US stocks’ week of reckoning arrives

NEW YORK: The wait is almost over. After a two-month rally in the stock market, some investors are about to see if they get what they wished for: more Republicans in Congress and lots of cheap money.

The US stock market has priced in the Republicans gaining ground in Tuesday’s midterm elections, an outcome widely seen as more business-friendly, as well as the Federal Reserve pumping billions into the economy through Treasury debt purchases. The Fed’s statement on Wednesday afternoon at the end of its two-day policy meeting is widely anticipated for details of the central bank’s economic stimulus plan.
Jobs will be a touchstone, with the high US unemployment rate figuring into the campaign rhetoric of Democrats and Republicans alike in the midterm elections.

Asian markets fall on US wariness, Japan economic data

AIA Executive Director and Group CEO Mark Tucker, center, speaks during the trading debut of the Asian insurance unit of American International Group Inc. in Hong Kong Friday, Oct. 29, 2010. Shares in AIA Group Ltd. opened up 11.8 percent on their trading debut on Friday, ahead of market expectations, as investors piled into Hong Kong's biggest initial public offering. – AP Photo

NAGOYA: Environment ministers from around the world tried to wrap up a UN meeting to preserve nature on Friday but remained split on targets to fight losses in animal and plant species that support livelihoods and economies.

Delegates from nearly 200 countries have gathered in Nagoya, Japan, for a two-week meeting to map out goals to protect oceans, forests and rivers as the world faces the worst extinction rate since the dinosaurs vanished 65 million years ago.

The meeting has aimed to push governments and businesses into taking sweeping steps to protect ecosystems long taken for granted but are worth trillions of dollars by providing sources for food, water, tourism and industry.

USAID launches assessment, strengthening programme

 ISLAMABAD: The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) launched a five-year assessment and strengthening programme for capacity building of the officials in government and private sector to ensure full implementation on the USAID money for the improvement of living standard in Pakistan, an agency official said on Wednesday.

Inaugurating the project, which will cost $45 million, USAID Chief Financial Officer David Ostermeyer expressed the hope that the programme would be helpful in ensuring the spending of the USAID funds on various projects.

US to provide $60m for dams

ISLAMABAD: The United States has agreed to finance the under-construction Gomal Zam Dam and Satpara Dam and also pledged to encourage its private sector for investment in the energy sector of Pakistan, an official said in a statement on Tuesday.

Federal Water and Power Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf said that Pakistan would spend money from its own resources on the construction of both the dams (Gomal and Satpara) and the United States would reimburse $40 million and $20 million, respectively, for these two projects.

US, India launch high-level economic partnership

NEW DELHI: The United States and India formally launched high level economic partnership talks on Tuesday, aimed at boosting commercial ties that are often eclipsed by US trade with China.

The partnership was launched by visiting US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

Mukherjee hailed the project as “a milestone” that would add a “new dimension” to ties between the world’s largest and fourth largest economies.

US jobless claims fall, March manufacturing increases

WASHINGTON: The number of US workers filing new claims for jobless aid fell last week and factory activity in March hit its highest level in more than 5-1/2 years, pointing to a continued expansion in the economy.

The data on Thursday came a day before the release of the government’s closely watched employment report for March, which is expected to show nonfarm payrolls grew only for the second time since the recession started in December 2007.

The labour market has lagged the manufacturing-led economic recovery from the worst downturn since the 1930s.

Fund to help Americans invest in Pakistan: US official

LAHORE: The US Assistant Secretary of State, Robert O Blake, has said the United States was considering establishing an investment fund for American businessmen to facilitate them in investing in Pakistan.

Addressing the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Monday, Robert O Blake said the United States was about to begin work on Bilateral Investment Treaty. “There is considerable effort being undertaken now in Washington, so it is expected that the Bilateral Investment Treaty would be ready soon after which bilateral negotiations with Pakistan would start”.

US fourth quarter growth revised down to 5.6pc

WASHINGTON: The US economy grew at a slower pace than expected in the final quarter of 2009 as consumer and business spending slackened amid a fragile recovery from recession, the government said Friday.

The world’s largest economy grew by 5.6 per cent in the October-December period, the Commerce Department said, revising downward an earlier estimate of 5.9 per cent growth in gross domestic product, a key economic benchmark.

41 banks fail in America this year

WASHINGTON: Four small banks across the United States were seized by regulators, ticking up the year bank failure tally to 41.

The continued parade of bank collapses comes as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp is pulling back on loss-share agreements designed to lure bidders into taking on the assets of troubled banks.

US shed 85,000 jobs in December, dampening optimism

Saturday, January 09, 2010
WASHINGTON: The US economy lost 85,000 jobs in December while the unemployment rate held at 10.0 per cent, the government said on Friday in a report dashing hopes of a turnaround in the ailing labour market.

The Labour Department report on non-farm payrolls was a disappointment to those hoping for growth in jobs, which is critical to recovery from recession. The figure was far worse than the consensus expectation for no change in overall employment levels, and came amid a wide array of predictions ranging from steep losses to modest gains.

US not willing to sign FTA: adviser

Friday, January 08, 2010
By our correspondent

LAHORE: The United States is not willing to sign a free trade agreement with Pakistan and the country will have to content itself with facilities to be granted under the Reconstruction Opportunity Zones.

Prime Minister’s Adviser on Textile Mirza Ikhtiar Baig stated this while speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Thursday.

US business loan defaults rise again

Tuesday, January 05, 2010
CHICAGO: Severe delinquencies by small and medium-sized US businesses on the loans, leases and lines of credit to finance capital equipment rose again in November as lenders remained reluctant to extend fresh financing, PayNet Inc reported on Monday.

Wall St likely to end 2009 with a flourish

Sunday, December 27, 2009
NEW YORK: Wall Street is likely to make a strong showing in the final week of 2009 as the bulls gear up to toast the first annual advance for US stocks in two years on hopes of more economic stability in 2010. The US stock market’s resiliency since the March bottom has put investors in the mood to celebrate.

Obama ‘dissatisfied’ with jobless rate

Friday, December 25, 2009
WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama said on Wednesday he is “entirely dissatisfied” with the level of US unemployment and cannot congratulate himself on his first year in office between the jobless rate is so high.

“I am entirely dissatisfied with where we are right now in terms of jobs, and the fact that families out there on the eve of Christmas are still really worried,” Obama said in an interview with public television station PBS. “And so I don’t pat myself on the back at the end of this year,” the US leader said after 11 months in office.

US bank failures reach 133

Sunday, December 13, 2009
LOS ANGELES: US regulators closed Republic Federal Bank, NA, Solutions Bank and Valley Capital Bank on Friday, bringing the total number of bank failures so far this year to 133, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said.

Community and regional banks have been failing at the highest annual level since 1992, as the industry grapples with souring loans tied to mortgages and commercial real estate loans made during the credit boom. Failures are expected to peak next year, government officials have said. The banking industry’s recovery generally lags the economy. Republic Federal Bank, the 13th FDIC-insured institution to fail in Florida this year, had assets of about $433 million and total deposits of about $352.7 million.

US extends bailout authority to Oct 2010

Thursday, December 10, 2009
WASHINGTON: US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Wednesday extended the authority of a 700-billion-dollar financial bailout to October 2010 even as he noted the programme would cost less than expected.

Geithner said in a letter to congressional leaders that although the economic situation was stabilizing, it was prudent to continue the programme known as the Troubled Asset Relief Programme. Geithner said the extension “is necessary to assist American families and stabilize financial markets” and “maintain the capacity to respond to unforeseen threats.” “While we are extending the 700-billion-dollar programme, we do not expect to deploy more than 550 billion dollars,” he said in the letter to House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate majority leader Harry Reid.

US prepared to give Pakistan more help: Gates

KABUL: US Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the United States is prepared to give Pakistan more help fighting al-Qaeda forces if its government wants it.
 
Gates, who arrived in Afghanistan late Monday, said it is Pakistan’s ‘foot on the accelerator’ when it comes to fighting terrorists. But he said the US could provide more assistance ‘at any pace they are prepared to accept.’

Gates arrived with plans to assure officials and American troops there that the United States is committed to winning the war despite plans to begin pulling forces out in 2011.

Too early to declare lasting US recovery: Bernanke

 WASHINGTON: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned Monday that it’s too soon to know whether the economic recovery will last and again pledged to hold rates at record-low levels for an ‘extended period.’
 
The Fed chief’s speech to the Economic Club of Washington made clear he thinks the economy will struggle even as it recovers from the recession. He said the economy confronts ‘formidable headwinds’ — including a weak job market, cautious consumers and tight credit.

Those forces ‘seem likely to keep the pace of expansion moderate,’ he said.