Asian markets rise ahead of European summit

Cameramen take video footage of shares index at the Korea Stock Exchange in SeoulAsian markets rose Tuesday following a strong performance on Wall Street and on hopes EU leaders will come to an agreement on dealing with the eurozone debt crisis at an upcoming summit.



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Singapore Exchange launches Indonesia equity futures

SINGAPORE, May 22 (Reuters) - Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX) said on Tuesday that it will launch the firstever offshore Indonesian equity futures contract in June. The contract will be based on the MSCI Indonesia index andis pitched at overseas investors looking for exposure to SouthEast Asia's biggest economy or to act as a hedge against theirexisting investments in the country. SGX has launched a string of equity derivative contracts inrecent years, including popular ones tracking Japan's Nikkei 225index and the Taiwanese stock market. ...
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Glencore hopes for FTSE fillip to aid Xstrata deal

LONDON (Reuters) - Glencore's bruised stock could get a boost after a lock-up on a large slice of employees' shares expires, in a welcome lift for the commodities trader as its $30 billion bid for miner Xstrata nears the final stages. The release on Thursday of 2.7 billion shares - a year after Glencore's record stock market debut - could mean a technical "squeeze" on the stock, analysts said. The increase in shares available to be traded translates into a greater weighting in the FTSE 100 index , prompting index-tracking funds to buy more shares. ...
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Tata Power drops on earnings fears

A labourer works at the construction site of a grid power station in JammuReuters Market Eye - Tata Power shares drop 4.4 percent ahead of its quarterly results later in the day as traders brace for negative numbers. The stock had surged 5 percent on Monday because of tariff hike hopes. Standard & Poor's warns in a report capital expenditure will remain "significant" in the next few years, weakening the company's financials. S&P says Tata Power is acquiring land for captive and imported coal-based projects in its pipeline. ...



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Nasdaq seen struggling with aftermath of Facebook IPO

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nasdaq OMX faces short-term costs from its botched handling of Facebook shares on their first day of trading but the longer term repercussions could be more expensive as it struggles to restore its image. Initially, the exchange said it plans to set aside $13 million to resolve bad trades, and even if all of that was used, the cost would be minimal compared with the $387 million in net income it reported last year. The bigger hit to Nasdaq's business is likely to come from the damage done to its reputation by the stumble. ...
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Stock futures signal higher Wall Street open

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange(Reuters) - Stock index futures pointed to a slightly higher Wall Street open on Tuesday, with futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq 100 up 0.1 to 0.2 percent. Bayer and Onyx Pharmaceuticals failed to show in a late-stage clinical study that their blockbuster drug Nexavar can prolong the lives of patients with lung tumors, the largest target group in the cancer market. ICSC/Goldman Sachs release at 1145 GMT chain store sales for the week ended May 19. In the previous week, sales fell 0.8 percent. Private equity firm CVC Capital has sold a $1. ...



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EXCLUSIVE: U.S. lets China bypass Wall St for Treasury orders

A yuan banknote is displayed next to a U.S. dollar banknote for the photographer at a money changer inside the Taoyuan International Airport, TaiwanNEW YORK (Reuters) - China can now bypass Wall Street when buying U.S. government debt and go straight to the U.S. Treasury, in what is the Treasury's first-ever direct relationship with a foreign government, according to documents viewed by Reuters. The relationship means the People's Bank of China buys U.S. debt using a different method than any other central bank in the world. The other central banks, including the Bank of Japan, which has a large appetite for Treasuries, place orders for U.S. debt with major Wall Street banks designated by the government as primary dealers. ...



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Tiger Brands posts rise in first-half earnings

A shopper is seen at a branch of South African retailer Pick n Pay in JohannesburgJOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African consumer goods firm Tiger Brands posted a modest rise in first-half earnings on Tuesday, helped by growth in its exports and international businesses as the domestic market remains subdued. The maker of bread, breakfast cereal and energy drinks said diluted headline earnings per share for the six months to end of March rose four percent to 766 cents. Headline earnings are the main profit gauge in South Africa and exclude certain one-off items. The company said revenue rose 12 percent to 11.6 billion rand. ...



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Nasdaq seen struggling with aftermath of Facebook IPO

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nasdaq OMX faces short-term costs from its botched handling of Facebook shares on their first day of trading but the longer term repercussions could be more expensive as it struggles to restore its image. Initially, the exchange said it plans to set aside $13 million to resolve bad trades, and even if all of that was used, the cost would be minimal compared with the $387 million in net income it reported last year. The bigger hit to Nasdaq's business is likely to come from the damage done to its reputation by the stumble. ...
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Silicon Valley takes Facebook fizzle in stride

In this photo illustration, a Facebook logo on a computer screen is seen through glasses held by a woman in BernSAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook's lackluster initial public offering performance is a black eye for many on Wall Street and could have ramifications for similar upcoming deals such as an offering by Twitter, but venture capitalists in Silicon Valley are keen to shrug off Facebook's stumble - at least for now. ...



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Nasdaq seen struggling with aftermath of Facebook IPO

Monitors show the value of the Facebook, Inc. stock during morning trading at the NASDAQ Marketsite in New YorkNEW YORK (Reuters) - Nasdaq OMX faces short-term costs from its botched handling of Facebook shares on their first day of trading but the longer term repercussions could be more expensive as it struggles to restore its image. Initially, the exchange said it plans to set aside $13 million to resolve bad trades, and even if all of that was used, the cost would be minimal compared with the $387 million in net income it reported last year. The bigger hit to Nasdaq's business is likely to come from the damage done to its reputation by the stumble. ...



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Nasdaq seen struggling with aftermath of Facebook IPO

(Blank Headline Received)NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nasdaq OMX faces short-term costs from its botched handling of Facebook shares on their first day of trading but the longer term repercussions could be more expensive as it struggles to restore its image. Initially, the exchange said it plans to set aside $13 million to resolve bad trades, and even if all of that was used, the cost would be minimal compared with the $387 million in net income it reported last year. The bigger hit to Nasdaq's business is likely to come from the damage done to its reputation by the stumble. ...



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Nasdaq seen struggling with aftermath of Facebook IPO

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nasdaq OMX faces short-term costs from its botched handling of Facebook shares on their first day of trading but the longer term repercussions could be more expensive as it struggles to restore its image.
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Insider trading trial starts for ex-Goldman director

Former Goldman Sachs director Rajat GuptaThe trial of the biggest suspect in a US crackdown on Wall Street insider trading, former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta, started with a prosecutor saying the brilliant Indian-born immigrant "threw away his duties."



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Facebook stock slide puts new pressures on company

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc's underwhelming debut on Wall Street increases the pressure on the social networking giant to deliver stellar growth - a novel situation for Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, who has been clear he is more interested in building products than making money. Facebook shares fell 11 percent on Monday, the company's second day as a publicly traded company, due to what many analysts and investors blamed on overly aggressive pricing by Facebook's underwriters, as well as a decision to expand the size of the offering by 25 percent. ...
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Wall Street rebounds, but investors dump Facebook

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock ExchangeNEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose more than 1 percent on Monday, with the S&P 500 snapping a six-day losing streak in a rebound from equities' biggest weekly drop in almost six months, but Facebook slumped in its second session after a disappointing debut. Tech shares were among the day's biggest gainers, with an S&P sector index surging 2.8 percent on the strength of Apple Inc . Shares of Apple climbed 5.8 percent to $561.28, leading the Nasdaq to its biggest one-day percentage gain since December 2011. ...



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Trial of ex-P&G, Goldman board member starts in NY

Rajat Gupta enters a federal courthouse in New York, Monday, May 21, 2012. Prosecutors will try to convince a jury that an intercepted call shows Gupta was providing inside tips that gave Raj Rajaratnam an illegal edge in massive stock maneuvers. Defense lawyers say they'll argue Gupta was a straight-shooter who only shared public information with the billionaire hedge fund boss, as devoted to raising money for charity as to Goldman's bottom line. Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday in federal court in Manhattan. The trial is scheduled to last up to four weeks. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)A federal prosecutor accused former Goldman Sachs board member Rajat Gupta on Monday of feeding inside investment tips to a corrupt hedge fund manager, while Gupta's lawyer told a jury the relationship between the Wall Street heavyweights was above board.



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Market breaks losing streak, with China's help

In a May 7, 2012 photo trader Richard Newman works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. A weekend summit in Washington among leaders of the world's most powerful nations provided little in the way of encouragement for investors already nervous about the political turmoil in Greece. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)Forget Facebook. This is still Apple's stock market.



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Early Facebook mutual fund buyers still in money

(Reuters) - Fidelity Investments and other big mutual fund families that were early backers of Facebook Inc are likely still winners despite the social network's troubled stock market debut. Facebook shares were priced at $38 per share in its initial public offering on Thursday. Despite an initial bump in their market debut on Friday, the shares fell on Monday, closing down 11 percent at $34.03. The decline prompted much hand-wringing among technology investors who had expected a bigger boost for the widely used social networking service. ...
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Facebook Growing Up, Losing Hype

COMMENTARY | According to the Associated Press and CNN, Facebook's stock has not performed as hoped following its release. The stock began to slide shortly after its IPO release Friday, peaking briefly before falling below its $38 IPO price. Investors and the public are wondering what the weak stock market start means for the world's most popular social networking site, which was begun eight years ago in a Harvard dorm room by Mark Zuckerberg.
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Treasurys slide as stocks break a losing streak

Treasury prices eased Monday as investors become more comfortable shifting money back into the stock market.
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Apple's Cook top-paid US CEO in 2011: report

Apple CEO Tim CookApple chief executive Tim Cook topped the list of the best-paid CEOs in the US in 2011 thanks to stock options that put him more than $300 million above his next rival, a Wall Street Journal survey showed Monday.



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Exclusive: U.S. lets China bypass Wall Street for Treasury orders

A bank clerk counts U.S. dollar banknotes on bundles of 100 Chinese yuan banknotes at a branch of a bank in HuaibeiNEW YORK (Reuters) - China can now bypass Wall Street when buying U.S. government debt and go straight to the U.S. Treasury, in what is the Treasury's first-ever direct relationship with a foreign government, according to documents viewed by Reuters. The relationship means the People's Bank of China buys U.S. debt using a different method than any other central bank in the world. The other central banks, including the Bank of Japan, which has a large appetite for Treasuries, place orders for U.S. debt with major Wall Street banks designated by the government as primary dealers. ...



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Stock market breaks losing streak; Facebook falls

In a May 7, 2012 photo trader Richard Newman works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. A weekend summit in Washington among leaders of the world's most powerful nations provided little in the way of encouragement for investors already nervous about the political turmoil in Greece. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)After three weeks of dumping stocks, investors finally found something to be hopeful about.



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Insider trading trial starts for ex-Goldman director

Former Goldman Sachs director Rajat GuptaThe trial of the biggest suspect in a big US crackdown on Wall Street insider trading, former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta, started Monday in New York.



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