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rubriek usafinance
News on loan, for more information please visit the website: loan links
By Risa Maeda TOKYO (Reuters) - Tokyo's Nikkei average rose 0.35 percent on Thursday, snapping a nine-day slide on a technical bounce in major exporters, but it ended the April-September fiscal first half down 7.61 percent. The Nikkei finished the day up 37.47 points at 10,823.57, bolstered by gains in Toyota Motor Corp. and other blue-chip exporters. The Nikkei had hit a six-week closing low on Wednesday and fell for a ninth straight session, marking its longest losing streak in two years as high oil prices further clouded the Japanese economic outlook following recent signs of a slowdown. The negative half-year performance compares with a 14.6 percent jump in the Nikkei in the six months to March 31. The Nikkei rallied 28.18 percent to 10,219.05 in April-September last year as moves toward resolving banks' bad-loan problems prompted investors, particularly foreigners, to rush into the Tokyo market for bargains. Analysts said the day's gains were curbed as investors remained unconvinced about the outlook for U.S. stocks given that crude oil was staying near $50 a barrel and due to caution ahead of the Bank of Japan's "tankan" corporate sentiment survey, which will be released just before the market opens on Friday. "This is quite a minor bounce (after the nine-day losing streak)," said Tetsuya Ishijima, a senior investment strategist at Okasan Securities. A poll of 27 economists on the quarterly tankan produced a median forecast of plus 23 for the headline figure, the diffusion index (DI) for large manufacturers. That would come as a slight improvement from plus 22 in the June survey and be the strongest reading since August 1991. But the poll suggested that economists saw confidence peaking as the median December forecast for the DI, which indicates expected conditions three months ahead, was plus 22. Investors shrugged off data showing a 0.3 percent rise in industrial output in August from July, as it came almost in line with market expectations. Continued ...
mortgage
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mortgage By Andrea Hopkins WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sales of existing U.S. homes rose unexpectedly to a record high in November and prices surged as low mortgage rates fueled home-buying, a trade association report showed on Wednesday. Sales of previously owned homes climbed to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.94 million units last month from an upwardly revised 6.76 million unit pace in October, the National Association of Realtors said. "Mortgage interest rates dropped a quarter of a percentage point in late summer and then stabilized. Coupled with a growing labor market and a rising economy, this created optimal conditions for the housing sector," said NAR chief economist David Lereah. Analysts had expected sales to hold steady at October's originally reported 6.75 million unit rate. "We had thought that things would moderate a bit," said David Resler, chief economist at Nomura Securities International in New York. "Mortgage purchase applications were at a new high in November, and it looks like that mortgage money was going into existing homes.." The report showed the national median home price surged 10.4 percent from the same month a year earlier to $188,200 -- the largest gain since July 1987. NAR's Lereah said while the price jump may raise some eyebrows, he was not concerned about a housing bubble -- since the market is expected to cool slightly next year from 2004's record-setting pace. "We think slower sales will help to create a better balance between home buyers and sellers, but with tight inventories of homes available for sale, price appreciation hasn't slowed yet," he said. The supply of homes available for sale at the current pace was unchanged from October at 4.3 months' worth, NAR said. MORTGAGE APPLICATIONS SLOW While the November data were unexpectedly strong, a separate report showed applications for U.S. home mortgages slipped last week as refinancing activity slumped. Mortgage rates were little changed. Continued ...
insurance
News on insurance, for more information please visit the website: insuranceBy Huw Jones LONDON (Reuters) - Wall Street was set to start softer on Thursday with the insurance sector in the spotlight again after American International Group (AIG.N: Quote , Profile , Research ) said it was being probed by a federal grand jury. The federal grand jury probe by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana is directed at a contract between AIG and Brightpoint (CELL.O: Quote , Profile , Research ) , AIG said. Meanwhile, AIG said it could not estimate the potential impact of the separate probe into the insurance industry by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer which has sent shares in the sector sharply lower since it was announced late last week. "The one to watch today is AIG. They have been formally notified they are being investigated by a federal grand jury, and that is why the futures have dropped," said Steve Previs, a dealer at Jefferies International in London. AIG, the world's largest insurer by market value, said its third-quarter earnings rose despite losses related to four U.S. hurricanes. Shares in AIG traded in Frankfurt eased 0.35 percent to $57.56, hitting a low for the year. They closed on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday at $57.60. By 0455 EDT, U.S. stock futures were pointing to opening losses of about 0.2 percent for the three main indexes (SPZ4: Quote , Profile , Research ) (DJZ4: Quote , Profile , Research ) (NDZ4: Quote , Profile , Research ) . Investors also face headwinds from a weaker dollar and strong oil price, while having to digest a slew of earnings report. "The dollar is really starting to come under pressure this morning and the gold market is looking pretty good. Apart from that there is a host of earnings reports with a few negative surprises like Altera, which guided lower for the fourth quarter, though eBay was a positive," Previs said. The stock of online auctioneer eBay (EBAY.O: Quote , Profile , Research ) climbed after the closing bell after the group reported a sharply higher third-quarter profit. U.S. economic data scheduled for Thursday includes jobless claims for the latest week at 1230 GMT, with economists forecasting a figure of 345,000. Continued ...