|
|
Welkom op Netcolony Verzekeringen,
rubriek usafinance
News on loan, for more information please visit the website:
msn-loan.com
By Scott Hillis BEIJING (Reuters) - China's central bank on Thursday raised interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade in its boldest move yet to guide its heated economy to a path of slower growth. The surprise announcement of a hike of just over quarter of a percentage point by the People's Bank of China marked a shift away from the central directives the government has so far used to cool the world's seventh-biggest economy. "This move is obviously trying to rein in investment further and engineer a soft landing," said Sarah Hewin, senior economist at American Express Bank in London. China's economy has become a major factor on global markets, sucking in imports from the rest of the world and helping to drive up prices of oil and other global commodities. It has slowed for several quarters in a row, but grew a still-robust 9.1 percent in the year through the third quarter, prompting Premier Wen Jiabao, the country's point man on the economy, to keep in place measures to slow breakneck investment and lending. The central bank added to the efforts to restrain the economy on Thursday by raising benchmark rates on one year yuan loans to 5.58 percent from 5.31 percent and the rate on one-year deposits to 2.25 percent from 1.98 percent. Bund futures and U.S. Treasuries tumbled in reaction and the dollar strengthened as investors weighed prospects for a revaluation of China's pegged yuan currency. Beijing had held off raising rates out of fear that higher borrowing costs would make it harder for struggling state-owned firms to repay debts to banks. Earlier measures included repeatedly raising banks' required reserves and banning new investment in some sectors, and imposing tougher rules on converting land to industrial use. "ABOUT TIME" But the steps did not appear to be enough to keep a lid on inflationary pressures. Consumer prices rose 5.2 percent in the year through September -- just off a seven-year high of 5.3 percent seen in annual data for July and August. Continued ...
mortgage
News on mortgage, for more information please visit the website:
mortgage
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. home builder optimism grew in October to its strongest level in 2004 on low mortgage rates and heavy traffic of potential buyers, rebounding from a decline in September, an industry report said on Monday. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) said its housing index, a measure of builder sentiment about sales and buyer traffic, was at 72 in October from September's downwardly revised figure of 67. An index reading above 50 indicates more builders consider sales conditions good rather than poor. The latest reading of the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index, considered a barometer for future housing activity, equaled to the level set in the same year-earlier month. Home developers appeared confident that the U.S. housing market will set another record year in new home sales in 2004. "Most builders are looking forward to a healthy marketplace moving into 2005," David Seiders, the group's chief economist, said in a statement. Historically low borrowing cost has remained the key factor driving robust home sales, according to Seiders and other analysts. Average interest rates on 30-year fixed-rated mortgages have been running below 6 percent, and on one-year adjustable-rate rates have been running near 4 percent since early August, according to Freddie Mac. The housing market index has three sub-indexes. The NAHB's current sales activity index rose to 78 in October from September's 73. Meanwhile, its index gauging sales expectations for the next six months jumped to 84 from 75 a month earlier and the index gauging traffic of prospective buyers increased to 54 points from September's 52. "Another factor that's undeniably contributing to builder optimism is the large turnout of prospective buyers at model homes and sales offices," Seiders said.
insurance
News on insurance, for more information please visit the website:
google insurances
By Chris Sanders and Paul Thomasch NEW YORK (Reuters) - American International Group Inc. on Wednesday acknowledged accounting errors that could stretch back 14 years, including its treatment of a deal with Berkshire Hathaway that is at the center of federal and state investigations. AIG's sweeping disclosures -- which included the possibility that it may be forced to reduce the value of the company by $1.7 billion, or 2 percent -- were part of an effort to regain investor confidence. They came just days after Chairman Maurice "Hank" Greenberg said he would retire following almost 40 years at the helm of the global insurance powerhouse. AIG, which has lost more than $40 billion in stock market value since the investigations picked up steam in mid-February, saw its shares sink 2 percent to $57.05 on the New York Stock Exchange. "It doesn't clear the decks," Michael Chren, senior portfolio manager at National City Investment Management Co. in Cleveland, said of the disclosure. "I don't think we have bottomed out on the (bad) news, but I do think we've bottomed out on the stock price." AIG's response follows a meeting earlier this week between its attorneys and representatives from the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's office in which the results of an internal company review were discussed. The company now plans to delay filing its 2004 annual financial report -- its second delay -- until late April while it continues the review of various transactions. Among other transactions, authorities have been investigating a 2000-2001 reinsurance deal AIG struck with General Re Corp. -- a unit of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. -- that they believe AIG treated improperly in its accounting. AIG admitted as much on Wednesday, saying the transaction should have been classified as a deposit, not as insurance. The company said the revised accounting treatment should have little impact on its financial condition, but would reduce loss reserves and expenses by $250 million and increase other liabilities by $245 million. AIG, one of the world's largest insurers, also expects to take $670 million of after-tax charges related to its general insurance operations, while possibly reducing shareholder value by the $1.66 billion from the $82.87 billion it reported as of Dec. 31, 2004. Whether the adjustments will result in a restatement of more than just its fourth-quarter 2004 results remains to be determined, AIG said. RESTORATION PROJECT Continued ...
Terug naar Netcolony Verzekeringen
|