Greece to Swap Another EUR20.27 billion in Bonds
Source: AFP Greece said Thursday another EUR20.27 billion (US$26.7 billion) in government bonds would be exchanged next week under a landmark bond swap that has already erased nearly a third of its debt. And Athens also extended the deadline for the final phase of the operation ‒ already postponed twice ‒ to April 20. “The...
German Factory Orders Increase Less Than Forecast in February
Source: Bloomberg German factory orders increased less than economists forecast in February as countries outside the euro region barely offset a drop in European demand. Orders, adjusted for seasonal swings and inflation, increased 0.3 per cent from January, when they fell a revised 1.8 per cent, the Economy Ministry in Berlin said Wednesday. Economists forecast...
EU Probes Motorola after Microsoft, Apple Complaints
Source: Reuters EU regulators are investigating whether phone maker Motorola Mobility breached antitrust rules by allegedly over-charging Microsoft and Apple for use of its patents in their products, the European Commission said on Tuesday. The European Commission, the EU antitrust regulator in the 27-country European Union, said it had opened two investigations into Motorola Mobility...
Eurozone Unemployment Hits Record 10.8 Per cent in February
Source: AFP The eurozone unemployment rate hit a 15-year record high of 10.8 per cent in February, up from 10.7 per cent the previous month, official figures showed on Monday. The Eurostat data agency estimated that more than 17.1 million men and women were out of work in February after the ranks of the unemployed...
Eurozone Clinches Trillion-dollar Firewall Deal
Source: AFP Eurozone finance ministers reached a landmark deal on Friday to raise their debt firewall to more than one trillion dollars, as a budget crisis in Spain underlined the need for firm defences. Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter left a key meeting in Copenhagen to brief reporters on an agreement raising the eurozone firewall...
Roche Raises Hostile Bid for Illumina
Source: AFP Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche raised its hostile bid for US gene mapper Illumina to US$51 per share on Thursday, in a new offer valuing the company at about US$6.55 billion. The new price is 15 per cent higher than the US$44.50 per share offered earlier that valued the company at US$5.7 billion....
Italy Sells EUR8.5 billion of Bills as Rates Plunge
Source: Bloomberg Italy auctioned EUR8.5 billion (US$11.34 billion) of Treasury bills at the lowest rate in more than a year as efforts to contain the region’s debt crisis fuelled confidence among investors. The Rome-based Treasury sold EUR8.5 billion of 182-day bills at 1.119 per cent, the lowest since September 2010, and down from 1.202 per...
Italian PM Monti Downplays Spanish Contagion Risk
Source: Reuters Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti on Wednesday played down the risk that economic troubles in Spain would spread to the rest of Europe and said he believed the eurozone debt crisis was nearly over. Only last weekend, Monti expressed concern about the state of finances in Spain and warned it would not take...
Rio Tinto Scraps Malaysian Aluminium Smelter Deal
Source: AFP Resources giant Rio Tinto and a Malaysian partner have scrapped plans for a US$2-billion aluminium smelter in Borneo over problems agreeing power supply terms, its local partner said. Cahya Mata Sarawak (CMS), which owns 40 per cent of the Sarawak Aluminium Company (SALCO) smelter development in Sarawak state, announced the termination late Tuesday...
German Bunds Gain on Bailout Concern as Italy, Spain Sell Debt
Source: Bloomberg German bunds rose amid concern measures to increase the euro-region’s financial firewall will fail to stem the euro-area crisis, spurring demand for the region’s safest assets. Italian government debt fell as it sold EUR3.82 billion (US$5.11 billion) of bonds Tuesday. Ten-year bunds gained for the fifth time in six days after a...
Nervous Banks Hold Back Europe’s Revival Strategy
Source: Reuters Among the piles of papers on one European diplomat’s desk in Brussels is a memo with the words “growth” and “jobs” scrawled in blue ink, followed by a large question mark. “I think we’re missing something,” said the diplomat as he sucked his pen. “There’s a lot of talk about growth strategies, but...
RBS Halts India Tanker Payment Due to Iran Sanctions
Source: Reuters The Royal Bank of Scotland has halted payments to a Greek ship owner which transported Iranian oil for an Indian shipping company, in line with Western sanctions aimed at hindering Iranian crude exports, shipping sources told Reuters. The European Union in January placed an immediate ban on new contracts to import, purchase or...
