-Packard Co agreed to pay $57 million to settle a lawsuit that accused the personal computer maker’s former management of defrauding shareholders by abandoning a business model it had long touted.
