Banks face stern test when credit cycle turns

(Reuters) - "Given the key role that a benign credit environment has
been playing in boosting the performance of the financial
sector over the past years, a turn in the credit cycle
represents a significant risk to its outlook," the Basel-based
BIS said in its annual report.




A combination of low interest rates and unusually
infrequent rates of default among borrowers in many countries
have played a big part in boosting profits at financial
services companies.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Japan's Bull-Dog OK's poison pill for Steel Partners

(Reuters) - At a general shareholders' meeting on Sunday, more than
two-thirds of votes were cast in favour of the scheme that
would give shareholders other than Steel Partners three new
shares for each existing one, while paying Steel Partners in
cash.




Steel Partners's unsolicited tender offer for Bull-Dog is
one of several fights the activist fund is waging in Japan. It
has spent about $3 billion to take stakes of more than 5
percent in some 30 Japanese firms.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Modest WTO free trade deal seen better than nothing

(Reuters) - Even a modest global trade pact may be better than nothing, according to economists and analysts who say the implosion of faltering World Trade Organisation talks would carry big costs.

Countries have missed deadline after deadline in their near six-year pursuit of a new WTO accord meant to give poorer nations a leg-up in world trade and reduce worldwide barriers to commerce in agriculture, manufacturing and services.


Read more at Reuters Africa

GM's Saab cuts targets on way to break even: report

(Reuters) - Earlier targets set by Forster's predecessor Peter
Augustsson, who left the company in March last year, aimed to
sell 250,000 units per year, the magazine said.




Saab sold 133,167 cars worldwide last year and was not
profitable, Jan-Ake Jonsson, Saab's managing director, told
Automotive News.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

World's largest stock exchanges

(Reuters) -




1. NYSE $21.79


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Oil rises above $71 on Nigeria strike fears

(Reuters) - Oil prices rose above $71 a barrel on Friday on fears a general strike in Nigeria could intensify and disrupt crude shipments from the world's eighth-largest exporter.

London Brent crude, currently seen as the best benchmark of world oil prices, settled up 96 cents at $71.18 a barrel, after trading as high as $71.50 during the day.


Read more at Reuters Africa

European Stocks Drop on Concern Higher Rates, Oil Prices May Hurt Earnings

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks dropped on
speculation increasing borrowing costs and higher oil prices
will weigh on corporate earnings.

Retail shares fell after Tesco Plc, the U.K.'s largest
supermarket operator, predicted a ``tougher year'' because of
rising interest rates and growing competition. Air France-KLM
Group and British Airways Plc, among the most sensitive to
changes in the price of oil, led travel and leisure stocks to
the lowest in more than two months.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News