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| Asia shares turn mixed as China disappoints, gold bounces while yen falls Wednesday, Jan 01, 2014 08:12 PM PST  By Wayne Cole SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian share markets endured mixed fortunes on Monday in the wake of disappointing data on Chinese manufacturing, while investors showed renewed appetite for commodities as the new year got underway. The other action was in the yen, which resumed its long decline as investors used it to fund purchases of higher-yielding assets abroad. The drop in the yen has been viewed as positive for Japanese exports and corporate earnings, and a major reason its share markets outperformed all others last year. Japan's Nikkei was closed on Thursday but ended 2013 with an annual gain of 57 percent. Full Story | Top |
| Antarctic helicopter rescue of trapped ship passengers delayed due to sea ice Wednesday, Jan 01, 2014 07:59 PM PST  By Maggie Lu Yueyang SYDNEY (Reuters) - A planned helicopter rescue of 52 passengers on a Russian ship stranded in Antarctic ice since Christmas Eve was delayed on Thursday due to unfavorable sea ice conditions in the area. The helicopter on the Chinese icebreaker Snow Dragon had planned to lift passengers from the trapped Akademik Shokalskiy on Thursday and then use a barge to transport them to the nearby Aurora Australis, Australia's Antarctic supply ship. Full Story | Top |
| Hackers post account info of 4.6 million Snapchat users: report Wednesday, Jan 01, 2014 07:58 PM PST (Reuters) - Computer hackers posted online usernames and partial phone numbers of 4.6 million users of mobile photo-sharing service Snapchat, media reports said on Wednesday. A website called SnapchatDB.info made the information available for download, according to tech news site TechCrunch. In a statement to TecCrunch, SnapchatDB said that it got the information through a recently identified and patched Snapchat exploit and that it was making the data available in an effort to convince the messaging app to beef up its security. Full Story | Top |
| Syrian Electronic Army says hacked into Skype's social media accounts Wednesday, Jan 01, 2014 06:50 PM PST  By Dan Whitcomb LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Syrian Electronic Army, an amorphous hacker collective that supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, claimed credit on Wednesday for hacking into the social media accounts of Internet calling service Skype. The group also posted the contact information of Steve Ballmer, Microsoft Corp's retiring chief executive, on its Twitter account along with the message, "You can thank Microsoft for monitoring your accounts/emails using this details. #SEA" That message was an apparent reference to revelations last year by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden that Skype, which is owned by Microsoft, was part of the NSA's program to monitor communications through some of the biggest U.S. Internet companies. Full Story | Top |
| China final HSBC factory PMI dips to three-month low in December Wednesday, Jan 01, 2014 05:52 PM PST  China's factory activity expanded at the slowest pace in three months in December, weighed down by shrinking export orders, a private survey showed on Thursday, consistent with views the economy's growth rate has moderated into the end of the year. "The recovering momentum since August 2013 is continuing into 2014, in our view," said Hongbin Qu, chief China economist at HSBC. "With inflation still benign, we expect the current monetary and fiscal policy to remain in place to support growth," he added. A sub-index measuring new export orders touched a four-month low of 49.1 in December, the first time since August that it dropped below the 50-point watershed that separates expansion from contraction, suggesting unsteady external demand. Full Story | Top |
| Samsung Elec shares drop more than 2 percent on weak earnings outlook Wednesday, Jan 01, 2014 05:17 PM PST  SEOUL (Reuters) - Shares in Samsung Electronics Co Ltd dropped more than 2 percent in early trading Thursday, on continued lackluster forecasts of its Q4 earnings due to currency moves and shrinking margins in its display business. "We expect Samsung's performance to be about 9.5 trillion Korean won, lower than the market consensus around 10.2 trillion Korean won. The biggest reason would be the won-dollar exchange rate, followed by shrinking margins in organic light-emitting diode (OLED) sales," Lee Seung-woo, tech analyst at IBK Investment & Securities said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Over 6,000 seek mortgages under UK Help to Buy scheme Wednesday, Jan 01, 2014 04:22 PM PST  Over 6,000 people have applied for mortgages under the British government's Help to Buy scheme in its first three months, which if approved would amount to 910 million pounds ($1.5 billion) in loans, Prime Minister David Cameron announced on Thursday. British lenders provided 45,044 mortgages for home purchases in November, more than in any month since December 2009, data from the British Bankers Association showed last week. The Bank of England, which collects fuller data about the British mortgage market, said in November that lenders had approved 67,701 mortgages in October, a six-year high, although still below the pre-crisis average of about 90,000. The Bank in November unexpectedly said it was ending its own incentives for banks to provide mortgages as part of the separate Funding for Lending scheme, which would instead focus exclusively on lending to businesses. Full Story | Top |
| Fiat strikes $4.35 billion deal to buy rest of Chrysler Wednesday, Jan 01, 2014 04:14 PM PST  By Stephen Jewkes and Deepa Seetharaman MILAN/DETROIT (Reuters) - Italian carmaker Fiat SpA struck a $4.35 billion deal to gain full control of Chrysler Group LLC, ending more than a year of tense talks that have obstructed Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne's efforts to combine the two automakers' resources. The agreement, announced on Wednesday, cements Marchionne's reputation as the industry's consummate dealmaker about a decade after he took the helm of Fiat as a car business newcomer, analysts and bankers said. But it remains to be seen whether a merger will be enough to cut Fiat's losses in Europe. Marchionne's plan to shore up Fiat depends on the ability to share technology, cash and dealer networks with Chrysler, the No. 3 U.S. automaker. Full Story | Top |
| Hyundai, Kia see weakest annual car sales growth since 2003 Wednesday, Jan 01, 2014 04:13 PM PST  South Korean auto makers Hyundai Motor Co and Kia Motors Corp are bracing for their most sluggish growth in annual sales since 2003 as the weakening of the yen fuels exports from Japanese rivals. Hyundai and its affiliate Kia, together ranked fifth in global car sales, aim to boost global sales by 4 percent this year to a combined 7.86 million vehicles, the pair said in regulatory filings on Thursday. It's a fresh challenge for Hyundai chairman Chung Mong-koo as the company shakes up United States management amid a fall in market share there, while German rivals encroach on its once-impregnable domestic stronghold. At their growth peak in 2010, Hyundai and Kia's annual sales climbed 24 percent as the weaker Korean won allowed them to offer stylish, feature-loaded new cars at affordable prices. Full Story | Top |
| Fans keep Mexico Zapatista flame burning 20 years after revolt Wednesday, Jan 01, 2014 04:05 PM PST  By Lomi Kriel SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS, Mexico (Reuters) - The picturesque colonial town high in the mountains in southern Mexico is filled with relics of the rebel Zapatista movement that rocked the region with violence in 1994 and catapulted it to worldwide fame. Now thousands of tourists and sympathizers come here every year to drink mojitos at a bar called Revolucion, visit nearby Zapatista communities with masked guides, and pick up souvenirs emblazoned with the image of Subcomandante Marcos, who thrilled leftists across the globe and won comparisons with Che Guevara. Twenty years after Marcos led armed indigenous insurgents in Chiapas state in a "declaration of war" against the government the day Mexico opened its borders to free trade, the Zapatistas have faded from national view and their legacy is in question. Named for Mexican revolutionary hero Emiliano Zapata, the Zapatista National Liberation Army sparked a 12-day battle with the Army that claimed at least 140 lives, becoming an early symbol for supporters of the anti-globalization movement. Full Story | Top |
| Helicopter to free ship passengers trapped in Antarctic ice Wednesday, Jan 01, 2014 03:42 PM PST  A helicopter from a Chinese icebreaker is set to lift passengers from a Russian ship stranded in Antarctic since Christmas Eve, putting an end to a nine-day international rescue cooperation. The helicopter on the Snow Dragon has been waiting on standby for better weather conditions to start the rescue operation. Two other vessels, Australia's Aurora Australis and a French flagged ship, also tried to help but failed to reach the ship due to high wind and heavy snow. "Weather conditions have improved in the area and rescue operations are likely to commence shortly by helicopter," the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), which is coordinating the rescue, said on Thursday morning. Full Story | Top |
| Global shares start sluggishly, yen resumes decline Wednesday, Jan 01, 2014 03:37 PM PST  By Wayne Cole SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian markets got the new year off to a sluggish start as Chinese economic data disappointed ahead of a raft of reports on global manufacturing due out through the session. The drop in the yen has been viewed as positive for Japanese exports and corporate earnings, and a major reason its share markets outperformed all others last year. Japan's Nikkei will be closed on Thursday and Friday. The index ended 2013 with an annual gain of 57 percent, and many analysts look for a further advance this year as the Bank of Japan remains committed to its massive stimulus campaign. Full Story | Top |
| Timeline: India's moves to curb iron ore mining, exports Wednesday, Jan 01, 2014 03:04 PM PST India, in its crusade against illegal mining, has choked its iron ore output and exports so hard that many companies are giving up on the sector. The mining and export bans in the key states of Goa and Karnataka have brought miners and other businesses to their knees, forced steelmakers to buy iron ore abroad and seen hundreds of thousands laid off. Following is a timeline of key developments in India's iron ore sector since Karnataka introduced its shipments ban: 2010 July 26 - Karnataka state, governed by the opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, bans shipments of iron ore. Full Story | Top |
| Stung by curbs, Indian iron ore companies throw in towel Wednesday, Jan 01, 2014 03:04 PM PST  By Krishna N Das and Manolo Serapio Jr Codli Village, INDIA/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Top Indian trader MMTC's $80 million iron ore export terminal, ready since 2010, has never handled a cargo. Bans on iron ore mining and exports in India's top producing states of Karnataka and Goa have choked the industry so hard that MMTC is one of many firms exiting. Even if efforts to fully lift the bans make it past the many bureaucratic and legal hurdles, iron ore miners do not expect complete resumption of production until late 2014. The bans, put in place as the government tried to clamp down on illegal mining, have cut India's iron ore exports by around 85 percent, or 100 million tonnes, over the past two years. Full Story | Top |
| World's first state-licensed marijuana retailers open doors in Colorado Wednesday, Jan 01, 2014 02:58 PM PST By Keith Coffman DENVER (Reuters) - The world's first state-licensed marijuana retailers legally permitted to sell pot for recreational use opened for business in Colorado on Wednesday with long lines of customers, marking a new chapter in America's drug culture. Roughly three dozen former medical marijuana dispensaries newly cleared by state regulators to sell pot to consumers interested in nothing more than its mind- and mood-altering properties began welcoming customers as early as 8 a.m. MST (1500 GMT). "I never thought it would happen." The highly-anticipated New Year's Day opening launched an unprecedented commercial cannabis market that Colorado officials expect will ultimately gross $578 million in annual revenues, including $67 million in tax receipts for the state. Possession, cultivation and private personal consumption of marijuana by adults for the sake of just getting high has already been legal in Colorado for more than a year under a state constitutional amendment approved by voters. Full Story | Top |
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