China’s official reserves slipped to $3.18 trillion in the final quarter of 2011, signaling that the days of rampant export-led accumulation of foreign currency are numbered and that new monetary policy steps may be needed to counter capital outflows. The People’s Bank of China published data on Friday showing a $20.6 billion, or 0.6 percent, fall in reserves in the [...]
Sony Corp’s videogaming business, led by its just-launched handheld “Vita,” will prove pivotal in returning the company to profitability, Kazuo Hirai, the executive pegged to succeed Howard Stringer as president, said on Tuesday. But Japan’s leading consumer electronics brand remains committed to its TV business despite predicting its eighth straight year of losses, Hirai and Stringer told reporters at a [...]
The tech world was abuzz Monday when the compensation package for Apple’s new CEO Tim Cook was released. The total for 2011? $378 million. This was comprised of $900,000 of cash salary and a $377 million stock grant. That total compensation, observers were quick to point out, was 378 million times as much as Apple’s last [...]
China’s exports and imports grew at their slowest pace in more than two years in December as foreign anddomestic demand ebbed, data showed on Tuesday, bolstering expectations of more policy action from Beijing to support the world’s number two economy. Annual export growth of 13.4 percent in December was in line with expectations, albeit the slowest since November [...]
Philips Electronics warned fourth-quarter results will be disappointing as it books charges for inventory it can’t shift in weak European markets. The Dutch group said it will report slowing sales growth across divisions and sharply lower earnings before interest, tax and amortization (EBITA). It still expects to meet its 2013 financial targets as it continues to cut [...]
BMW said its new 3 Series model should spur sales in the second half of 2012 after the group posted record sales of 1.67 million vehicles in 2011. The world’s largest carmaker said worldwide sales of BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce cars rose 14.2 percent last year, with sales in December alone up 11.9 percent to 158,125 [...]
Stocks have strayed from their recent link to euro moves, and the start of U.S. corporate earnings next week could help shift investor focus back to U.S. fundamentals from Europe. Stocks have traded in line with the euro over the autumn, with both experiencing sharp swings on headlines from the euro zone. That trend may be changing, [...]
U.S. employment growth accelerated last month and the jobless rate dropped to a near three-year low of 8.5 percent, the strongest evidence yet the economic recovery is gaining steam. Nonfarm payrolls increased 200,000 in December, the Labor Department said on Friday. It was the biggest rise in three months and beat economists’ expectations for a 150,000 gain. The unemployment rate fell from a [...]
Yahoo Inc is searching for new members for its board of directors, following its hiring of a new chief executive, according to a person familiar with the matter. The struggling Internet company also disclosed on Friday that new CEO Scott Thompson will receive a compensation package that could be worth as much as $27 million. Yahoo announced on Wednesday that [...]
Asian stock markets faltered Friday amid worries over the health of Europe’s banks and fears that the continent’s debt crisis might be spreading beyond a handful of small economies. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index fell 1 percent to 8,401.32. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 1.4 percent at 18,556.38. South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.6 percent to 1,834.70. Benchmarks in mainland [...]
