News Archive - 22 October 2015

>Delaying its final ruling for a third time, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commision (ACCC) said joining the world's No. 2 and No. 3 oilfield services firms to eclipse the current No. 1, Schlumberger NV, "may create conditions that would facilitate coordinated behavior in the market"."The ACCC is concerned...

>TreeHouse Foods Inc (THS.N) is in advanced talks to acquire Ralcorp, the private label business of ConAgra Foods Inc (CAG.N), in a deal that could be valued between $2.5 billion and $2.7 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.After considering other alternatives, such as...

>Chafee, a former Rhode Island governor, said on Twitter he would discuss the subject in a speech to the Democratic National Committee's Women's Leadership Forum in Washington on Friday morning."I'll address my future in the campaign there," Chafee tweeted. Chafee barely registers in opinion polls. Former Secretary of State...

>Dow Chemical Co (DOW.N) said it would "review all options" for its farm chemicals and seeds unit, which has reported falling sales for nearly a year, and suggested that it might buy Corning Inc's (GLW.N) stake in a silicon joint venture. Dow is also selling its stake in...

>Ryan earlier this week said he was open to replacing retiring House Speaker John Boehner, but only if he could win the unified backing of his divided party colleagues in the House. By Thursday afternoon he had gathered support from conservative and moderate Republican groups. "I believe we are ready...

>WASHINGTON Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton passed a tough political test on Thursday, calmly deflecting harsh Republican criticism of her handling of the deadly 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya, during a testy 11-hour hearing in Congress.In testimony that stretched deep into the night, the former secretary of state rejected...

>AT&T Inc (T.N), the No. 2 U.S. wireless carrier and the world's largest pay-TV operator, raised its 2015 earnings forecast as quarterly earnings beat expectations on cost cuts and gains in wireless and DirecTV subscribers.AT&T shares rose 1.7 percent in after-hours trading on Thursday.Reporting results...

>Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) reported better-than-expected quarterly adjusted revenue for the ninth quarter in a row, boosted by burgeoning demand for its cloud products, sending its shares soaring in after-hours trading on Thursday.The company, under Chief Executive Satya Nadella, has been shifting its focus to software and cloud services...

>Operating profit was 5.1 billion Swedish crowns ($604 million) compared to 3.9 billion in the year-ago quarter and below a mean forecast of 5.4 billion crowns in a Reuters poll of analysts. Sales at Ericsson, the world number one mobile network equipment maker, were 59.2 billion...

>WASHINGTON/ERBIL, Iraq One member of a U.S. special operations force was killed during an overnight mission to rescue hostages held by Islamic State militants in northern Iraq, the first American to die in ground combat with the militant group, U.S. officials said on Thursday. Sixty-nine hostages were rescued...

>GENEVA/PRAGUE U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein accused the Czech Republic on Thursday of committing systematic human rights violations by detaining refugees for up to 90 days, strip-searching them for money to pay for their own detention.Human rights violations appeared to be "an integral part" of a...

>The comments by navy chief Wu Shengli come as Washington considers conducting freedom-of-navigation operations within 12 nautical miles of artificial islands China has built in the disputed South China Sea, without saying when it would do so. Such a move would likely infuriate Beijing.Both China and the United States...

>WASHINGTON U.S. home resales rebounded strongly in September and new applications for unemployment benefits hovered around 42-year lows last week, pointing at solid domestic fundamentals even as the global economy falters.Thursday's upbeat housing and labor market reports could keep the door open to an interest rate hike from...

>CAIRO When Egyptian central bank governor Hesham Ramez quit, phones began ringing as bankers congratulated each other on the departure of a man they say refused to change course even as Egypt careered from currency crisis toward trade crisis.Fresh blood at the top has raised hopes of impending change...

>SINGAPORE Oil prices extended gains into a second day in Asian trade on Friday, finding support from brighter economic data and a global stock market rally after the European Central Bank signaled its willingness to launch more stimulus measures.Brent for December delivery rose 30 cents to $48.38 a...

>TOKYO The Bank of Japan will cut its growth and inflation outlook for this fiscal year at a rate review next week but only slightly tweak its projections for next year, sources said, possibly tempering expectations that the central bank will soon ease monetary policy further.By not straying far...

>SAN FRANCISCO Alphabet Inc, the new holding company for Google, introduced its first share buyback and beat Wall Street's profit forecast on Thursday, helped by solid progress in mobile and video advertising, sending the stock to its highest-ever level in after-hours trading. Revenue and profit well above analysts' average forecasts,...

>TOKYO/SINGAPORE Asia extended a global stocks rally on Friday after the European Central Bank signaled its readiness to inject more stimulus, helping the dollar scale a fresh two-month peak against the euro.MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was up 1.6 percent, and set for a...