TOKYO (MarketWatch) - South Korea’s consumer price index climbed 2.7% in May compared with a year ago, government data showed Monday. The market’s median forecast was for a climb of 2.8%, according to FactSet Research. Consumer prices were unchanged in May compared with a month earlier.
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As 101-year-old General Motors lurches ever closer to bankruptcy, amid high-level political skullduggery among the U.S., Germany and Britain, memories of the 1930s inevitably surge into people’s consciousness.
Commodity-related companies are among the big winners in Asian trade, finding support from hefty gains in prices for oil and metals over the past month. But not all analysts are sure that the strength is built on stable ground.
Chinese manufacturing expands for a third month in May, indicating the economic recovery remains intact and helping to erase concerns the world’s third-largest economy is beginning to lose momentum.
TOKYO (MarketWatch) — Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was 1.8% higher at 18,505.51 in early trading action Monday, with gains led by strength in steel and oil stocks, such as Angang Steel , which rose 4%, PetroChina Co. , up 2.5%, and Cnooc Ltd. , up 3.7%. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index added 2.2%, while in mainland China, the Shanghai Composite rose by 1.7%.
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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Senior officials in the Obama administration said Sunday the U.S. government will provide $30 billion in financing to General Motors Corp. to allow it to continue to operate through a historic Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding that will last an estimated 60 to 90 days. Officials confirmed that a majority of GM debt holders approved a deal to allow the ailing car maker to restructure its obligations. Describing the process as “painful but necessary,” officials said GM will move ahead with plans to close 11 facilities and idle three more. The specific number of layoffs will be released by GM and the United Auto Workers, officials said. They said the U.S. government will own 60% of the new General Motors.
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HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — One of China’s two Purchasing Managers Index reports saw its benchmark reading fall to 53.1 in May from 53.5 in April, according to data released Monday by the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing. The data marked the third consecutive month it has held above
50, the level indicating expansion, and was above average expectations. Merrill Lynch forecast the federation’s PMI would come in at 50.2. A competing version of the PMI, published by broker CLSA, was due out later in the day.
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TOKYO (MarketWatch) — Metals-related shares were among the winners in Monday morning Asian stock trade, as Japan’s Nikkei 225 Average rose by 0.2% to 9,543.20, and the broader Topix was 0.3% higher at 900.26. Sumitomo Metal Mining rose 3.3%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.3% to 3,828.00 as shares of BlueScope Steel added 4.2%. South Korea’s Kospi fell by 0.2%, with auto-parts maker Hyundai Mobis down 5.1%.
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On a stretch of tidal mudflats in the former Portuguese colony of Macau, the powerful Ho family are about to make their biggest bet yet.
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — Australia’s Performance of Manufacturing Index rose 7.4 points in May to 37.5, off the record low recorded in April and to its highest level in seven months, according to news reports Monday. The index, compiled by the Australian Industry Group and PricewaterhouseCoopers, still remained below the 50-point mark, however, indicating ongoing contraction in the manufacturing sector.
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Thanks to quantitative easing in nations from the Group of 20, money is swamping Asia, allowing for financial market gains without waiting for an economic recovery.
Nothing will prove to investors that the government is indeed on the path of economic reform than its pursuit of disinvestment. But in spite of fiscal insentives, many obstacles remain.
British house prices remain unchanged in May, ending 20 consecutive months of declines, according to a monthly survey released Monday by housing-industry consultancy Hometrack.
And now it’s General Motors Corp.’s turn to find a way forward — in court. The automaker aims to make a swift trip through bankruptcy by cobbling together its stronger assets to create a new more viable company. If all goes as planned, GM would emerge from bankruptcy within three months.
General Motors Corp. is expected to file for Ch. 11 bankruptcy protection early Monday, wiping out billions of investment dollars and putting a federal bankruptcy court judge in charge of what for most of its 100-year history was a proud pillar of American industry.
After one of the longest death watches in corporate history, General Motors is about to join rival Chrysler in bankruptcy. Of the Big Three Detroit automakers, only Ford is still on its feet. And it’s a bit wobbly.
Now what? For consumers who own or are thinking of purchasing a Cadillac, Buick or Chevy, it’s important to remember that General Motors Corp.’ s impending bankruptcy, the largest insolvency in corporate history, does not mean the company’s out of business, only that it is restructuring.
Data are expected to show heavy job losses battered American families again in May, economists says, continuing the carnage that has erased almost all the employment gains over the past decade.
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — General Motors Corp. will name turnaround executive Al Koch as its new chief restructuring officer as the automaker moves through Ch. 11 reorganization, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday. Koch is a managing director at the advisory firm AlixPartners LLP. He will be named to the post when GM files its bankruptcy petition Monday morning at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York’s Southern District, according to the report. He will be the highest-ranking outsider in GM’s officer ranks and oversee about 60 Alix employees working for the auto maker, the Journal added.
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Don Phillips, a managing director at Morningstar and a recognized figure in the investment business, has 62 mutual funds in his portfolio. That’s no typo. Five dozen — plus two.
U.S. fund management company Vanguard Group has tabled a $5 billion rival bid for Barclays PLC’s iShares business, according to a published report.
Honda Motor Co.’s Wiltshire, U.K. car factory staff will resume work Monday after a four-month shutdown at the plant, according to published reports.
Leveraged exchange-traded funds that short U.S. Treasury bonds have been on a strong run, and the ETFs could see further gains if investors lose their thirst for government-backed debt.
The state of the U.S. job market will come into sharp relief over the next week, starting with lay-offs connected to General Motors Corp.’s likely bankruptcy and ending with the government’s May jobs report.
Data are expected to show heavy job losses battered American families again in May, economists says, continuing the carnage that has erased almost all the employment gains over the past decade.
General Motors Corp. reportedly is nearing a deal to sell its Hummer brand to an undisclosed investor, according to a published report.
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — A majority of investors holding $27 billion in General Motors Corp. bonds have agreed to swap the debt for equity in the new company, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal citing people familiar with the matter. The agreement helps GM overcome a major obstacle in its attempt to manage a quick restructuring under Ch. 11 bankruptcy protection. Despite billions in government loans, the automaker is widely expected to file for bankruptcy protection on Monday.
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Israeli stocks leaped on Sunday, with advances across most sectors and particular strength in the banks, Israel Chemicals, and the real estate developers.
The state of the U.S. job market will come into sharp relief over the next week, starting with lay-offs connected to General Motors Corp.’s likely bankruptcy and ending with the government’s May jobs report.
European Union regulators mull forcing Microsoft Corp. to include browsers besides its Internet Explorer in its Windows software, people close to the case against the software giant tell The Wall Street Journal.
General Motors holders of slightly more than half the company’s debt clear plan to swap their debt for equity, people briefed on the matter told the New York Times. The vote would clear the way for GM to file on Monday to reorganize in bankruptcy court, the paper reports.
The state of the U.S. job market will come into sharp relief over the next week, starting with lay-offs connected to General Motors Corp.’s likely bankruptcy and ending with the government’s May jobs report.
The state of the U.S. job market will come into sharp relief over the next week, starting with lay-offs connected to General Motors Corp.’s likely bankruptcy and ending with the government’s May jobs report.
While the U.S. government and electricity producers get ready to spend hundreds of billions to upgrade the nation’s power lines and electricity infrastructure, the so-called smart grid may not be clever enough to escape economic uncertainty.
In case you missed them, here are the top 10 Personal Finance stories from MarketWatch for the week of May 25-29:
Boxes are brown, rectangular and boring. That is, until a group of auto stylists takes them on, thinking they have a lot of unrealized potential.
Fewer hurricanes are likely to gather over the Atlantic during the tropical storm season that starts Monday, but it would only take one or two aimed at key facilities to fan already rising oil and gas prices, analysts say.
The state of the U.S. job market will come into sharp relief over the next week, starting with lay-offs connected to General Motors Corp.’s likely bankruptcy and ending with the government’s May jobs report.
Irish biotech firm Elan Corp. is reportedly in talks to sell a minority stake to Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. in a deal that could be a precursor to a full takeover.
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Google Inc. head of public policy Andrew McLaughlin has left the Internet giant to join the Obama administration as deputy chief technology officer, according to a report in the New York Times. McLaughlin is the third Google executive to depart in order to join the administration, while Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt serves on Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
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Companies whose shares are seeing active U.S. trading on Friday include General Motors, J. Crew, Office Depot and Cintas.
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Irish biotech firm Elan Corp. is in talks to sell a minority stake to Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. in a deal that could be a precursor to a full takeover, according to a report published Friday. The online edition of The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, reported that Bristol Myers is in talks for a stake that could come with board representation and an ability to later take full control of the firm. Elan has implemented a strategic review and has said it requires a partner with cash to help it market new drugs, according to the report.
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While the U.S. government and electricity producers get ready to spend hundreds of billions to upgrade the nation’s power lines and electricity infrastructure, the so-called smart grid may not be clever enough to escape economic uncertainty.
Another busy week in stock trading that ended with still more weekly gains. Investors chose to focus on signs the economy was showing signs of life.
Microsoft Corp. says it no longer plans to place severe limitations on versions of Windows designed for low-cost “netbook” computers, potentially diluting some of the impetus for users of the small devices to upgrade to more costly versions of the software.
Among the companies whose shares are expected to see active trade in Monday’s session are Altera Corp., Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., and Bank of America Corp.
The shake-up is the latest sign of of strain in the face of shareholder grumbling and regulatory pressure on the lending giant.
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Fitch Ratings said late Friday it lowered its ratings outlook on the State of California to negative from stable. Fitch has an A long-term general obligation bond rating on the state. “The revision of the outlook to negative reflects growing concerns with the state’s widening budget and cash flow deficits,” Fitch said in a statement. “While there appears to be consensus for quick action by the legislature, should it be delayed or fail to materialize, further rating actions may occur.”
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Canada’s benchmark stock index finishes slightly lower Friday but posts an 11% rise for the month as banks, metals and energy firms power ahead.
Airline stocks catch a late updraft in the broader equities market to notch fresh gains, shrugging off another pop in oil prices.
