Fingers crossed in U.S. oil sector as hurricane hits
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Energy companies watched anxiously on Monday as Hurricane Gustav lurched across the nation's largest concentration of oil platforms and refineries in the biggest threat to U.S. fuel supplies since 2005. Nearly all oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico and more than a quarter of U.S. refining capacity was shut or slowed as a precaution by the time Gustav struck the coast and moved inland near New Orleans on Monday.
Oil extends fall as Gustav concerns ebb further
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil extended losses on Tuesday after a steep $4 plunge a day ago on speculation that a surprisingly weak Hurricane Gustav likely spared key Gulf oil infrastructure. Early checks by some U.S. refiners reported no damage from Gustav, which weakened to Category 2 before roaring ashore near Port Fourchon, Louisiana, on Monday. At least two others were expected to dip into the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, helping ensure steady gasoline and diesel supplies.
Canada skirts recession in second quarter
OTTAWA (Reuters) - The economy narrowly avoided a recession in the second quarter but the tepid 0.3 percent annual growth rate raised doubts about how long the Bank of Canada could afford to keep interest rates on hold. Gross domestic product shrank 0.8 percent in the first quarter, revised from the original estimate of a decline of 0.3 percent, as global demand waned for exports such as autos, forest products and machinery, Statistics Canada said on Friday.
Canadian industrialist Thomas Bata dies
TORONTO (Reuters) - Thomas Bata, the Czech-born industrialist who headed the global shoe empire bearing his family's name from the 1940s to the 1980s, has died in Toronto, aged 93, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp reported on Monday. Bata, son of the privately owned company's founder, came to Canada to expand the family business, starting production in 1940. Later that decade, the company's headquarters were moved to Toronto under Bata's leadership when the family's Czech factories were nationalized by the communists.
Google set to introduce its own Web browser
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc
HSBC says super-rich clients moving into cash
GENEVA (Reuters) - Many of the world's wealthiest people
have moved their money out of stocks and bonds and into cash,
the head of HSBC's
Chinese official says no need to speed renminbi rise
LONDON (Reuters) - China need not accelerate the appreciation of its renminbi currency against the U.S. dollar, the Financial Times quoted a former senior Chinese economic policy-maker as saying. It said the comments by Cheng Siwei, former vice-chairman of the standing committee of National People's Congress, were likely to disturb many in the United States, who are hoping a faster appreciation will help rebalance the world economy and improve prospects for U.S. growth.
Base metals a bargain, but how safe?
TORONTO (Reuters) - Investors looking for Canadian stock bargains will find cut-rate prices in the base metals space, but analysts caution that a rebound may take a while, as sluggish demand could continue pressure metal prices. Mining stocks have been a key driver behind the S&P/TSX composite index's 140 percent rise over the past six years. The index rose 2.4 percent this past week to close at 13,771.25.
Toronto stocks inch up as energy shares rise
TORONTO (Reuters) - The Toronto Stock Exchange's main index climbed slightly on Friday, lifted by energy issues that helped offset tech shares that were hurt by concerns of a weakening appetite for business spending. Economic news set the tone early after data showed the Canadian economy had a slight 0.3 percent annual growth rate in the second quarter and narrowly escaped falling into a recession, generally defined as two quarters of decline in a row.
Fed's response to crisis hurt its key role: Hoenig
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In aggressively responding to the year-long credit crisis in the United States, the Federal Reserve has threatened its key responsibility of combating inflation, one of its leaders said on Monday. "The current stance of policy, while understandably calibrated for responding to the immediate financial crisis, will make it difficult to achieve our mandate for price stability over the longer term," Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City President Thomas Hoenig said in remarks prepared for delivery at a central banking conference in Argentina.
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