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23/03/08

UBS investors to consider new capital hike: report

ZURICH (Reuters) - UBS shareholders will consider a proposal for a fresh capital hike of 10 billion Swiss francs ($9.88 billion) next month, according to a Swiss newspaper report on Sunday. The SonntagsBlick newspaper quoted Herbert Braendli, head of Swiss pension fund Profond, as saying UBS had confirmed that a Profond proposal to raise 10 billion francs would be on the agenda at the bank's general meeting on April 23.

Light at end of tunnel or false dawn?

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The world economy may be in for a painful reality check this week, should a heavy slate of housing-related data point to more mortgage malaise. In the aftermath of the Federal Reserve-orchestrated rescue of investment bank Bear Stearns and deep interest rate cuts, some analysts have begun to speculate that the worst may soon be over for battered global financial markets.

IMF endorses wealth fund guide plan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund on Friday endorsed staff plans to develop best practice guidelines for sovereign wealth funds and said it would meet with wealth funds in April to start working on an initial draft. IMF Director of Monetary and Capital Markets Jaime Caruana said the IMF would establish an international working group of wealth funds and the April meeting would delve into technical details. Current plans are to release the first draft by October meetings of the IMF.

Bank rally helps pull Toronto stocks higher

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Toronto Stock Exchange's main index ended a volatile session higher on Thursday, as financials were buoyed by Bank of Montreal's deal to restructure two of its commercial paper trusts. The rally in the banking sector helped the benchmark overcome earlier sharp declines, as it was dragged down by resource issues that were shaken by retreating commodity prices.

Bank of Montreal stock rises on ABCP restructuring

TORONTO (Reuters) - Bank of Montreal's deal to restructure two of its commercial paper trusts has removed some of the bank's near-term problems and eased the likelihood that it will have to issue equity, a concern that has weighed on its stock, analysts said on Thursday. Late on Wednesday, BMO said key counterparties and investors had agreed to restructure two asset-backed commercial paper trusts, known as Apex and Sitka, that the bank had sponsored. The ABCP trusts had failed to place new paper last month and were unable to meet collateral calls.

TransCanada eyes C$5 billion Alberta hydro project

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - TransCanada Corp is mulling development of a C$5 billion ($4.9 billion) hydroelectric project on the Slave River in the remote reaches of northern Alberta, Alex Pourbaix, president of the power and pipeline company's energy division, said on Thursday. The company said it is in the early stages of planning for a run-of-the river hydro project on the Slave, an undeveloped river that carries more that two-thirds of Alberta's water flow north to Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories.

Russia's Severstal buys Sparrows Point mill

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Severstal , Russia's largest steel maker, will expand its U.S. presence with the $810 million acquisition of the Sparrows Point mill in Maryland, which ArcelorMittal is selling for antitrust reasons. Severstal said on Friday it expected to close the all-cash deal to buy the former Bethlehem Steel unit in the second quarter of 2008. The capacity addition is equivalent to about 20 percent of the company's crude steel output last year.

Canada appeals court backs Pfizer Lipitor patent

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Canadian appeals court has blocked the sale of a generic form of Pfizer Inc's top-selling cholesterol fighter, Lipitor, by India's Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd , overturning a lower court ruling, Pfizer said on Thursday. The Federal Court of Appeal of Canada issued an order prohibiting approval of Ranbaxy's product in Canada until a Pfizer patent expires in July 2010, the company said.

Canada dollar hit by weak commodities, strong US$

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar fell nearly 1 percent against a broadly stronger U.S. dollar on Thursday, heading into the Easter holiday weekend, as influential commodity prices continued to slide. Domestic bond prices were mixed as hedge funds were forced to deleverage themselves to some extent due to tight credit conditions.

Commodities tumble as investors cash out

CHICAGO (Reuters) - From gold to oil to grains, commodities tumbled on Thursday in a wave of selling as investors cashed out, taking profits at near-record prices and reducing risk from positions built on borrowed money. The decline was the biggest ever as measured by the Reuters/Jefferies CRB commodities index <.CRB> since its inception 50 years ago. The index, which includes crude oil, gold, wheat, cattle and corn, fell 8.4 percent on the day.

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