Stocks mostly lower on Wall Street; Yum plunges

Stocks are opening mostly lower on Wall Street as investors get ready for the beginning of corporate earnings season.Aluminum maker Alcoa reports earnings after the closing bell. The stock was flat in early trading.The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 20 points to 13,362 early Tuesday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell a point to 1,460. The Nasdaq rose three to 3,101.Yum Brands, the parent...

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US stocks mixed ahead of earnings season kickoff

U.S. stocks opened mostly lower Tuesday as traders awaited the start of U.S. corporate earnings season.In the first half-hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 26 points to 13,358. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost two to 1,459. The Nasdaq composite index rose a point to 3,100.Aluminum maker Alcoa reports its fourth-quarter financial results after the market closes, marking...

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S.African stocks dip as worries rise of labour friction

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African stocks closed slightly lower on Monday with mining stocks including Harmony Gold pulling the market back from a record high set early in the session on concerns of fresh labour strife hurting the sector's earnings.The All-share index, the broadest measure of Johannesburg stock performance, closed 0.28 percent lower at 40,162.56 and the blue chip Top-40 index...

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Walgreen fiscal 1Q profit sinks nearly 26 pct

Walgreen's fiscal first-quarter earnings sank nearly 26 percent as costs tied to a couple big deals and Superstorm Sandy helped put a bigger-than-expected dent in the drugstore chain's performance.CEO Greg Wasson told analysts he saw the quarter as a "turning point" for the Deerfield, Ill., company, which has been working to recapture customers it lost during a contract dispute with Express Scripts...

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Nigeria's Dangote Cement expects 38 pct rise in Q1 profit

LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria's biggest listed company, Dangote Cement, expects pretax profit to rise 38.9 percent year-on-year to 42.09 billion naira in the first three months of next year, it said in a filing with the Nigerian Stock Exchange.Dangote Cement, Nigeria's biggest cement producer, said it expected turnover of around 81.6 billion naira in the first quarter, compared with 64.1 billion naira...

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Piano maker Steinway takes down "for sale" sign

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Steinway Musical Instruments Inc, the famous manufacturer of pianos, saxophones and trumpets, said on Wednesday it had decided not to sell itself following a 17-month-long exploration of strategic alternatives.An American icon synonymous with handmade grand pianos, Steinway has struggled to keep its production margins competitive amid stagnant sales, and has seen its shares plunge...

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Drugs group Lundbeck's shares hit by profit warning

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Shares in Danish drugs firm Lundbeck fell to their lowest level in over 12 years on Wednesday after it cut its profits forecast for the next two years as European sales slow and spending on new products rise to combat generic competition.The company has already warned that earnings would stall until 2015 due to cheap generic competition for its existing drugs, meaning new products...

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New Mauritius Hotels posts 25 pct drop in full-year profit

PORT LOUIS (Reuters) - Luxury hotels group New Mauritius Hotels (NMH) reported a 25 percent fall in full-year pretax profit, citing higher finance costs and fewer tourists, and forecast a 15 percent drop in first-quarter earnings.Ranked among the Indian Ocean island's most-traded stocks, NMH said on Wednesday that pretax profit for the year to September 30 fell to 603 million Indian rupees, with...

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FedEx: cost plan can counter sluggish growth

NEW YORK (AP) — FedEx is more pessimistic about the U.S. economy than it was three months ago, but more assured of its own ability to grow earnings.The world's second-largest package delivery company lowered its economic forecast for the U.S., saying that there remains a lot of uncertainty for the company and the country.Its forecast for the current quarter, which incorporates the critical holiday...

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Stocks soar on budget deal, but problems lurk

The "fiscal cliff" compromise, even with all its chaos, controversy and unresolved questions, was enough to ignite the stock market on Wednesday, the first trading day of the new year.The Dow Jones industrial average careened more than 300 points higher, its biggest gain since December 2011. It's now just 5 percent below its record high close reached in October 2007. The Russell 2000, an index that...

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Clothing retailer Gap to buy Intermix for $130 million - WSJ

 Gap Inc will buy women's fashion boutique Intermix Inc for $130 million (80 million pounds) to enter the luxury clothes market, the Wall Street Journal reported.The casual-clothes retailer plans to double Intermix's store count and look for opportunities to expand the chain overseas, the Journal said, quoting Art Peck, president in charge of new brands at Gap.Intermix, which does not produce...

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Gold slips from 2-week peak after U.S. budget deal

 Gold eased on Thursday from the prior session's two-week peak as the dollar strengthened and oil prices fell, with investors focusing on coming U.S. budget talks after euphoria over a vote to avert a fiscal crisis faded.A global stock market rally petered out on Thursday as investors began worrying about likely future U.S. political battles over spending cuts.Spot gold was at $1,681.1 by 1114...

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Sensex gains for third day; Q3 earnings key

 BSE Sensex edgedup on Thursday, marking a third consecutive session of gains that pushed indexes to their highest close in two years, as expectations for better-than-expected quarterly earnings lifted technology stocks such as Infosys. Shares have started 2013 on a strong note as investors bet the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will cutinterest rates later this month, and...

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Wall Street dips as profits booked after rally

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks edged lower on Thursday as investors locked in gains after a rally Wednesday, which was spurred by a deal by U.S. lawmakers to avert a "fiscal cliff" of austerity measures that had been due to kick in this year.Losses were limited, however, by better-than-expected data that showed U.S. private-sector employers added 215,000 jobs in December. That was well above economists'...

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Stocks struggle for direction as 'cliff' nears

 With the "fiscal cliff" just hours away and politicians yet to reach a solution, the stock market struggled to decide which way to go.The Dow Jones industrial average hopped between small gains and losses in morning trading. The Standard & Poor's 500 index and the Nasdaq composite dipped into the red but spent most of the morning holding onto small gains.Many investors are unsure of what...

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CIBC to pay $149.5 million to Lehman, ending dispute

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce has agreed to pay $149.5 million to the estate of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc to resolve litigation over a collateralized debt obligation tied to the bankruptcy of the former Wall Street bank.The settlement announced Monday resolves litigation that began on September 14, 2010, when Lehman sued CIBC and dozens of others to recover more than $3 billion it said it...

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Stocks turn up on hints of 'fiscal cliff' deal

 The stock market shot higher on Monday afternoon, in the year's final hour of trading, signaling that investors believe the politicians in Washington will work out a budget compromise to avoid the "fiscal cliff."The Dow was up 137 to 13,075 in the late afternoon, more than 1 percent. The Standard & Poor's 500 and the Nasdaq composite were up by more, with the Nasdaq rising nearly 2 percent.It...

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Global shares up on hopes U.S. to avoid 'fiscal cliff'

 Wall Street rallied on Monday and global equities headed for their best year in the last three as U.S. lawmakers closed in on a deal to avoid a budget crisis that many fear could cripple the world economy in 2013.U.S. President Barack Obama said Congress was close to an agreement that would start chipping away at the deficit without raising middle class taxes.Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell...

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Equities rally as U.S. 'cliff' deal nears; oil up

 Wall Street rallied on Monday and global equities finished their best year in the last three as U.S. lawmakers closed in on a deal to avoid a budget crisis that many fear could cripple the world economy in 2013.U.S. President Barack Obama said Congress was close to an agreement that would start chipping away at the deficit without raising middle-class taxes.Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell...

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Discover Financial Services 4Q net income rises

 Discover Financial Services on Thursday reported higher earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter, as users of its namesake credit card stepped up purchases and the company wrote off fewer unpaid balances.Even so, the Riverwoods, Ill.-based company's results fell short of Wall Street expectations, and investors sent its shares down over 3 percent Thursday.Discover, the nation's sixth-largest credit...

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