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Thursday, 27 December 2012
Friday, 21 December 2012
UPDATE 1-Anglo American says last Minas-Rio injunction lifted
n" readability="42">Dec 21 (Reuters) - Global miner Anglo American Plc said on Friday an injunction blocking installation of an electricity transmission line at its Minas-Rio iron ore project in Brazil has been lifted, clearing the final hurdle for the project.
A Brazilian court removed two injunctions in September, letting the company restart construction at the mine site, which has a capacity of 26.5 million tonnes per year.
The removal of the final injunction on Friday will allow the company to install a 90-kilometer (55 mile) electricity transmission line.
The project has faced a series of delays and cost overruns since it was bought for $5.5 billion from Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista's MMX Mineracao e Metais SA in 2008. Criticism of the project soured the relationship between Anglo American's former chief executive, Cynthia Carroll, who championed the purchase, and leading shareholders. Carroll resigned in October.
The company raised the estimated cost of the Minas Rio project last month, saying it was unlikely to cost less than $8 billion.
Anglo American shares fell 0.48 percent to 1,855.48 pence in London.
Anglo American says final injunction on Minas-Rio project removed
n">Dec 21 (Reuters) - Global miner Anglo American said an injunction on installing an electricity transmission line at its Minas-Rio iron ore project in Brazil has been removed, clearing away the final hurdle for the project.
A Brazilian court removed two injunctions in September, letting the company restart construction at the mine, which has a capacity of 26.5 million tonnes per year.
The removal of the final injunction on Friday will allow the company to install a 90 km (55 mile) electricity transmission line.
The project has faced a series of delays since it was bought for $5.5 billion from Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista's MMX Mineracao e Metais in 2008.
The company raised the estimated cost of the Minas Rio project last month, telling investors it was unlikely to cost less than $8 billion.
US STOCKS-Wall St slides as fiscal deal unlikely before 2013
* Failure of Boehner's bill suggests compromise difficult
* Banking shares tumble, Citigroup and BofA shares drop
* Research In Motion shares slide 17 percent
* Dow down 1.4 pct, S&P 500 off 1.5 pct, Nasdaq off 1.5 pct
By Leah Schnurr
NEW YORK, Dec 21 (Reuters) - U.S stocks lost more than 1 percent on Friday after a Republican proposal for averting the "fiscal cliff" failed to pass, diminishing hopes that a deal would be reached soon in Washington.
Trading is expected to be volatile as investors view a fiscal agreement between the White House and Republicans before the end of the year as increasingly unlikely. Lower volume heading into next week's Christmas holiday could increase volatility. The CBOE Volatility Index, or VIX, was up 10 percent.
Late on Thursday, Republican House Speaker John Boehner conceded there were insufficient votes from his party to pass a tax bill, dubbed "Plan B," to help avert the so-called fiscal cliff - $600 billion of tax hikes and spending cuts due to start in January. The fear is that failure to come up with a solution to avoid the cliff could tip the U.S. economy into recession.
Plan B had called for tax increases on those who earn $1 million or more a year, and the bill's failure suggested it would be difficult to get Republican support for the more expansive tax increases that Obama has urged, making it less likely an agreement will be reached between the White House and Republicans before the end of the year.
While Friday's slide reflected investors' anxiety, it was not a large enough drop to suggest they believed a deal would be reached too late to avoid damage to the economy, said Mark Lehmann, president of JMP Securities, in San Francisco.
"You could have easily woken up today and seen the market down 300 or 400 points, and everyone would have said, 'That's telling you this is really dire,'" Lehmann said.
"I think you get into mid-January and (the talks) keep going like this, you get worried, but I don't think we're going to get there."
Banking shares, which outperform in times of economic expansion and have led the market on signs of progress with resolving the fiscal impasse, were among the laggards. Citigroup Inc sank 2.7 percent to $39.10, while Bank of America slid 2.5 percent to $11.22. The KBW Banks index lost 1.7 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 185.38 points, or 1.39 percent, to 13,126.34. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index tumbled 20.88 points, or 1.45 percent, to 1,422.81. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 46.64 points, or 1.53 percent, to 3,003.74.
Even with the declines, the S&P 500 is up nearly 1 percent for the week and about 13 percent for the year, though uncertainty over the cliff may prompt many traders to lock in gains as the year draws to a close.
The day's round of data indicated that the economy showed surprising signs of resilience in November as consumer spending rose by the most in three years and a gauge of business investment jumped.
But separate data showed consumer sentiment slumped in December. The S&P Retail Index fell 1.5 percent.
U.S.-listed shares of Research in Motion sank 17 percent to $11.72 after the Canadian company, which makes the BlackBerry, reported its first-ever decline in its subscriber numbers late on Thursday.
US STOCKS-Wall Street slides as fiscal deal unlikely before 2013
* Failure of Boehner's bill suggests compromise difficult
* Banking shares tumble; Citigroup and BofA shares drop
* Research In Motion shares slide more than 18 percent
* Indexes down: Dow 1.1 pct, S&P 500 1.2 pct, Nasdaq 1.3 pct
By Leah Schnurr
NEW YORK, Dec 21 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks tumbled more than 1 percent on Friday after a Republican proposal for averting the "fiscal cliff" failed to pass, diminishing hopes that a deal would be reached soon in Washington.
Trading was volatile as investors reckoned a fiscal agreement between the White House and Republicans before the end of the year was unlikely. Lower volume ahead of the Christmas and New Year holidays exaggerated market swings further, and the CBOE Volatility Index, or VIX, was up 6.5 percent.
Late on Thursday, Republican House Speaker John Boehner failed to muster enough votes from his party to pass a tax bill, dubbed "Plan B," to avert the so-called fiscal cliff, $600 billion of tax hikes and spending cuts due to start in January. If U.S. lawmakers don't agree soon on a budget that avoids the cliff, the U.S. economy could tip into recession.
"The failure with Plan B was disappointing, if not terribly surprising, but now there's a real lack of clarity about what will happen and markets hate that," said Mike Hennessy, managing director of investments for Morgan Creek in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
The lack of support for Plan B, which called for tax increases on those who earn $1 million or more a year, suggested it would be difficult to get Republican support for the more expansive tax increases that President Barack Obama has urged. That, in turn, reduces the possibility of an agreement between the White House and Republicans before the end of the year.
Earlier on Friday, Boehner said congressional leaders and Obama must try to move on and work together.
While Friday's stock market slide reflected investors' anxiety, it wasn't a large enough drop to suggest they believed a deal would be reached too late to avoid damage to the economy, said Mark Lehmann, president of JMP Securities, in San Francisco.
"You could have easily woken up today and seen the market down 300 or 400 points, and everyone would have said, 'That's telling you this is really dire,'" Lehmann said.
"I think if you get into mid-January and (the talks) keep going like this, you get worried, but I don't think we're going to get there."
Banking shares, which outperform in times of economic expansion and have led the market on signs of progress with resolving the fiscal impasse, led declines. Citigroup Inc fell 1.8 percent to $39.44, while Bank of America slid 2.4 percent to $11.24. The KBW Banks index lost 1.4 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 147.89 points, or 1.11 percent, to 13,163.83. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 17.08 points, or 1.18 percent, to 1,426.61. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 39.90 points, or 1.31 percent, to 3,010.49.
Even with the declines, the S&P 500 is up nearly 1 percent for the week and about 13 percent for the year, though uncertainty over the cliff may prompt many traders to lock in gains as the year draws to a close.
The day's round of data indicated the economy was surprisingly resilient in November; consumer spending rose by the most in three years and a gauge of business investment jumped.
But separate data showed consumer sentiment slumped in December. The S&P Retail Index fell 1.3 percent.
U.S.-listed shares of Research in Motion sank 19.8 percent to $11.32 after the Canadian company, which makes the BlackBerry, reported its first-ever decline in its subscriber numbers on Thursday. A new fee structure for its high-margin services segment also concerned investors.
Herbalife dropped for an eighth day in a row. Investor Bill Ackman on Thursday ramped up his campaign against the company. Herbalife skidded 17.8 percent to $27.72 and has shed more than 35 percent this week.
UPDATE 2-EU charges Samsung with abusing vital telecoms patent
* Apple, Samsung locked in disputes in at least 10 nations
* Samsung says confident Commission will find in its favour
BRUSSELS Dec 21 (Reuters) - The European Commission charged Samsung Electronics on Friday with abusing its dominant position in seeking to bar rival Apple from using a patent deemed essential to mobile phone use.
The Commission sent a "statement of objections" to the South Korean group, with its preliminary view that Samsung was not acting fairly.
"Intellectual property rights are an important cornerstone of the single market. However, such rights should not be misused when they are essential to implement industry standards, which bring huge benefits to businesses and consumers alike," Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said in statement.
Apple and Samsung, the world's top two smartphone makers, are locked in patent disputes in at least 10 countries as they vie to dominate the lucrative mobile market and win over customers with their latest gadgets.
The filing of competition objections is the latest step in the Commission's investigation. After notifying Samsung in writing, the company will have a chance to reply and request a hearing before regulators.
If the Commission then concludes that the firm has violated the rules, it could impose a fine of up to 10 percent of the electronics firm's total annual turnover.
Technology companies are increasingly turning to the European Commission as the European Union's competition authority, to resolve their disputes. The Commission is also investigating Google and Microsoft.
In the case of Samsung, its standard-essential patents (SEPs) relate to the EU's 3G UMTS standard. When this was adopted in Europe, Samsung committed to license the patents fairly to competitors, the Commission said.
However, it began seeking an injunction in 2011 in various EU member states against Apple's use of these patents. The Commission opened its investigation in January 2012.
Samsung said it was studying the Commission's statement. It said it would cooperate fully and "firmly defend ourselves against any misconceived allegations".
"Samsung is confident that, in due course, the Commission will conclude that we have acted in compliance with European Union competition laws."
U.S. holiday travel expected to be difficult as storm hits
By Mary Wisniewski
CHICAGO | Fri Dec 21, 2012 2:16pm EST
CHICAGO Dec 21 (Reuters) - Holiday travel could be a challenge from Michigan to the central Appalachian mountains as a blast of winter weather including heavy snow and high winds hits the region through Saturday, meteorologists said on Friday.
"Right now the Great Lakes are getting hit, from Lake Michigan to the east," said Pat Slattery, spokesman for the National Weather Service. "The big story for most people is it's going to mess travel up completely."
Pittsburg is expected to take the biggest blow of any major metropolitan area, with 10-18 inches expected to fall by Saturday evening. Western New York, including Buffalo, is looking at up to 14 inches, Slattery said.
The winter blast is part of the same system that buried parts of Iowa, Nebraska and Wisconsin Thursday in more than a foot of snow in some places, shutting down roads and schools.
More than 320,000 homes and businesses were without power in the eastern half of the United States Friday, following a series of snow and rain storms, power companies said. The hardest hit states include Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.
The storm system was also fueling strong winds in the east and southeast, with gusts of between 50 and 60 miles per hour. The winds were strong enough to knock down tree limbs, weaken trees and send unsecured objects into the air, noted Accuweather.com senior meteorologist Alex Sosnowski.
"It is possible the winds could disturb some repair work being done in the wake of Sandy," wrote Sosnowski in an article on the website, referring to the hurricane that devastated the east coast in late October.
The winds will likely result in flight delays in the region from Washington, D.C. to Philadelphia, New York City and Boston into the weekend. On the west coast, heavy rains are causing delays at San Francisco International Airport, according to Accuweather.com.
The sun is shining in Iowa Friday, and the state's Department of Transportation has "every person and every piece of equipment we have out on the roads," according to state maintenance engineer Bob Younie.
"Salt and the sun is going to be our friend today," Younie said. "I'd like think we're going to get the roads back to pretty drivable conditions."
The storm Thursday contributed to a 25-car accident near Clarion, Iowa that left three people dead.
The winter storm, named Draco by the Weather Channel, began Tuesday in the Rocky Mountains, marking a sharp change from the mild December experienced by most of the nation. High winds kicked up a dust storm in western Texas on Wednesday leading to one death in a traffic accident near Lubbock.
Chicago got just 0.2 of an inch of snow through midnight, ending a record streak of 290 days without measurable snow, according to Accuweather.com.
Other snowfalls set records Thursday, including Madison, Wisconsin with 13.3 inches, beating a previous record of 4.6 inches for the day set in 2000. Even heavier snow fell in Middleton, south of Madison, which got 19.5 inches, Slattery said.
Also setting a record was Des Moines, Iowa, with 12.4 inches, breaking a record of 4.5 inches set in 1925, according to Accuweather.com (Reporting by Mary Wisniewski; Additional reporting by Scott DiSavino in New York; Editing by Richard Chang)
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