Asian stocks follow US gains, euro hurt on IMF walkout | ||
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Hong Kong (AFP) - Asian markets mostly rose Friday, tracking advances in New York, while the dollar edged up on a better-than-forecast US retail sales report. But the euro struggled after the International Monetary Fund walked out of Greece's debt reform talks, saying Athens was not doing enough to find a compromise with its creditors. Tokyo climbed 0.10 percent, Hong Kong added 0.71 percent, Shanghai gained 0.62 percent, Seoul was 0.25 percent higher and Sydney dipped 0.26 percent. US shares jumped for a second consecutive day Thursday after the Commerce Department said retail sales in May rose 1.2 percent, better than the 1.1 percent gain forecast by analysts. The figures are the latest in a string of data showing the world's number one economy is back on the road to recovery after a wobbly few months at the start of the year caused by a severe winter. The Dow gained 0.22 percent, the S&P 500 added 0.17 percent and the Nasdaq rose 0.11 percent. Forex traders pushed the dollar higher after the news, which will give the Federal Reserve more ammunition to hike interest rate from their record lows. The dollar fetched 123.58 yen against 123.45 yen in New York late Thursday. "After the 'deep freeze' figures from January to March, the thawing of consumer spending is another positive for the US economy and a further reason to believe in liftoff in the Fed funds rate," Evan Lucas, an IG markets strategist in Melbourne, wrote in a client note, according to Bloomberg News. The euro edged lower after the IMF pulled out of the Greece's bailout talks, saying a deal was still far off after a five-month stalemate. "There are still major differences between us in most key areas," IMF spokesman Gerry Rice told reporters in Washington. "There has been no progress in narrowing these differences recently. Thus we are well away from an agreement." The fund said its Greek talks team had returned to Washington from Brussels and that the "ball is very much in Greece's court right now", adding key disagreements were on pensions, taxes and financing. Greece must reach a compromise with its creditors -- the IMF, European Commission and European Central Bank -- before the end of the month to unlock much-needed cash to service its debts. Failure to do so will lead it to default and possibly exit the eurozone. "The fact the IMF walked out of talks overnight and flew straight back to the States doesn't help sentiment or give you confidence a deal will be done by June 19. This will get messy," Lucas said in the note. The euro bought $1.1250 and 138.90 yen against $1.1260 and 139.00 yen in US trade. Oil prices slipped after the International Energy Agency predicted a recent surge in global demand will end soon. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for July fell 28 cents to $60.49 while Brent crude for July eased 32 cents to $64.79. Gold fetched $1,182.32 compared with $1,179.55 late Thursday.
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Key to climate deal lies outside the UN arena: analysts | ||
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Bonn (AFP) - The marathon effort to forge a world pact on climate change now hinges on what happens outside the UN arena in the coming months, analysts said after another faltering negotiation round. Whether the 195-nation UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) can seal the much-vaunted post-2020 deal in Paris six months from now depends greatly on a flurry of meetings by movers and shakers. The hope is that influential countries, supported by a pro-climate clamour from business and the public, start to haul the negotiations out of a deep and familiar rut. An 11-day negotiating round ended in Bonn on Thursday, bogged down in trying to condense a vast and unwieldly draft text into a manageable blueprint for negotiation. But on the plus side, there was no bust up, and trust -- the magic ingredient that unlocks deals -- remains high. Alden Meyer, a veteran observer with the US-based Union of Concerned Scientists, pointed to about a dozen meetings in the coming months offering chances of leapfrogging the labyrinthine processes of the UNFCCC. "The compromises are not going to be found at the negotiator level," he told AFP. "They are going to be found at the ministerial level and even at the heads of state level on issues like finance, that's just the way the world works. "The hope is that over time this will create a force field which raises ambition and political will in this process and trickles down to the negotiator level." The crowning conference, running in Paris from November 30 to December 11, will be preceded by two UNFCCC gatherings in Bonn at negotiator level. France will also stage talks in July and September, gathering ministers from several dozen key parties, and this will be followed by similar talks just before the Paris meeting. Added to this are meetings of the world's major carbon emitters in July and September, gatherings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in October and a summit of the G20 in November.
- 'Impressive momentum' -
In September, world leaders meeting at the UN General Assembly and a US-Chinese summit bringing together the world's two biggest carbon emitters, will be under pressure to speed things up. "This (the UNFCCC) is not the only process and this is probably not the best process to produce the meeting of minds," said Elliot Diringer, executive vice president of the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES), a US think-tank. "We cannot rely on this process alone to get us there, which is why the various types of informal discussions all play a very critical role." Oxfam's climate change policy advisor, Jan Kowalzig, pointed to a range of crunch issues yet to be resolved. They included measures to beef up national pledges for carbon emission cuts, and mustering finance for vulnerable countries. Upcoming meetings "offer the perfect opportunity for high level political signals to be sent", Kowalzig said. UNFCCC chief Christiana Figueres said "a very high-level political process that is underway in parallel, that is perhaps not physically evident here" was supporting what happened in the climate talks. She noted the June 7-8 G7 summit, which called for "decarbonisation" of the world economy this century, and an upcoming encyclical on climate change by Pope Francis, which Figueres predicted "is going to have a major impact". Added to that, she argued, was "very, very impressive" momentum from cities, regions and the business sector on climate change. "Don't be too impatient," French negotiator Laurence Tubiana told journalists. "We will get there."
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Get ready for an explosion of knock-off Kit Kat chocolates | ||
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We could be about to see a flood of new four-finger chocolate bars to rival Kit Kat come onto the market, after Nestlé lost a long-running court battle to protect the shape of its iconic chocolate bar. A European court has ruled that Nestlé's attempts to patent the 'four finger' design of Kit Kat don't hold up under EU law. It follows a court challenge by rival Cadbury, which opposed Nestlé's attempt to patent the design of Kit Kat's when it filed its request back in 2010. The decision by the European Court of Justice means rivals are theoretically free to launch their own four finger chocolate bars without fear of getting tied up in the courts. For those who don't know, Kit Kats are four wafer fingers that are covered in and joined together by chocolate. The bar's design has barely changed since launching in 1935 and they are hugely popular in the UK. Nestlé sold £40 million worth of Kit Kats here every year between 2008 and 2010, according to the Guardian. It's not the first time Cadbury and Nestlé have faced each other in the courts. In 2013 Nestlé won a long running legal battle to stop Cadbury trademarking the specific hue of purple that runs across all its branding. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Forget the Apple Watch — here's the new watch everyone on Wall Street wants  | ||
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10 things you need to know in markets today | ||
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Good morning! Here's what you need to know in markets today. European industrial production is coming. At 10 a.m. London time (5 a.m. New York), the eurozone's industrial production data for April is coming. Analysts are expecting a 0.3% boost from March, which would leave production up 1.1% year-on-year. The bond sell-off could stall the Fed's rate hike. The sharp bond market sell-off is starting to pinch American consumers and companies, causing a mild economic tightening that, if sustained, could raise alarms at the Federal Reserve and even delay a plan to hike interest rates in coming months. Congress will vote on President Barack Obama's trade authority. President Barack Obama's goal of strengthening US economic ties with Asia will hang in the balance in Congress on Friday when divided lawmakers vote on legislation central to his hallmark Pacific Rim trade deal. Japanese industrial production was revised up. Production was revised to +0.1% growth year-on-year in April, the first positive figure in 2015 so far. Taiwan's Asustek hasn't ruled out buying HTC. Taiwan's Asustek said on Friday it has not ruled out the possibility of acquiring struggling smartphone maker HTC. Chairman Johnny Shih of Asustek, one of the world's biggest makers of laptop personal computers and smartphones, made the comment at its annual general meeting, Chief Financial Officer David Chang told Reuters. Blackberry may begin running Android. BlackBerry is considering equipping an upcoming smartphone with Google Inc.'s Android software for the first time, an acknowledgement that its revamped line of devices has failed to win mass appeal, according to four sources familiar with the matter. Uber's growth in China has been explosive. Four out of the top 10 cities for Uber are now in China, according to an email sent by Uber CEO Travis Kalanick to investors and obtained by the Financial Times. Guangzhou, Hangzhou, and Chengdu are now the three largest cities on a trips basis, overtaking New York, the email stated. Twitter CEO Dick Costolo is out. Embattled CEO Dick Costolo will step down on July 1. Jack Dorsey, one of the original founders of the company, will be the interim CEO. The stock surged up about 8% after hours on the news. Asian markets are up or flat. Hong Kong's Hang Seng is up 0.51% and China's Shanghai Composite Index is up 0.64%. Japan's Nikkei is pretty much entirely flat, down 0.01%. The CIO of a major asset management firm says the bond bubble is a myth. “I’ve been looking for Sasquatch in the bond bubble, or the credit bubble,” said Scott Minerd, chief investment officer (CIO) at Guggenheim Partners, according to Bloomberg. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Here's how Cristiano Ronaldo spends his money  | ||
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