Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 08 January 2015
Econintersect: Here are some of the headlines we found to help you start your day. For more headlines see our afternoon feature for GEI members, What We Read Today, which has many more headlines and a number of article discussions to keep you abreast of what we have found interesting.
Global
Asian shares rally as China drops circuit breaker, firms yuan setting (Reuters) Asian shares rebounded on Friday, led by strong gains for battered Chinese stocks after China suspended its market circuit breaker system and set a firmer midpoint rate for yuan trading for the first time in nine days. The CSI300 index .CSI300 of major Shanghai and Shenzhen stocks was up 2.7% and the Shanghai Composite .SSEC climbed 2.6%. The gains pared losses for the week for both indexes to less than 10%. Higher Chinese stocks also supported MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS, which erased earlier losses to be up 0.5%. That put it on track for a decline this week of about 6%, which would be its biggest fall since August. The improved sentiment looks unlikely to spill over into Europe, however, with financial spreadbetters expecting Britain’s FTSE 100 .FTSE to open flat, and Germany’s DAX .GDAXI and France’s CAC 40 .FCHI to start the day 0.5% lower.
U.S.
Methane leak not a catastrophe, says gas company (BBC News) The company behind a massive gas leak in California has denied it is responsible for an environmental catastrophe. SoCal Gas said it was deeply sorry for what happened and is working to stop the leak, though it could take weeks. It says the gas being pumped into the atmosphere, which includes methane, is not a threat to public safety.
Two Middle East refugees arrested in U.S. on terrorism charges (Reuters) Two men from the Middle East who came to the United States as refugees were arrested on federal terrorism charges in California and Texas for supporting Islamic militant groups, U.S. officials said on Thursday. They are the latest in a series of similar cases in a U.S. campaign against extremism. Neither man was charged with plotting an attack on the United States. One man was charged with supporting the Islamic State militant group overseas and both were charged with providing false information about their ties to what were described as international terrorist groups. There have been more than 75 publicized arrests of U.S. residents who have allegedly become radicalized by Muslim militants since 2014. The men, arrested in Sacramento and Houston, were not involved in a single plot, but they may have been in contact with each other, a source familiar with the two cases said. Both men are Palestinians who were born in Iraq. The man arrested in Houston, Omar Faraj Saeed Al-Hardan, entered the United States as an Iraqi refugee in November 2009, according to a court document. In Sacramento, the U.S. Department of Justice said Aws Mohammed Younis Al-Jayab, 23, came to the United States in 2012 as a refugee from Syria.
A pause in the shouting: Obama, critics connect at CNN’s town hall on guns (CNN) A president who has vowed to politicize gun control and critics who believe he’s determined to confiscate their weapons came face-to-face Thursday in a rare respectful and reasoned interlude in one of America’s most poisoned political debates. For once, the nation’s bitter, polarized politics failed to swamp a conversation on gun violence. In a CNN town hall moderated by Anderson Cooper, President Barack Obama faced off against critics of his new executive actions, including expanded background checks for gun sales — but both sides listened carefully, referred to shared concerns and avoided histrionics. One absent voice: the National Rifle Association, which declined CNN’s invitation to participate. This was the kind of civilized exchange that some Americans thought they were in line for when Obama took office in 2009 promising to cleanse American politics of its “petty grievances” and “recriminations and worn-out dogmas.”
UK
Pay growth falls to two-year low despite jobs rise (City A.M.) Despite an increase in job vacancies in December, pay growth has slowed to its lowest rate in over two years. But the number of vacancies grew at a faster pace than in November, indicating higher demand for staff. It is at historically high levels with the index at 62.2 up from 61.2.
Number of tenants in serious arrears rising (City A.M.)
The number of tenants falling seriously behind on rent went up by 13.8 per cent between the three months to June and the three months to September, according to figures released this morning. There were 84,200 tenants more than two months behind on their payments between July and September – the most for two years, the data from estate agents Your Move and Reeds Rains reveals. In part, the growth in tenants falling behind may simply be the result of the growth of the private rented sector. However, the proportion of private tenancies in arrears has risen to to 1.6% from 1.4%, but is below a 2008 peak of 2.9%. Landlords appear to offering greater flexibility, with evictions falling 4.3%.
Germany
Cologne New Year’s attackers could face deportation, German official says (CNN) Germany has been shocked by the apparently coordinated crime wave in the center of the city in western Germany on New Year’s Eve, in which scores of women reported being sexually assaulted or robbed by gangs of men of Arab or North African appearance. The perpetrators of mob sex attacks and muggings in the city of Cologne on New Year’s Eve could face deportation if they are migrants, Germany’s justice minister said Thursday.
Saudi Arabia
Too Big to Value: Why Saudi Aramco Is in a League of Its Own (Bloomberg) With the rumors that Saudi Arabia may sell part of its national oil company, Aramco, there is speculation about what the worth of the world’s largest oil company might be. Based on reserves it could be as much as $2.5 trillion. Based on production, it would be about 5 times the giant Exxon Mobil.
Iraq
US-led coalition: IS has lost 30 percent of its territory (Associated Press) The U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group said Tuesday that the militants have lost 30% percent of the territory they once held in Iraq and Syria. Baghdad-based spokesman Col. Steve Warren told reporters the extremists have lost 40%t of their territory in Iraq and 20% in Syria, adding that they are now in a “defensive crouch.”
China
China State Funds Said to Buy More Shares After $1 Trillion Rout (Bloomberg) The government to the rescue. China intervened to shore up its slumping stock market for at least the second time this week as state-controlled funds bought equities, according to people familiar with the matter. Government funds purchased local stocks on Friday, bolstering the market after regulators scrapped circuit breakers that ended trading early on two days this week, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the buying wasn’t publicly disclosed. Funds purchased financial shares and others with large weightings in benchmark indexes, the people said. The CSI 300 Index rallied 2.8% at the midday trading break, after tumbling 12% this week through Thursday and falling further at the open Friday. Why shouldn’t investors outside of China not be losing much as the Chinese market falls? See video.
Another Chinese billionaire goes missing (Financial Times) The billionaire founder of Metersbonwe, one of China’s best-known fashion brands, has gone missing, the latest in a series of Chinese business people and financiers apparently embroiled in the country’s anti-corruption campaign. Metersbonwe suspended trading in its shares on the Shenzhen stock exchange on Thursday while the company said it was investigating reports in the Chinese media that Zhou Chengjian, its chairman, had been picked up by police.
