Consumers late payers on most loans since recession

(Reuters) - Americans are falling further behind on consumer loans, with late payments rising to the highest level since the nation's last recession in 2001, data released Thursday show.

In its quarterly study of consumer borrowing, the American Bankers Association said the percentage of loans at least 30 days past due rose to 2.44 percent in the July-to-September period from 2.27 percent in the previous quarter.

The delinquency rate, which covers eight loan categories, was the highest since a 2.51 percent rate in the second quarter of 2001. Late payments on some types of loans rose to levels not seen since the 1990s.

The ABA attributed some of the summer increase to rising oil prices and the inability of thousands of homeowners to keep up with mortgage payments.

 

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Oil majors' winnings from $100/barrel seen limited

(Reuters) - Crude prices at a $100/barrel should boost major international oil companies' profits, but increasing competition from governments and suppliers for a bigger share of the bonanza will cap their gains.

Shares in European oil companies opened higher on Thursday after U.S. crude hit a record $100/barrel on Wednesday.

The DJ Stoxx European oil and gas sector index was up 1.9 percent at 8:40 a.m. EST on Thursday, echoing a smaller rise across the U.S. oil industry on Wednesday.

 

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Tata in Talks to Buy Ford's Jaguar, Land Rover Units

(Bloomberg) --Ford Motor Co. selected Tata Motors Ltd. as the preferred bidder for Jaguar and Land Rover, putting India's largest truckmaker in a position to take over two of the best-known luxury auto brands.

Tata and the U.S. automaker ``will proceed with further substantive discussions,'' Ford Executive Vice President Lewis Booth said in a statement today. ``There is still a considerable amount of work to do.''

Buying the iconic British brands would give Mumbai-based Tata a presence outside Asia and provide access to new technology. A sale would allow Ford, the world's third-largest automaker, to focus on revamping its North American operations, the biggest cause of a record $12.6 billion loss in 2006.

``Tata gains an entry into the prestige market, although the snob factor says an Indian Jaguar will be a tough sell,'' said Stephen Pope, chief global markets strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald in London. Ford, of Dearborn, Michigan, may get 1 billion pounds ($1.98 billion) from a sale, he estimated.

The talks comes less than a year after the 139-year-old Tata group, led by Harvard-educated Ratan Tata, bought steelmaker Corus Group Plc. for $12.9 billion. That made Tata Steel Ltd. one of the world's top 10 steel producers.

 

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U.S. Stocks Rise on Factory Report; Exxon Mobil, Monsanto Gain

(Bloomberg) - U.S. stocks rose, led by oil companies, after a government report showed orders to petroleum refiners climbed by the most in two years.

Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp., the largest U.S. energy producers, gained after the Commerce Department said a 16 percent jump in demand at refiners helped boost factory orders by three times the forecast rate. Monsanto Co., the largest seed maker, led commodity companies to the biggest gain in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index after profit topped analysts' estimates.

The S&P 500 added 4.97, or 0.3 percent, to 1,452.13 as of 11:13 a.m. in New York, following its worst decline in two weeks yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 52.76, or 0.4 percent, to 13,096.72. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 1.24, or 0.1 percent, to 2,610.87.

Orders to U.S. factories rose 1.5 percent in November, the most in four months, and were higher in October than first reported, according to the Commerce Department. A report from ADP Employer Services showed companies in the U.S. added 40,000 jobs in December, more than projected. The reports helped assuage concern the U.S. economy is headed for a recession.

``It is a relief to have factory orders not only increase threefold greater than expected but also have a revision up of last month,'' said Thomas Sowanick, who helps manage $10 billion as chief investment officer at Clearbrook Financial LLC in Princeton, New Jersey.

 

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Real, Rand, Lira Rallies Are at Risk as Yields Fall

(Bloomberg) - The world's biggest foreign-exchange traders say the best performing emerging market currencies will decline against the U.S. dollar this year as economic growth slows and price swings increase.

Brazil's real, Turkey's lira and South Africa's rand may weaken at least 3.75 percent after gains of more than 14 percent in 2007, according to the median forecasts of banks and securities firms surveyed by Bloomberg News. The lira and rand last fell in 2006, while the real has strengthened for five straight years.

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S.Africa stocks up on miners, rand firms on gold

(Reuters) - South Africa's bourse rose one percent on Wednesday as resource shares led by BHP Billiton shone on the back of stronger metal prices as the rand firmed on the back of a firmer price for bullion.

Stocks market heavyweight BHP rose 1.40 percent, and rival Anglo American Plc added 1.06 percent to 415.10 rand, as gold, platinum and copper prices jumped in London.
Impala Platinum and Anglo American rose 2.17 and 3.06 percent to 242.40 and 1,041 rand."Precious and base metals such as gold, platinum and copper are having a good day on the London Metal Exchange," Greg Potter, a trader at Nedcor securities said

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