Asian central banks, governments breathe sigh of relief after Fed lifts off

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian governments and central bankers breathed a collective sigh of relief on Thursday after currencies edged up and stocks rallied rather than recoiled at the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to raise interest rates.
The prospect of the first hike in U.S. rates in almost a decade had kept emerging markets on edge in the weeks leading up to the Fed's decision, amid fears investors would redirect capital to higher-yielding U.S. debt in a fresh blow to their shaky economies.
However, an initial rally smoothed the brows of Asian central bankers who were the first to respond to the hike as U.S. policymakers sought to end an era of ultra-low rates that followed the global financial crisis.
"It is a relief that even despite the Fed rate hike, turbulence in global financial markets has not been large," said South Korean Vice Finance Minister Joo Hyung-hwan.
The more composed initial reaction was aided by the fact the Fed had clearly flagged the move in advance, and also said the pace of tightening would be gradual - an important signal for many asset markets adjusting to less stimulus after years of flush Fed liquidity.
However, Citibank's Asian economic team said while equities and credit market had perked up, the response of commodity market suggested caution.
"We have long argued that early signs of growth in emerging markets would be seen in commodity markets, so we take heed that neither energy nor metal prices shared the optimism of the equities and credit markets," the analysts said in a report.
Hong Kong's top central banker, who was obliged to immediately match the Fed's hike under the Chinese-run city's peg to the U.S. dollar, said he expected only a modest outflow of capital as a result of the Fed's move.
China's central bank also added to the reassuring mood, penciling in economic growth of 6.8 percent for next year in a working paper released on Wednesday, down only slightly from an expected 6.9 percent this year.
A senior researcher at an official Chinese think tank chimed in, saying the hike would not lead to major economic disruption.
Zeng Gang, director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences banking research division, told the official People's Daily paper that as the rate rise had been widely expected, it had been priced into markets and the announcement impact was limited.
Data showing drops in exports from Japan and Singapore, including big falls in shipments to China, sounded some of the few sour notes on Thursday, but Tokyo too voiced relief that emerging markets were taking the U.S. rate hike in their stride.

EUR/USD falls mildly, after the Fed approves first rate hike since 2006

Source : Investing.com
EUR/USD fell mildly on Wednesday reversing territory late in the session, after the Federal Reserve met market expectations by approving its first interest rate hike in nearly a decade.
The currency pair traded in a broad range between 1.0866 and 1.1011 before settling at 1.087, down 0.0042 or 0.39% on the session. With the minor losses, the euro fell to its lowest level against the dollar in a week. The dollar is up slightly against the euro since plunging by more than 3% on December 3 after the European Central Bank rattled global foreign exchange markets by only implementing limited easing measures to its comprehensive asset-purchasing program.
EUR/USD likely gained support at 1.0538, the low from Dec. 3 and was met with resistance at 1.1496, the high from Oct. 15.
In a unanimous decision, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), lifted its benchmark Federal Funds Rate by 25 basis points to a range between 0.25 and 0.50%. Before Wednesday's decision, the FOMC had held short-term interest rates at near zero levels for 56 consecutive meetings, a streak which dated back to December, 2008. In making its decision, the FOMC judged that it has seen considerable improvements in labor market conditions while it is reasonably confident that inflation will rise over its 2% objective over the next several years. The FOMC lowered short-term rates to a zero-bound range seven years ago in an effort to stimulate the economy months after the start of the Financial Crisis.
“This action marks the end of an extraordinary seven-year period during which the federal funds rate was held near zero to support the recovery of the economy from the worst financial crisis and recession since the Great Depression,” Fed chair Janet Yellen said at a press conference in Washington.
Although Yellen continued to express concern with the current pace of inflation, she reiterated that she expects temporary factors restraining price increases to abate when crashing oil prices stabilize and a stronger dollar levels off. The dollar opened on Wednesday up by approximately 8% against a basket of major currencies. A rate hike is largely viewed as bullish for the dollar, as investors pile into the greenback in order to capitalize on higher yields.
Despite instituting moderate easing measures at its Governing Council meeting earlier this month, the ECB cut rates on overnight deposits further into negative territory at minus 0.3%. While Yellen said Wednesday that she doesn't think it will be a tool that the Fed will need to use in the near future, she did not discount the possibility of studying its effects.
The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the strength of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, surged by more than 0.80% to settle at 98.29. Yellen also noted that although a number of countries throughout the world have suffered slowing growth due to the rout in commodity prices, she added that the Fed has seen a rebound in Emerging Markets of late. On Wednesday, the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (N:EEM) ETF gained 0.65 or 2% to 33.20.
Yields on the U.S. 10-Year inched up one basis point to 2.28%, while yields on the {{23693|Germany 10-Year} }rose four basis points to 0.68%.

Crude rises after U.S. fed rate hike, gains limited

TOKYO (Reuters) - Crude futures rose in Asian trade on Thursday recouping some of the losses from the previous session, when they fell sharply after the Federal Reserve raised rates and official figures showed a surprise build in U.S. inventories.
West Texas Intermediate for January delivery , the front-month contract, rose 17 cents to $35.69 a barrel by 0100 GMT after finishing settled down nearly 5 percent on Wednesday.
Brent crude for February delivery (LCOc1), the front-month contract from Thursday was up 17 cents at $37.56. The global benchmark fell $1.34 to $37.39 the previous session.
U.S. crude stocks increased last week as imports into the Gulf Coast rose, data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed on Wednesday, surprising analysts who expected inventories to decline.
The EIA data showed crude inventories rose 4.8 million barrels last week to near record highs, while analysts in a Reuters poll had forecast a drop of 1.4 million barrels.
Adding to the overall bearish global picture, OPEC producers see scant chance of a significant rise oil prices in 2016 as extra Iranian production could add to the ongoing glut and the prospect of voluntary output restraint remains remote.
The U.S. Fed hiked interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade on Wednesday, a sign it believes that the U.S. economy had largely overcome the calamity that was the 2007-2009 financial crisis.
Higher U.S. rates typically support the dollar, making oil and other commodities denominated in the greenback more expensive, undermining demand.

Shares in Asia gain after Fed hike, Tokyo jumps

Source : Investing.com 
Asian shares followed the U.S., gaining on Thursday after the Federal REserve hiked interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade.
The Nikkei 225 jumped 2.08%, while the S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.33%% and the Shanghai Composite edged 0.17% higher. In Asia, Japan reported its trade balance for November was a deficit of Y380.0 billion, narrower than the deficit of ¥446 billion seen.
Overnight, U.S. stocks surged on Wednesday afternoon after the Federal Reserve calmed markets by approving its first interest rate hike in nearly a decade, sending a signal to investors that the economy is close to recovering fully from the devastating Financial Crisis of 2008.
In a unanimous vote, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) lifted its benchmark Federal Funds Rate by 25 basis points to a range between 0.25 and 0.50%. Before Wednesday's decision, the FOMC had held short-term interest rates at near zero levels for 56 consecutive meetings, a streak which dated back to December, 2008.
“This action marks the end of an extraordinary seven-year period during which the federal funds rate was held near zero to support the recovery of the economy from the worst financial crisis and recession since the Great Depression,” Fed chair Janet Yellen said at a press conference in Washington.
The major indices were relatively unchanged immediately after the announcement, until a surge in financial stocks led to a sharp rally just before the close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 224.18 or 1.28% to 17,749.09, while the NASDAQ Composite index gained 75.77 or 1.52% to 5,071.13, as investors on Wall Street took a collective sigh relief after waiting more than a year for lift-off, following the conclusion of the Fed's comprehensive quantitative easing program.
The S&P 500 Composite index, meanwhile, rose 29.66 or 1.45% to 2,073.07, as stocks in nine of 10 sectors closed in the green. Stocks in the Utilities, Telecommunications and Consumer Goods industries led, each gaining more than 1.75% on the session.

Wall St. opens lower on heightened security worries

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks opened lower on Tuesday as investors fled risky assets after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane, even as data pointed to stronger U.S. economic growth. The Dow Jones industrial average (DJI) was down 48.5 points, or 0.27 percent, at 17,744.18, the S&P 500 (SPX) was down 7.45 points, or 0.36 percent, at 2,079.14 and the Nasdaq composite index (IXIC) was off 32.15 points, or 0.63 percent, at 5,070.33.

Oil spikes $1 after Turkey shoots down Russian jet near Syria

Source : Investing.com - Oil prices rallied sharply on Tuesday, after Turkish fighter jets shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border, fueling concerns over a disruption to supplies from the Middle East. On the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for January delivery jumped $1.30, or 2.89%, to trade at $46.12 a barrel during U.S. morning hours. A day earlier, prices tacked on 17 cents, or 0.38%, after Saudi Arabia said it is prepared to use all measures necessary to ensure a stable oil market. Turkish fighter jets shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border after it violated Turkey's airspace on Tuesday, a Turkish military official said. However, Russia's defense ministry said the downed fighter jet did not violate Turkish airspace. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the act was "a stab in the back" carried out by the accomplices of terrorists and that the incident would have serious consequences for Moscow's relations with Ankara. Oil traders are sensitive to risky geopolitical news coming out the Middle East. There are fears that an escalation of hostilities could set off a conflict across the region and send oil prices skyrocketing. Countries in the Middle East were responsible for nearly 35% of global oil production last year. Elsewhere, crude oil for delivery in January on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $1.31, or 3.14%, to trade at $43.06 a barrel. On Monday, Nymex futures dipped 15 cents, or 0.36%. Market players looked ahead to fresh weekly information on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products to gauge the strength of demand in the world’s largest oil consumer. The American Petroleum Institute will release its inventories report later in the day, while Wednesday’s government report could show crude stockpiles rose by 1.1 million barrels in the week ended November 20. U.S. oil supplies in the U.S. rose for the eighth consecutive week last week, remaining near levels not seen for this time of year in at least the last 80 years. Meanwhile, the spread between the Brent and the WTI crude contracts stood at $3.06 a barrel, compared to $3.08 by close of trade on Monday. The oil market has been on the defensive in recent months amid uncertainty about how quickly the global glut of crude is set to shrink. Global oil production is outpacing demand following a boom in U.S. shale oil production and after a decision by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries last year not to cut production. OPEC will meet on December 4 to review their output strategy. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf OPEC members have recently indicated they will continue to stick to their policy of defending market share by keeping production high.

U.S. CB consumer confidence tumbles to 12-month low in November

Source : Investing.com - U.S. consumer confidence deteriorated to a 12-month low in November, dampening optimism over the health of the economy, industry data showed on Tuesday. In a report, the Conference Board, a market research group, said its index of consumer confidence sank to 90.4 this month from a reading of 99.1 in October, whose figure was revised from a previously reported 97.6. Analysts expected the index to rise to 99.5 in November. The Present Situation Index decreased from 114.6 last month to 108.1 in November, while the Expectations Index declined to 78.6 from 88.7 in October. Commenting on the report, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center Lynn Franco said, “The decline was mainly due to a less favorable view of the job market." The monthly Consumer Confidence Survey, based on a probability-design random sample, is conducted for The Conference Board by Nielsen, a leading global provider of information and analytics around what consumers buy and watch. The cutoff date for the preliminary results was October 15. EUR/USD was trading at 1.0649 from around 1.0638 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.5078 from 1.5072 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 122.56 from 122.60 earlier. The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 99.69, compared to 99.75 ahead of the report. Meanwhile, U.S. stock markets were mildly lower after the open. The Dow 30 shed 0.25%, the S&P 500 dipped 0.35%, while the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.4%. Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,077.60 a troy ounce, compared to $1,075.80 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $43.20 a barrel from $43.22 earlier.

Gold rallies $10 as geopolitical concerns mount

Source : Investing.com - Gold rallied on Tuesday, as geopolitical concerns mounted after Turkey shoot down a Russian jet fighter. Gold for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange jumped $10.10, or 0.95%, to trade at $1,076.90 a troy ounce during U.S. morning hours. A day earlier, prices fell to $1,065.00, not far from last week's low of $1,062.00, a level not seen in almost six years. Also on the Comex, silver futures for December delivery rose 9.8 cents, or 0.7%, to trade at $14.13 a troy ounce. On Monday, prices hit $13.85, the weakest since August 2009. Turkish fighter jets shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border after it violated Turkey's airspace on Tuesday, a Turkish military official said. However, Russia's defense ministry said the downed fighter jet did not violate Turkish airspace. Turkey backstabbed Russia by downing the Russian warplane and acted as accomplices of the terrorists, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. Investors often buy gold and silver as refuges against economic and political uncertainty and as hedges against inflation. Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said the U.S. economy grew 2.1% in the third quarter, in line with expectations. Preliminary data initially pegged U.S. growth at 1.5% in the third quarter. The data showed consumer spending rose 3.0%, below expectations for 3.2% and down from an initial estimate of 3.2%. Consumer spending typically accounts for nearly 70% of U.S. economic growth. Most Federal Reserve officials believe there is a strong case to begin raising interest rates at the central bank's December 15-16 meeting, as long as U.S. economic data does not disappoint in the coming weeks. Gold futures are down more than 6% so far this month amid mounting expectations the Fed will raise rates for the first time in nearly a decade at its mid-December meeting. Expectations of higher borrowing rates going forward is considered bearish for gold, as the precious metal struggles to compete with yield-bearing assets when rates are on the rise. The U.S. dollar hovered near eight-month highs against a basket of six other major currencies, weighing further on metal prices. Dollar-priced commodities become more expensive to investors holding other currencies when the greenback gains. Elsewhere in metals trading, copper prices traded not far above the prior session's six-year low on Tuesday, as expectations of higher interest rates in the U.S., a broadly stronger U.S. dollar and slower global economic growth, especially in China, weighed. Prices of the red metal are down more than 12% so far this month as persistent worries about future demand from top consumer China and a stronger greenback slammed commodities.

U.S. home prices rise faster in September, beat forecast

(Reuters) - Annualized U.S. single-family home prices rose in September at a faster pace than in August and above market expectations, a closely watched survey showed on Tuesday. The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas gained 5.5 percent in September on a year-over-year basis compared with 5.1 percent in the year to August. It was above the 5.1 percent estimate from a Reuters poll of economists. "The general economy appeared to slow slightly earlier in the fall, but is now showing renewed strength. With unemployment at 5 percent and hints of higher inflation in the CPI, most analysts expect the Federal Reserve to raise its fed funds target range to 25 to 50 basis points, the first increase since 2006," said David M. Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. "While this will make news, it is not likely to push mortgage rates far above the recent level of 4 percent on 30 year conventional loans. In the last year, mortgage rates have moved in a narrow range as home prices have risen; it will take much more from the Fed to slow home price gains."

United Arab Emirates stocks lower at close of trade; DFM General down 1.41%

Source : Investing.com – United Arab Emirates stocks were lower after the close on Tuesday, as losses in the Real Estate & Construction, Transport and Banking sectors led shares lower. At the close in Dubai, the DFM General fell 1.41%, while the ADX General index fell 0.75%. The best performers of the session on the DFM General were Emaar Malls Group (DU:EMAA), which rose 1.09% or 0.03 points to trade at 2.79 at the close. Meanwhile, National Central Cooling Co. (DU:TABR) added 0.92% or 0.010 points to end at 1.100 and Dubai Parks and Resorts PJSC (DU:DUBA) was up 0.83% or 0.010 points to 1.210 in late trade. The worst performers of the session were Mashreqbank PSC (DU:MASB), which fell 4.55% or 5.00 points to trade at 105.00 at the close. Arabtec Holding PJSC (DU:ARTC) declined 4.31% or 0.050 points to end at 1.110 and Gulf General Investments Company (DU:GGIC) was down 3.99% or 0.027 points to 0.650. The top performers on the ADX General were Gulf Medical Projects Co PSC (AD:GMPC) which rose 4.17% to 2.50, Arkan Bld Mt C (AD:ARKN) which was up 3.53% to settle at 0.85 and Ad Aviation (AD:ADAV) which gained 3.33% to close at 3.10. The worst performers were National Marine Dredging PSC (AD:NMDC) which was down 9.94% to 4.89 in late trade, Ad Shipbldg Co (AD:ADSB) which lost 4.26% to settle at 2.70 and Natl Bk Of Rak (AD:RAKB) which was down 3.73% to 6.45 at the close. Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Dubai Stock Exchange by 21 to 5 and 1 ended unchanged; on the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange, 17 fell and 6 advanced, while 3 ended unchanged. Shares in Mashreqbank PSC (DU:MASB) fell to 52-week lows; down 4.55% or 5.00 to 105.00. Shares in Natl Bk Of Rak (AD:RAKB) fell to 52-week lows; down 3.73% or 0.25 to 6.45. Crude oil for January delivery was up 0.73% or 0.30 to $42.05 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in January rose 1.05% or 0.47 to hit $45.30 a barrel, while the December Gold contract rose 0.67% or 7.10 to trade at $1073.90 a troy ounce. USD/AED was up 0.01% to 3.6731, while EUR/AED rose 0.18% to 3.9131. The US Dollar Index was down 0.20% at 99.64.

Sassy woman or machine? Tech giants divided over digital assistants

By Julia Love and Yasmeen Abutaleb SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - When users ask Siri, Apple (O:AAPL)'s digital assistant, what she likes to drink, she is quick with an answer. "I have a thirst for knowledge," she responds. Her counterpart at Microsoft (O:MSFT), Cortana, opts for a very, very dry martini. But M, the digital assistant Facebook (O:FB) is testing, deflects the question. "I don't have an opinion about that. What's your favorite drink?" As the tech giants race to build ever better artificial intelligence platforms, they are obsessing over the nuances of their digital assistants' personalities. For users, digital assistants are a gateway to powerful artificial intelligence tools developers expect to influence major decisions about what to buy and how to spend time. The more tech companies can get users to rely on their digital assistants, the more valuable data they will accumulate about the spending habits, interests and preferences of users. The information could be fodder for lucrative digital advertising or a lever for companies to keep users locked into their ecosystems. But companies are split on the best way to forge deep connections with users. Siri and Cortana are waging charm offensives, both quick to crack a joke or tell a story. Their elaborate personas are meant to keep users coming back. Facebook has built M with no gender, personality or voice. The design bears some resemblance to Google's similarly impersonal assistant. While catchy one-liners generate buzz, a digital assistant with personality risks alienating users or, the companies say, misleading them about the software's true purpose: carrying out simple tasks, much like a real-life assistant. Facebook's no-nonsense assistant focuses on handling chores such as ordering flowers or making restaurant reservations. "We wanted M to be really open and able to do anything - a really white piece of paper - and see how people use it," Alex Lebrun, a Facebook executive who oversees the AI team for M, said in an interview with Reuters. For tech companies, the stakes are high, said Matt McIlwain, managing director of Madrona Venture Group, since digital assistants can guide users to their own products and those of their advertisers and partners - and away from those of competitors. Google (O:GOOGL)'s digital assistant, for example, uses the company's search engine to fulfill user requests for information rather than Yahoo (O:YHOO) or Microsoft's Bing. "That trusted assistant could function as my agent for all kinds of transactions and activities," McIlwain said. Research from the late Stanford professor Clifford Nass, an expert on human-computer interaction, shows that users can become deeply invested in AI that seems human, though they are also more disappointed when the systems come up short, raising the stakes for companies that make the attempt. And what charms one user can annoy another - a danger that Facebook and Google have largely sidestepped. Nevertheless, the Siri team concluded that personality was indispensable, said Gary Morgenthaler, an investor in Siri, the startup that created the eponymous assistant and was later acquired by Apple. "If you are emulating a human being," he said, "then you are halfway into a human type of interaction." Google has decided it doesn't want to take personality further without having a better handle on human emotion. "It's very, very hard to have a computer be portrayed as a human," said Tamar Yehoshua, vice president of mobile search. The Google app, making use of predictive technology known as Google Now, responds to questions in a female voice but has few other gendered touches and little personality. The Google app does reflect its creator's spirit of curiosity, however, by sharing fun facts, Yehoshua said. Facebook has a team of human "trainers" behind M, who answer some requests that are beyond the capabilities of its artificial intelligence. The company hopes to gather data on users' most frequent requests in order to improve M so it can handle them in the future. That data is limited, however, as M is so far available only to 10,000 people in the San Francisco Bay area. Despite M's design, users frequently ask to hear jokes, a request the assistant obliges. Humans tend to anthropomorphize technology, academics say, often looking for a personality or connection even when tech companies intentionally have veered away from such things. "When you give people this open mic, they will ask anything," said Babak Hodjat, co-founder of AI company Sentient Technologies. Siri's personality did not change much after Apple acquired the startup in 2010, though she switched from responding in text to speech at the insistence of the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, said Adam Cheyer, a co-founder of Siri who is now a vice president at another AI company, Viv Labs. "He was right on that call," Cheyer said. "The voice is something that people really connect with." Microsoft interviewed real-life personal assistants to help shape Cortana's personality, said Jonathan Foster, Cortana's editorial manager. The assistant's tone is professional, but she has her whims. She loves anything science-fiction or math-related - her favorite TV show is "Star Trek" - and jicama is her favorite food because she likes the way it sounds. Such attention to detail is critical because humans are very particular when it comes to artificial intelligence, said Henry Lieberman, a visiting scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who studies human-computer interaction. Companies must be mindful, he said, not to venture into what researchers call the "uncanny valley," the point at which an artificial intelligence tool falls just short of seeming human. Users become fixated on the small discrepancies, he said. "It becomes creepy or bizarre, like a monster in a movie that has vaguely human features," Lieberman said. iDAvatars CEO Norrie J. Daroga said he walked a fine line in creating Sophie, a medical avatar that assesses patients' pain. He gave Sophie a British accent for the U.S. audience, finding users are more critical of assistants that speak like they do. And she has flaws built in because humans distrust perfection, said Daroga, whose avatar uses technology from IBM's Watson artificial intelligence platform. Some academics say Siri's personality has been her greatest success: After her release in 2011, users raced to find all her quips. But some of her retorts have caused headaches for Apple. When asked what to do with a dead body, Siri used to offer joking suggestions such as swamps or reservoirs -- an exchange that surfaced in a 2014 murder trial in Florida. She is more evasive when asked the question today. "I used to know the answer to this…" she says. Even in that response, Morgenthaler sees traces of the true Siri. "It's a little bit of a protest against the corporatization," he said. "I don't forget, but I've been made to forget."

Pakistani fighter jet crashes killing female pilot

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A female Pakistani air force pilot was killed on Tuesday when her trainer jet crashed near the central town of Mianwali, the military said, the first such loss for the country's tiny community of women pilots. The crash happened during "routine operational training", the air force said in a statement. A second pilot survived. "Squadron Leader Saqib Abbasi and Flying Officer Marium Mukhtiar were on a routine operational training mission when it encountered a serious in-flight emergency during the final stages of the mission," the air force said. "Ensuring safety of life and property of civilian population on ground, both the pilots ejected and the aircraft crashed near Kundian, Mianwali." Mukhtiar is the first female pilot of the Pakistan air force to be killed while on duty. The air force had 19 women pilots in 2013, the last year for which the figure was immediately available. The crash is the latest deadly accident to hit Pakistan's military. In May, a military helicopter carrying diplomats to inspect a tourism project crashed, killing seven people, including the ambassadors of Norway and Philippines. In August, another military helicopter being used as an air ambulance crashed near the northern district of Mansehra, killing 12 people.

Turkey downs Russian warplane near Syria border, Moscow denies airspace violation

By Tulay Karadeniz and Maria Kiselyova ANKARA/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Turkish fighter jets shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border on Tuesday after repeated warnings over air space violations, but Moscow said it could prove the jet had not left Syrian air space. It was the first time a NATO member's armed forces have downed a Russian or Soviet military aircraft since the 1950s and Russian and Turkish assets fell on fears of an escalation between the former Cold War enemies. A Kremlin spokesman said it was a "very serious incident" but that it was too early to draw conclusions. Footage from private Turkish broadcaster Haberturk TV showed the warplane going down in flames in a woodland area, a long plume of smoke trailing behind it. The plane went down in area known by Turks as "Turkmen Mountain", it said. Separate footage from Turkey's Anadolu Agency showed two pilots parachuting out of the jet before it crashed. A Syrian rebel group sent a video to Reuters that appeared to show one of the pilots immobile and badly wounded on the ground and an official from the group said he was dead. Russia's defense ministry said one of its Su-24 fighter jets had been downed in Syria and that, according to preliminary information, the pilots were able to eject. It said the aircraft had been over Syria for the duration of its flight. The Turkish military said the aircraft had been warned 10 times in the space of five minutes about violating Turkish airspace. Officials said a second plane had also approached the border and been warned. "The data we have is very clear. There were two planes approaching our border, we warned them as they were getting too close," a senior Turkish official told Reuters. "We warned them to avoid entering Turkish airspace before they did, and we warned them many times. Our findings show clearly that Turkish airspace was violated multiple times. And they violated it knowingly," the official said. A second official said the incident was not an action against any specific country but a move to defend Turkey's sovereign territory within its rules of engagement. SECOND PILOT Russia's decision to launch separate air strikes in Syria mean Russian and NATO planes have been flying combat missions in the same air space for the first time since World War Two, targeting various insurgent groups close to Turkish borders. The downing of the jet appeared to scupper hopes of a rapprochement between Russia and the West in the wake of the Islamic State attacks in Paris, which led to calls for a united front against the radical jihadist group in Syria. Russia's main stock index fell more than two percent, while Turkish stocks fell 1.3 percent. Both the rouble and lira were weaker. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan was briefed by the head of the military, while Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu ordered consultations with NATO, the United Nations and related countries, their respective offices said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said the warplane crashed in a mountainous area in the northern countryside of Latakia province, where there had been aerial bombardment earlier and where pro-government forces have been battling insurgents on the ground. "A Russian pilot," a voice is heard saying in the video sent to Reuters as men gather around the man on the ground. "God is great," is also heard. The rebel group that sent the video operates in the northwestern area of Syria, where groups including the Free Syrian Army are active but Islamic State, which has beheaded captives in the past, has no known presence. The official from the group, who declined to be named for security reasons, did not mention the second Russian pilot. Broadcaster CNN Turk earlier reported that one of the pilots was in the hands of Turkmen forces in Syria who were looking for the other one, citing local sources. Russian military helicopters were also searching for the pilots, Turkey's Dogan news agency said. Both Russia and its ally, Syria's government, have carried out strikes in the area. A Syrian military source said the reported downing was being investigated. Turkey called this week for a U.N. Security Council meeting to discuss attacks on Turkmens in neighboring Syria, and last week Ankara summoned the Russian ambassador to protest the bombing of their villages. Ankara has traditionally expressed solidarity with Syrian Turkmens, who are Syrians of Turkish descent. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is due to visit Turkey on Wednesday to discuss Syria, in a trip arranged before this incident. Erdogan is meanwhile expected to visit Russia for talks with Putin in late December. About 1,700 people have fled the mountainous Syrian area near to the Turkish border as a result of fighting in the last three days, a Turkish official said on Monday. Russian jets have bombed the area in support of ground operations by Syrian government forces.

Pakistani man faces sentencing in U.S. over al Qaeda plot

By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Pakistani man is scheduled to be sentenced on Tuesday after a U.S. jury convicted him of plotting to bomb a shopping center in England as part of an al Qaeda plan for attacks in Europe and the United States. Abid Naseer, 29, faces life in prison when he is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie in New York after being convicted in March on charges including that he provided material support to the Islamic militant group. In court papers, Naseer's lawyer has urged the judge to grant him leniency, calling a life sentence excessive given his "very limited" alleged role in the plot. But federal prosecutors in a court filing contend Naseer deserves a sentence of 30 years to life imprisonment, saying he remains committed to al Qaeda's cause and poses an extreme danger. Naseer was convicted nearly six years after he was first arrested in a British anti-terrorism operation. British authorities never charged Naseer but he was later indicted in the United States and extradited in 2013. Naseer, who was raised in Peshawar, Pakistan and said he was a semi-professional cricket player, led an al Qaeda cell that plotted to bomb a shopping center in Manchester, England, in April 2009, prosecutors said. The proposed bombing in Britain was part of an overall plot involving Naseer and al Qaeda cells that also included attacks against the New York City subway system and a Copenhagen newspaper, prosecutors said. Two men, Najibullah Zazi and Zarein Ahmedzay, have pleaded guilty to U.S. charges stemming from the New York subway plot. A third, Adis Medunjanin, was sentenced in 2012 to life in prison. Zazi testified at Naseer's trial, providing testimony that supported prosecutors' claims that both men coordinated their plans through coded emails with an al Qaeda operative in Pakistan. At trial, prosecutors used never-before publicized documents seized from the 2011 raid in Pakistan that killed Osama bin Laden as part of their case against Naseer and testimony from British MI5 officers who conducted surveillance on him. The MI5 officers testified anonymously, wearing wigs and makeup to protect their identities. At trial, Naseer represented himself. He denied any affiliation with al Qaeda or any plot, telling jurors that "terrorism is not compatible with Islam."

U.S. coalition stages 26 strikes against Islamic State

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S.-led coalition targeted Islamic State in Iraq and Syria with 26 air strikes against the militant group on Monday, the Combined Joint Task Force leading the operations said. In a statement on Tuesday, the coalition said nine strikes in Syria hit near four cities, destroying several fighting positions, vehicles and other targets. In Iraq, 17 air strikes near six cities struck a 11 Islamic State tactical units as well as buildings, fighting positions and weapons caches, among other targets, the task force said.

U.S., Japan naval exercises make 'big step forward'

By Tim Kelly USS RONALD REAGAN (Reuters) - The U.S. and Japanese navies established a new level of cooperation to resupply each others vessels during joint exercises in the seas south of Japan last week, the commander of the U.S. Seventh Fleet said on Tuesday. Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin said the delivery of boxes of food and other provisions to a Japanese warship by a U.S. helicopter heralded greater operational integration. It was the first time that the two allies have shared supplies other than ship oil at sea. "It's a big step forward, and we want to do more of that in the future," Aucoin said at a press conference aboard the USS Ronald Reagan. The 100,000 ton U.S. aircraft carrier participated in the annual exercise along with six other U.S. ships and around 25 Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) vessels. The agreement to begin such exchanges means that U.S. vessels can now be resupplied by Japanese ships in waters closer to Japan and will make it easier for the JMSDF to operate further from home waters with the help of U.S. supply ships. The Japanese and U.S. Navy are deepening already close military ties as Chinese military power in the region grows. Vice Admiral Yasuhiro Shigeoka, commander of the JMSDF fleet, who joined Aucoin at the briefing described the security situation in the region surrounding Japan as "severe." Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won lawmakers' approval in September for new security legislation that allows Japan's military to come to the aid of allies under attack. Abe said the biggest shift in Japan's defense policy since the creation of its post-war military in 1954, was vital to meet emerging challenges such as those posed by China's growing military power. It means the U.S. and Japan can repackage regular joint drills, such as the one in waters about 350 miles (563.27 km)south of Japan "to do more high level sophisticated" training. Based in Yokosuka Japan, with the United States' only forward deployed carrier, the Seventh Fleet with some 80 vessels, 140 aircraft and 40,000 sailors is the most powerful naval force in the western Pacific. After China, Japan is Asia's second most powerful maritime nation with more than a hundred warships.

Campbell Soup quarterly sales fall 2.3 percent

(Reuters) - Campbell Soup Co (N:CPB) reported a 2.3 percent fall in quarterly sales, dented by a strong dollar and lukewarm demand for products in its Americas simple meals and beverages business. The world's largest soup maker said on Tuesday its net income attributable to the company fell to $194 million, or 62 cents per share, in the first quarter ended Nov. 1, from $248 million, or 78 cents per share, a year earlier. Campbell, whose products also include Pepperidge Farm cookies and Goldfish crackers, said its net sales fell to $2.20 billion from $2.26 billion.

Samsung Electronic says to provide memory chips to automaker Audi

SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics (KS:005930) Co Ltd will provide memory chip products to Volkswagen's (DE:VOWG_p) Audi after entering into a strategic partnership with the luxury German automaker, the South Korean electronics giant said in a blog post dated Monday. Samsung Electronics and its sister companies have been making a push to supply components to makers of increasingly sophisticated automobiles. No financial terms were disclosed. Samsung Electronics said it will provide cutting-edge memory chips to Audi's future "infotainment", dashboard and driver assistance applications. Samsung spokespersons were not immediately reachable for comment.

Copper prices rise from 6-year lows but gains remain limited

Source : Investing.com - Copper prices inched up on Tuesday, but remained not far above the prior session's six-year low as expectations of higher interest rates in the U.S., a broadly stronger U.S. dollar and slower global economic growth, especially in China, weighed. Copper for March delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange tacked on 1.0 cent, or 0.5%, to trade at $2.032 a pound during morning hours in London. A day earlier, prices fell to $2.001, a level not seen in more than six years. Meanwhile, three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.87% to $4504.75 a metric ton. On Monday, prices hit $4508.50, the weakest level since June 2009. Prices of the red metal are down more than 12% so far this month as fears of a China-led global economic slowdown and a stronger greenback slammed commodities. Elsewhere in metals trading, gold and silver languished near five-and-a-half-year lows on Tuesday, as investors awaited the release of revised U.S. third quarter economic growth data later in the day for a fresh reading on the strength of the economy. Gold futures are down 6% so far in November, while silver dropped 9.5% amid mounting expectations the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade at its mid-December meeting. Expectations of higher borrowing rates going forward is considered bearish for gold, as the precious metal struggles to compete with yield-bearing assets when rates are on the rise. The U.S. dollar hovered near eight-month highs against a basket of six other major currencies, weighing further on metal prices. Dollar-priced commodities become more expensive to investors holding other currencies when the greenback gains. The U.S. is to release preliminary figures on third quarter economic growth at 8:30AM Eastern Time Tuesday. The data is expected to show that the economy expanded 2.1% in the three months ended September 30, compared to last month's advance estimate of 1.5%. U.S. markets will be closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday and Friday will be a half day.

European stocks sharply lower amid security concerns; Dax tumbles 1.02%

Source : Investing.com - European stocks were sharply lower on Tuesday, as security concerns continued to weigh on market sentiment and as investors eyed an upcoming report on Germany's business climate, due later in the trading session. During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 lost 1.39%, France’s CAC 40 plummeted 1.50%, while Germany’s DAX 30 tumbled 1.02%. Markets were jittery as Belgium remained on lockdown for a fourth consecutive day amid a continuing nationwide manhunt for a key suspect, Salah Abdeslam, in the Paris terrorist attacks 11 days ago. Separately, the U.S. State Department issued a global travel alert for U.S. citizens on Monday, citing increased terrorist threats. Financial stocks were broadly lower, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) dropped 0.89% and 0.92%, while Germany's Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) and Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) slid 0.38% and 0.88%. Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Unicredit (MI:CRDI) and Intesa Sanpaolo (MI:ISP) lost 0.55% and 1.02% respectively, while Spanish banks BBVA (MC:BBVA) and Banco Santander (MC:SAN) declined 0.59% and 0.66%. Elsewhere, Altice NV (AS:ATCA) plunged 6.80% after Goldman Sachs Group Inc (N:GS). said it is selling about 61 million of the French company’s A-shares. On the upside, shares in Volkswagen (DE:VOWG_p) AG rallied 2.53% after the carmaker won approval to repair most of its rigged European diesel engines. In London, FTSE 100 declined 0.88%, as U.K. lenders tracked their European counterparts lower. Shares in the Royal Bank of Scotland (L:RBS) and Lloyds Banking (L:LLOY) dropped 0.82% and 0.93% respectively, while HSBC Holdings (L:HSBA) lost 1.05% and Barclays (L:BARC) tumbled 1.54%. Kingfisher (L:KGF) Plc added to losses, with shares down 0.41% after the retailer reported third-quarter earnings that missed analysts' projections. Meanwhile, mining stocks were broadly higher on the commodity-heavy index. Glencore (L:GLEN) climbed 0.45% and Randgold Resources (L:RRS) jumped 1.14%, while Anglo American (L:AAL) rallied 1.86%. In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.24% fall, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.29% slide, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.28% loss.

German Ifo business climate rises to 17-month high in November

Source : Investing.com - German business confidence in November improved to the highest level since 2014, boosting optimism over the health of the euro zone's largest economy, industry data showed on Tuesday. In a report, the German research institute, Ifo said its Business Climate Index rose to a seasonally adjusted 109.0 this month from a reading of 108.2 in October, beating forecasts for 108.2. The Current Assessment Index increased to 113.4 in November from 112.7 a month earlier and above expectations for 112.4. The Business Expectations Index, which measures attitudes toward business prospects over the next six months, rose to 104.7 this month from 103.9 in October, compared to estimates for a reading of 104.0. The monthly index is based on a survey of around 7,000 German firms in the manufacturing, construction, wholesale and retail sectors. EUR/USD was trading at 1.0670 from around 1.0659 ahead of the release of the data, while EUR/GBP was at 0.7053 from 0.7047 earlier. The Investing.com euro index, which tracks the single currency against a basket of six major rivals, was at 85.98, compared to 85.91 ahead of the report. Meanwhile, European stock markets were sharply lower. Germany's DAX tumbled 1.35%, the EURO STOXX 50 dropped 1.8%, France’s CAC 40 slumped 1.9%, while London’s FTSE 100 declined 1.2%.

Apple plans to launch Apple Pay in China by February: WSJ

(Reuters) - Apple Inc (O:AAPL) plans to launch its mobile payment system Apple Pay in China by early February, the Wall Street Journal reported. The iPhone maker has struck deals recently with China's big four state-run banks, the newspaper reported late Monday, citing people familiar with the discussions. (http://on.wsj.com/1LwSf8O) When launched, Apple Pay will mainly compete with Alipay, the online payment platform run by Alibaba Holding Group Ltd (N:BABA) affiliate Ant Financial, and UnionPay Co, a state-controlled consortium that has a monopoly on all yuan payment cards issued and used in the country. Apple's plans could still face regulatory hurdles in China, where banking and e-commerce are overseen by a number of government agencies, WSJ said. "We have nothing to announce at this time," an Apple spokeswoman in China said in an email to Reuters. Launched in the United States in October last year, Apple is bringing its payment service to China, the most important market for smartphones. The company's sales nearly doubled in Greater China in its fiscal fourth quarter from a year earlier. The amount Apple would make off such transactions has been a sticking point in negotiations to bring Apple Pay to China, the Journal quoted the people as saying. It is also not clear how much Apple would charge for purchases made through Apple Pay in China. The company gets 0.15 percent of all credit card transactions and 0.5 cents per debit transaction in the United States, the paper said. In July, Apple brought its mobile payments service to Britain to capitalize on the increasing mobile online transactions.

Gold not far from multi-year lows ahead of revised U.S. GDP report

Source : Investing.com - Gold inched up on Tuesday, but remained not far above the prior session's five-and-a-half-year low as investors awaited the release of revised U.S. third quarter economic growth data later in the day for a fresh reading on the strength of the economy. Gold for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange tacked on $5.70, or 0.53%, to trade at $1,072.50 a troy ounce during European morning hours. A day earlier, prices fell to $1,065.00, not far from last week's low of $1,062.00, a level not seen in almost six years. The U.S. is to release preliminary figures on third quarter economic growth at 8:30AM Eastern Time Tuesday. The data is expected to show that the economy expanded 2.1% in the three months ended September 30, compared to last month's advance estimate of 1.5%. Most Federal Reserve officials believe there is a strong case to begin raising interest rates at the central bank's December 15-16 meeting, as long as U.S. economic data does not disappoint in the coming weeks. Gold futures are down more than 6% so far this month amid mounting expectations the Fed will raise rates for the first time in nearly a decade at its mid-December meeting. Expectations of higher borrowing rates going forward is considered bearish for gold, as the precious metal struggles to compete with yield-bearing assets when rates are on the rise. The U.S. dollar hovered near eight-month highs against a basket of six other major currencies, weighing further on metal prices. Dollar-priced commodities become more expensive to investors holding other currencies when the greenback gains. Meanwhile, silver futures for December delivery rose 8.3 cents, or 0.59%, to trade at $14.11 a troy ounce. On Monday, prices hit $13.85, the weakest since August 2009. Elsewhere in metals trading, copper prices traded not far above the prior session's six-year low on Tuesday as expectations of higher interest rates in the U.S., a broadly stronger U.S. dollar and slower global economic growth, especially in China, weighed. Prices of the red metal are down more than 12% so far this month as persistent worries about future demand from top consumer China and a stronger greenback slammed commodities.

Oil pushes higher as Saudi comments, supply glut remain in focus

Oil prices pushed higher on Tuesday, as Saudi Arabia's pledge to work towards stabilizing the market continued to lend support, while investors focused on a global supply glut. On the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for January delivery tacked on 55 cents, or 1.23%, to trade at $45.38 a barrel during European morning hours. A day earlier, prices tacked on 17 cents, or 0.38%. Saudi Arabia said Monday that it is prepared to use all measures necessary to ensure a stable oil market. The world's biggest oil producer added that it is ready to cooperate with OPEC and non-OPEC producers in order to stabilize prices. The oil market has been on the defensive in recent months amid uncertainty about how quickly the global glut of crude is set to shrink. Global oil production is outpacing demand following a boom in U.S. shale oil production and after a decision by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries last year not to cut production. OPEC will meet on December 4 to review their output strategy. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf OPEC members have recently indicated they will continue to stick to their policy of defending market share by keeping production high. Elsewhere, crude oil for delivery in January on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 58 cents, or 1.38%, to trade at $42.33 a barrel. On Monday, Nymex futures dipped 15 cents, or 0.36%. Market players looked ahead to fresh weekly information on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products to gauge the strength of demand in the world’s largest oil consumer. The American Petroleum Institute will release its inventories report later in the day, while Wednesday’s government report could show crude stockpiles rose by 1.1 million barrels in the week ended November 20. U.S. oil supplies in the U.S. rose for the eighth consecutive week last week, remaining near levels not seen for this time of year in at least the last 80 years. Meanwhile, the spread between the Brent and the WTI crude contracts stood at $3.05 a barrel, compared to $3.08 by close of trade on Monday. The possibility of higher interest rates in the U.S., a stronger U.S. dollar and slower global economic growth, especially in China, further weighed.

Dollar slips lower but remains close to 8-month peak

The dollar slipped lower against the other major currencies on Tuesday, but still remained close to the previous session's eight-month peak amid mounting expectations for a U.S. rate hike in December. USD/JPY slipped 0.25% to 122.54. The dollar remained broadly supported by expectations that the Federal Reserve is on track to raise interest rates next month. New York Fed President William Dudley said Friday that there is a "strong case" for hiking rates at the central bank’s next meeting in December as long as economic data continues to remain solid. EUR/USD edged up 0.16% to 1.0653, easing off Monday's seven-month trough of 1.0591. The euro found some support after the German research institute Ifo said its Business Climate Index rose to a 17-month high of 109.0 this month from a reading of 108.2 in October, beating forecasts for 108.2. But gains were held in check since European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said on Friday that the bank is ready to act quickly to boost inflation in the euro zone and can also change the level of its deposit rate to boost the impact of quantitative easing. Elsewhere, the dollar was steady against the pound and the Swiss franc, with GBP/USD at 1.5126 and with USD/CHF at 1.0178. The Australian dollar was stronger, with AUD/USD up 0.40% at 0.7220, while NZD/USD held steady at 0.6521. Meanwhile, USD/CAD was little changed at 1.3354, not far from Monday's two-month high of 1.3437 The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.20% at 99.64, still close to Monday's eight-month peak of 100.06.

Upscale jeweler Tiffany's quarterly sales fall 2.2 percent

Upscale jeweler Tiffany's quarterly sales fall 2.2 percent Stock MarketsNov 24, 2015 06:47AM ET © Reuters. The sign outside the Tiffany & Co. store is seen in Denver © Reuters. The sign outside the Tiffany & Co. store is seen in Denver (Reuters) - Upscale jeweler Tiffany & Co's (N:TIF) quarterly sales fell 2.2 percent as a strong dollar hurt tourist spending in the United States and reduced the value of sales from other markets. The company's net income rose to $91 million, or 70 cents per share, in the third quarter ended Oct. 31 from $38.3 million, or 29 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue fell to $938.2 million from $959.6 million.

Futures lower ahead of GDP data

By Abhiram Nandakumar (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were down on Tuesday ahead of third-quarter GDP data that could feed into the Federal Reserve's decision on whether to raise interest rates next month. * Global security concerns also remained on the forefront after the U.S. State Department issued a global travel alert for Americans and Turkey said it shot down a Russian warplane that had violated its airspace near the Syrian border. * Travel and leisure-related stocks slipped. Shares of travel website operator Priceline (O:PCLN) were down 1.8 percent, while cruise operators Carnival Corp (N:CCL) and Royal Carribean (N:RCL) were down about 1 percent in premarket trade. * U.S. stocks closed slightly lower on Monday after last week's strong gains as Pfizer's (N:PFE) $160 billion deal for Allergan (N:AGN) failed to impress investors. * Investors will be scrutinizing data this week for further insight into the state of the economy ahead of the Fed's policy meeting next month, at which it is expected to raise interest rates for the first time since 2006. * The U.S. Commerce Department is expected to revise third-quarter GDP growth to an annual rate of 2.1 percent, from 1.5 percent previously. The data is due at 8.30 a.m. (1330 GMT). * U.S. consumer confidence data, due at 10.00 a.m., is also expected to have improved slightly in November. The Conference Board will release the data at 10.00 a.m. * Xerox (N:XRX) was up 6.8 percent at $11.48 after Carl Icahn disclosed a 7.13 percent stake. * Tiffany (N:TIF) was down 1.9 percent at $75.11 after it said it expected net earnings for the year to be 5 to 10 percent lower than last year. * Campbell Soup (N:CPB) and Dollar Tree (O:DLTR) were also due to report before the bell. Hewlett-Packard (N:HPQ) will post its last quarterly results as a single company after the close. Futures snapshot at 6:38 a.m. ET: * Dow e-minis (1YMc1) were down 57 points, or 0.32 percent, with 22,173 contracts changing hands. * S&P 500 e-minis (ESc1) were down 7.5 points, or 0.36 percent, with 160,546 contracts traded. * Nasdaq 100 e-minis (NQc1) were down 18.5 points, or 0.4 percent, on volume of 22,954 contracts.

Venezuela opposition says shots fired at election campaign caravan

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's opposition said on Sunday shots were fired at one of its candidates' campaign caravan in a poor neighborhood of Caracas amid rising national tensions over next month's parliamentary election. President Nicolas Maduro has said the Dec. 6 vote for a new National Assembly is the toughest election the ruling socialists have faced in their nearly 17-year government and polls show widespread voter anger at Venezuela's economic crisis. The opposition Democratic Unity coalition believes the poll could mark the beginning of the end for "Chavismo," as the ruling movement is known for its founder Hugo Chavez. Parliamentarian Miguel Pizarro, who is seeking re-election, said he and supporters were confronted by heavily-armed men who opened fire during a walkabout in Caracas' huge Petare slum. "Neither their shots, nor their pistols, nor their threats can overcome the strength of a people who have decided to change," he said afterwards, adding that noone was injured. Opposition leader Henrique Capriles published photos, allegedly from the incident, showing men dressed in red with the logo of the ruling Socialist Party apparently carrying pistols and even what looked like a machine gun. There was no comment from the party or other authorities, and Reuters could not independently confirm the incident. Two weeks away from the crucial vote, the South American OPEC member is immersed in a deep economic crisis, with the world's highest inflation, shrinking GDP and shortages of many basic foodstuffs and other products. The opposition coalition says that is the result of failed socialist economics, while the government blames an "economic war" by political foes and the business elite. The plunge in oil prices has greatly exacerbated Venezuela's predicament. Venezuela is awash with illegal guns, and politics have often sparked violence. Opposition street protests last year caused violence killing 43 people, including security officers, government supporters and anti-Maduro activists.

Gold prices down in Asia with investors looking to likely Fed rate hike

Gold prices fell in Asia on Monday with little regional data at hand and investors firmly focused on a likely Federal Reserve rate hike in December. Gold for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 0.20% to $1,074.80. Also on the Comex, silver futures for December delivery eased 0.39% to $14.090 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in metals trading, copper for December delivery dropped 0.51% at $2.049 a pound. Copper has weakened as the possibility of higher borrowing costs in the U.S., a broadly stronger U.S. dollar and slower global economic growth, especially in China, weighed. Prices of the red metal are down nearly 30% since May as fears of a China-led global economic slowdown spooked traders and rattled sentiment. The Asian nation is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption. In the week ahead, market players will focus on a flurry of U.S. economic data due on Wednesday for further indications on the strength of the economy and the likelihood of a December rate hike. U.S. markets will be closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday and Friday will be a half day. On Monday, markets in Japan are shut for a holiday. The euro zone is to release survey data on manufacturing and service sector activity. Germany and France are also to release individual reports. The U.S. is to release private sector data on existing home sales. Last week, gold prices ended the week near the lowest level since February 2010 on Friday, as market players prepared for a hike in interest rates by the Federal Reserve next month. Gold fell to $1,062.00 on Wednesday, a level not seen in almost six years, as investors cut holdings of the precious metal amid expectations the Fed will raise rates for the first time in nearly a decade at its mid-December meeting. For the week, prices of the precious metal declined $15.60, or 0.41%, the fifth straight weekly loss and the longest stretch of weekly declines since late July. Minutes of the Fed's October meeting published Wednesday showed that most members of the Federal Open Market Committee believe a rate hike next month would be appropriate but would then proceed with caution on further tightening, assessing economic conditions closely. Recent comments by Fed officials, including Janet Yellen, have bolstered expectations the U.S. central bank will raise interest rates for the first time in nine years when it meets December 15-16. Expectations of higher borrowing rates going forward are considered bearish for gold, as the precious metal struggles to compete with yield-bearing assets when rates are on the rise.

NYMEX crude higher in Asia as attention shifts to OPEC meeting

Investing.com - Crude oil prices inched higher in Asia on Monday with the focus on an upcoming OPEC meeting early next month. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil for delivery in January rose 0.24% to $41.58 a barrel. In the week ahead, market players will focus on a flurry of U.S. economic data due on Wednesday for further indications on the strength of the economy and the likelihood of a December rate hike. U.S. markets will be closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday and Friday will be a half day. On Monday, markets in Japan are shut for a holiday. The euro zone is to release survey data on manufacturing and service sector activity. Germany and France are also to release individual reports.The U.S. is to release private sector data on existing home sales. Last week, oil prices swung between gains and losses in choppy volatile trade on Friday, as investors reacted to the expiration of the December West Texas Intermediate oil contract. Industry research group Baker Hughes (N:BHI) said late Friday that the number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. decreased by 10 last week to 564. A lower U.S. rig count is usually a bullish sign for oil as it signals potentially lower production in the future. Gains were limited amid lingering concerns over a domestic supply glut. U.S. crude inventories rose for the eighth consecutive week last week, remaining near levels not seen for this time of year in at least the last 80 years. Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for January delivery tacked on 48 cents, or 1.09%, to close the week at $44.66 a barrel on Friday. It earlier rallied to a session high of $45.50 on pre-weekend short-covering. The oil market has been on the defensive in recent months amid uncertainty about how quickly the global glut of crude is set to shrink. Global oil production is outpacing demand following a boom in U.S. shale oil production and after a decision by the OPEClast year not to cut production. OPEC will meet on December 4 to review their output strategy. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf OPEC members have recently indicated they will continue to stick to their policy of defending market share by keeping production high.

Forex - Aussie, yen weaker in Asia, Tokyo shut for holiday

Investing.com - The Aussie and yen traded weaker on Monday in Asia with no major regional data and Tokyo shut for a holiday. AUD/USD changed hands at 0.7230, down 0.12%, while USD/JPY traded at 122.90, up 0.06%. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose 0.08% to 99.73. In the week ahead, U.S. markets will be closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday and Friday will be a half day. The euro zone is to release survey data on private sector activity on Monday, while both the U.S. and the U.K. are to publish revised data on third quarter growth later in the week. On Monday, the euro zone is to release survey data on manufacturing and service sector activity. Germany and France are also to release individual reports. The U.S. is to release private sector data on existing home sales. Last week, the euro fell sharply against the dollar on Friday after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi gave the clearest signal yet that the bank may unveil fresh stimulus measures at its December meeting. The ECB is ready to act quickly to boost inflation in the euro zone and can also change the level of its deposit rate to boost the impact of quantitative easing, Draghi said. The comments came during a conference in Frankfurt and underlined the diverging monetary policy expectations between the Federal Reserve and the ECB. Demand for the dollar continued to be underpinned by expectations that he Federal Reserve is on track to raise interest rates next month. New York Fed President William Dudley said Friday that there is a "strong case" for hiking rates at the central bank’s next meeting in December as long as economic data continues to remain solid. Higher U.S. interest rates would make the dollar more attractive to yield-seeking investors. The greenback turned lower earlier in the week as investors booked profits after a strong rally, before pushing higher again on Friday as investors re-entered dollar positions.

Global health experts accuse WHO of 'egregious failure' on Ebola

By Kate Kelland LONDON, (Reuters) - The World Health Organization's failure to sound the alarm until months into West Africa's Ebola outbreak was an "egregious failure" which added to the enormous suffering and death toll, global health experts said on Monday. A specialist panel convened by Harvard's Global Health Institute (HGHI) and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) said while the epidemic "engendered acts of outstanding courage and solidarity", it also caused "immense human suffering, fear and chaos" which went "largely unchecked" by leadership or reliable and rapid institutional responses. Reviewing the global response to the epidemic which swept through Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, the panel said such failures should not be allowed to happen again, and major reform is urgently needed to prevent future pandemics. "We need to strengthen core capacities in all countries to detect, report and respond rapidly to small outbreaks in order to prevent them from becoming large-scale emergencies," said Peter Piot, LSHTM's director and the chair of the panel. He said reform of national and global systems to respond to epidemics is not only feasible, but also essential "so that we do not witness such depths of suffering, death and social and economic havoc in future epidemics". The panel made 10 key reform proposals aimed at preventing future such catastrophes, including developing and investing core capacities to handle infectious disease outbreaks, strengthening incentives for early reporting of outbreaks and science-based justifications for trade and travel restrictions. It also called for the creation of a unified WHO Center with clear responsibility, adequate capacity, and strong lines of accountability for outbreak response, and for a transparent, politically-protected standing emergency committee to take on responsibility for declaring emergencies. Liberian panel member Mosoka Fallah of the campaign group Action Contre La Faim International, said the human misery and deaths should prompt serious reflection "on how and why the global response to the greatest Ebola calamity in human history was late, feeble and uncoordinated". The Ebola epidemic has killed at least 11,300 people in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia since it began in December 2013. The crisis brought already weak health services to their knees and caused social and economic havoc. "The most egregious failure was by WHO in the delay in sounding the alarm," said Ashish K. Jha, HGHI's director and a leading member of the panel. "People at WHO were aware that there was an Ebola outbreak that was getting out of control by spring, and yet it took until August to declare a public health emergency." Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust global health charity, said the report had "sobering lessons" which must be learned and "translated into concrete action if we are to avert another crisis".

Inadequate dirty money regulation 'leaves UK open to terror funds': report

By Lisa Barrington LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's "woefully inadequate" anti-money laundering system has left the country wide open to corrupt money and terrorism funds and needs radical overhaul, a leading anti-corruption group said on Monday. Each year billions of pounds of dirty money flow through Britain, but the system for identifying it is too fragmented and unaccountable to be effective, according to a report by Transparency International UK (TI-UK). "The UK supervision system which should be protecting the country from criminal and terrorist funding is not fit for purpose," said TI-UK's Head of Advocacy and Research Nick Maxwell. "Those vulnerabilities can be exploited by sophisticated terrorist organizations as well as the corrupt." Penalties for professionals such as lawyers and estate agents who fail to comply with anti-money laundering regulations are also too small to act as a deterrent, the report said. Money laundering is the process of disguising the origins of money obtained from crime and corruption by hiding it within legitimate economic activities. The government's 2015 money laundering and terrorist financing national risk assessment said there was "evidence of terrorist financing activity in the UK" which uses the same methods as criminal money laundering and "poses a significant threat to the UK's national security." Money laundering is also pushing up London property prices because money commonly ends up in high-value physical assets such as real estate and art. Britain's National Crime Agency's economic crime director told The Times newspaper this year that London property prices were being artificially driven up by overseas criminals wanting to hide their assets. TI-UK wants Britain to create one independent and accountable national supervisory body to replace the current system of 22 - often private sector - supervisors responsible for spotting dirty money in sectors such as financial services, accountancy, legal services and property. Making senior professionals personally liable for money laundering is a key part of the fight, TI-UK said, but Britain is scrapping plans to treat senior bankers as guilty until proven innocent for failings which happen on their watch. This u-turn was "reportedly due to heavy lobbying by the banking sector," TI-UK said.

Clinton proposes tax credit for family caregiving costs

By Amanda Becker CLINTON, Iowa (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Sunday proposed a tax credit offsetting up to $6,000 in costs associated with caring for elderly and disabled family members, and allowing caregivers to accrue Social Security retirement benefits for such work. The maximum value of the caregiving credit would be $1,200 for qualifying families and is the latest in a series of tax proposals Clinton plans to introduce aimed at boosting the middle class. "That will help family budgets stretch, it will help seniors maintain independence," Clinton said Sunday at a campaign stop in Iowa, which holds the first party-nominating contest in February. Clinton has previously announced a tax credit of $2,500 for an individual or $5,000 for a family to cover high healthcare costs and another credit that would cover some of the expense of attending college. There are about 12 million people in the United States who need long-term care and that number is expected to grow to 27 million by 2050 as the population ages. Clinton said the economic value of the unpaid work provided by family caregivers of the aging and disabled was $470 billion in 2013. Assisting adults caring for their aging parents – often while also raising their own children or helping with grandchildren – has become a theme at Clinton's campaign stops. Clinton met New Hampshire resident Keith Thompson before a September appearance. Thompson told the former secretary of state and U.S. senator he sometimes takes his elderly mother with him to his part-time job because they cannot otherwise afford reliable care. "You know your story is so incredibly moving and it's also a story for so many people, that's what I keep finding, everywhere I go," Clinton told Thompson in a video of the exchange provided by the campaign. Clinton has cited Thompson's story frequently since. Taxes are shaping up to be a differentiator between Clinton, the front-runner for the Democratic nomination to run in the November 2016 election, and her challengers, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley. Clinton's campaign says she is committed to not raising but cutting taxes for the middle class and criticized some of Sanders' proposals, such as his healthcare plan, saying it would necessitate raising taxes on moderate wage earners. In a statement on Clinton's tax proposals, Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs said, "It's too late for tentative half-steps that sound Republican-lite."

Opposition candidate Macri wins Argentina's presidential election

By Jorge Otaola and Juliana Castilla BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Conservative opposition candidate Mauricio Macri won Argentina's presidential election on Sunday after promising business-friendly reforms to spur investment in the struggling economy. Macri's supporters swarmed to the Obelisk in the heart of Buenos Aires' theater district for a giant street party as subdued ruling party candidate Daniel Scioli conceded defeat. Argentina's election body said Macri had 52.1 percent of votes and Scioli had 47.9 percent with returns in from 91.5 percent of polling stations. "The is the beginning of a new era that has to carry us toward the opportunities we need to grow and progress," Macri told supporters at his headquarters, which pulsed with Latin music and was festooned with white and sky-blue balloons, the colors of the Argentine flag. In a sign of Argentines' weariness with a spluttering economy, rising crime and corruption, Macri had gone into the run-off election with a comfortable lead in opinion polls over Scioli, the candidate of outgoing President Cristina Fernandez. During the campaign, Scioli warned that Macri's orthodox policies are similar to those that preceded Argentina's 2001-02 economic crisis, which tossed millions of people into poverty. But with economic growth slowing sharply and inflation running at more than 20 percent, voters were keen for change. Macri promises to set Latin America's third biggest economy on a more free-market course after a combined 12 years of leftist populism under Fernandez and her late husband and predecessor Nestor Kirchner. Barred from seeking a third straight term, Fernandez will leave office with Argentina deeply divided between those who back her protectionist policies and defense of worker rights and others who blame her policies for weak economic growth. PRESIDENT'S SHADOW A moderate within the Peronist movement, Scioli failed to win over middle-ground voters after struggling to step out of Fernandez's shadow during the election campaign. His talk of maintaining generous social welfare programs and energy subsidies while making only gradual changes to the capital and trade controls that have hobbled the economy hurt his credentials as a candidate for change. "Scioli did not manage to differentiate himself from Fernandez and so people stopped seeing him as a change of style and went over to Macri," said political analyst Mariel Fornoni. The shift in power in Argentina may reverberate across South America where other left-leaning governments, such as Venezuela and Brazil, are also up against the end of a decade-long commodities boom and allegations of financial mismanagement. Macri was favored by investors and Argentine asset prices were expected to rise on Monday. "Foreign investors got their wish. Macri's win signals a decisive break with the Kirchner-Fernandez legacy of creditor confrontation and economic mismanagement," said Washington-based emerging markets analyst Gary Kleiman. "Bond and stock markets will enjoy the afterglow into the new year, but the inherited currency and fiscal mess and direct and portfolio investor antagonism may linger with the Peronists' continued political hold on parts of the government apparatus." Scioli's apparent defeat amounted to an indictment of Fernandez's stewardship of the economy and her confrontational style. She often takes to the airwaves to mock her critics with fiery speeches. She denounces holdout creditors suing the country over defaulted debt as "vultures" and invokes the memory of her late husband as the guiding light of her policies. Fernandez is known as a political fighter committed to her vision of a government actively involved in helping low-income families, and she may return as a presidential candidate in 2019. She appeared on television in recent weeks appealing to voters to ensure that government funding of education, healthcare and programs for poor mothers remains.

South Korea military to proceed with drills despite North threat

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea said planned military firing drills would go ahead on Monday near a disputed maritime border with North Korea, which has threatened "merciless retaliation" if Seoul fires into its waters on the anniversary of a 2010 bombing that killed four people. Five years ago North Korea fired artillery at the South's Yeonpyeong island, which lies south of the Northern Limit Line (NLL) sea border off their west coast, in what was the first attack on South Korean soil by the North since the 1950-53 Korean War. North Korea has said it was provoked into the attack by South Korean live-fire drills in the area that dropped shells in its territorial waters. South Korea's Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said on Monday there was no sign of unusual activities by the North Korean forces. "The firing drills are regularly scheduled drills, and if the North mounts a provocation, we will respond strongly under our operational plan," Kim told a briefing. North Korea's military said on Sunday the South "will experience merciless retaliation of the Southwestern Front units of the DPRK on the five islands," if Seoul's firing drills crossed into its waters. DPRK is the acronym for the North's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Five islands including Yeonpyeong lie close to the disputed border. On Friday, the rival Koreas agreed to hold talks on Nov. 26 in what would be the first government-level meetings focused on easing tensions since the two pledged to improve ties following an armed standoff in August.

Explosion damages toilet at Japan's controversial shrine for war dead: media

TOKYO (Reuters) - An apparent explosion at Japan's controversial Yasukuni Shrine for the war dead in Tokyo on Monday damaged the ceiling and the wall of a public bathroom near the south gate of the shrine, Kyodo news agency reported. Nobody was injured in the incident and the police have sent a bomb disposal unit to the shrine to deal with suspicious objects that have not exploded, media said. A hole in the ceiling of the public bathroom was discovered, as well as a battery and a lead wire, public broadcaster NHK said. The shrine is regarded as a symbol of Japan's past militarism and visits to the shrine by Japanese politicians have stoked protests from China and South Korea, where memories of Japanese occupation and colonialism before and during World War Two run deep. The shrine could not be immediately reached for comment on the phone. The Niinamesai Festival of First Fruits conducted at the Main Shrine on Monday morning attracted a lot of people on Labor Thanksgiving public holiday, and the festival was carried out safely, Kyodo news said. For safety reasons, the shrine has canceled accepting visits for the festival by children, it added.

Sixteen people injured in New Orleans park shooting

By Helen Freund NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - A gunfight between two groups erupted on Sunday in a New Orleans park where hundreds of people were gathered for a block party and the filming of a music video, leaving 16 people wounded, police said. Circumstances surrounding the shooting in the city's Upper Ninth Ward, and details of what precipitated the violence, were not immediately clear, but New Orleans Police Department spokesman Tyler Gamble told Reuters no fatalities were reported. Asked whether gang activity was thought to be involved, Gamble said it "was still too soon to say." "We know, by speaking with some of the victims, that there were two groups of people shooting at each other," Gamble said. Witnesses told police that both groups involved in the gun battle fled the park on foot immediately after the shooting, police said in a statement. No arrests were immediately reported. According to the statement, 10 gunshot victims were taken to area hospitals by ambulance, and six more arrived at emergency rooms "via private conveyance." Gamble said each of the 16 victims suffered either a "direct gunshot wound" or a "graze wound" and all were listed in stable condition, though the full extent of their injuries was still to be ascertained. Police said they did not have the age or genders of the victims. The incident unfolded at about 6:15 p.m. Central Time at the Bunny Friend playground, following a community "second line" parade that ended a few blocks away earlier in the day, police said. Several hundred people were gathered in the park at the time for an unpermitted block party and the impromptu filming of a music video, according to police. New Orleans police Commander Chris Goodley, speaking in a video clip posted by the New Orleans Times-Picayune website, said the crowd at the park remained "orderly" after the shooting. "But we were trying to preserve the crime scene as best as we could and tend to the victims," he added. New Orleans Police Superintendent Michael Harrison also was quoted by the Times-Picayune as saying, "no one has died at this time." Three witnesses told the newspaper they saw a man with a silver-colored machine gun, and also heard more gunshots coming from within the crowd as he ran away. Several people were lying on the sidewalk after the shooting, it said. WVUE-TV said police believed the shooting stemmed from a fight.

Wal-Mart pulls Cyber Monday forward to Sunday, record industry sales expected

(Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc (N:WMT) has decided that Cyber Monday, the biggest online shopping day of the year, should not start on a Monday anymore. The world's largest retailer by revenue will, for the first time this year, launch all its Cyber Monday deals on the Sunday after Thanksgiving rather than the early hours of Monday morning as in previous years. Cyber Monday's origins trace back more than a decade when people started using the high-speed Internet access at their workplaces to purchase things they saw but did not buy during trips to the shopping mall over the weekend after U.S. Thanksgiving, which falls on the fourth Thursday in November. Now, with Internet access readily available, the logic of limiting the event to a weekday no longer holds, said Fernando Madeira, chief executive of Walmart.com. "The customers have changed but Cyber Monday hasn't changed with them," Madeira told Reuters. "Now everyone has Internet." Wal-Mart had a handful of 'teaser' deals on Sunday last year but this is the first time it will offer all of its Cyber Monday promotions the day before. It will launch 2,000 online-only specials at 8 p.m. Eastern U.S. time on Sunday, Nov. 29 (0100 GMT on Monday, Nov. 30), up from 500 such deals last year. The move shows how retailers are looking to stretch what were once single-day shopping events in a bid to capture demand. A number of retailers are promoting deals for 'Black Friday' - the day after Thanksgiving and traditionally one of the busiest shopping days - weeks in advance. The early Cyber Monday start also comes as retailers wage a bruising battle for online demand with Amazon.com Inc (O:AMZN), which is several times larger than Wal-Mart in e-commerce sales and is growing at a faster rate. Industry-wide Cyber Monday sales in the U.S. will likely reach $3 billion for the first time in 2015, up 12 percent from last year, according to projections by Adobe. While Cyber Monday is expected to remain the biggest single day in terms of online revenue, Black Friday is expected to close the gap, with sales expected to rise 15 percent to $2.7 billion, Adobe said.

Asian shares steady to higher in thin trade with Tokyo shut for holiday

Asian shares held steady to higher on Monday with Tokyo shut for a holiday and no major regional data lined up. The S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.19%, while the Shanghai Composite opened steady. In the week ahead, U.S. markets will be closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday and Friday will be a half day. The euro zone is to release survey data on private sector activity on Monday, while both the U.S. and the U.K. are to publish revised data on third quarter growth later in the week. On Monday, the euro zone is to release survey data on manufacturing and service sector activity. Germany and France are also to release individual reports. The U.S. is to release private sector data on existing home sales. Last week, U.S. stocks closed higher on Friday capping one of its strongest weeks of the year, amid significant rallies in retail sales, emerging markets and the aerospace sector. Bolstered by a surge in Nike Inc (N:N:NKE) shares, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 91.20 or 0.51% to close at 17,823.95, finishing with one of its best weeks since February. The Dow appeared on the verge of posting one of its top weeks of the calendar year, rising by as much as 180 points in the session, before falling back slightly in the final hours of the session. The NASDAQ Composite index ended a bullish week by closing at 5,104.92, up 31.28 or 0.62% on the day, while the S&P 500 Composite index ticked up to finish with its top week of the year. The S&P 500 gained 7.93 or 0.38% to 2,089.17, as seven of 10 sectors closed in the green. Stocks in the Technology, Health Care and Consumer Services industries led, each gaining at least 0.65% on the session. The S&P 500 needed to clear 2,089 to finished with its best weekly session for 2015. On Friday, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi gave the clearest signal yet that the bank may unveil fresh stimulus measures at its December meeting. The ECB is ready to act quickly to boost inflation in the euro zone and can also change the level of its deposit rate to boost the impact of quantitative easing, Draghi said. New York Fed President William Dudley said Friday that there is a "strong case" for hiking rates at the central bank’s next meeting in December as long as economic data continues to remain solid.

Asian Shares Higher After US Gains

By Coco Alcuaz - Asian stocks pointed higher Monday morning after U.S. shares had their best week this year and investors shook off concerns about terror attacks in Paris and Mali. Both oil and gold slipped. New Zealand and Australia, the first two major markets to open, were up 0.7 percent and 0.1 percent. While Japan, the biggest market in the region, is closed for a holiday, Hong Kong futures are up about 0.3 percent, and Hong Kong, China and Korea futures are also higher. The S&P 500 climbed 3.3 percent last week, led by retailers and technology companies, after the Thursday release of the most recent Federal Reserve policy meeting minutes reduced uncertainty about whether the central bank would raise interest rates next month. Investors felt the minutes confirmed the growing view that the Fed will raise rates. That sentiment was also confirmed by San Francisco Fed President John Williams at a Saturday conference. Crude oil extended its decline below $42 a barrel and gold slipped for a second day, Bloomberg reported.

U.S. oil plunges more than 2 percent on supply glut woes

By Meeyoung Cho SEOUL (Reuters) - Crude futures lost ground in early Asian trading on Monday, with U.S. oil plunging more than 2 percent, pressured by a global supply surplus despite a cut in the number of U.S. rigs for an eleventh week out of 12. U.S. crude's West Texas Intermediate (WTI) January contract (CLc1) had dropped 91 cents, or 2.17 percent, to $40.99 a barrel by 0215 GMT. That was near levels seen on Friday before the U.S. crude December contract expired. Benchmark front-month Brent futures for January (LCOc1) fell 60 cents, or 1.34 percent, to $44.06 a barrel, after ending up 48 cents at $44.66 a barrel on Friday. "The burden of carrying high U.S. crude oil inventories is large," Kang Yoo-jin, commodities analyst at NH Investment and Securities in Seoul, said in a note on Monday. "The markets would likely rebound only if they saw a fall in U.S. crude inventories, while declining U.S. crude output and seasonal demand provide some support to oil at low prices." Venezuela's oil minister said on Sunday that OPEC cannot allow an oil price war and must take action to stabilize the crude market soon. When asked how low oil prices could go in 2016 if OPEC doesn't change its policy, he said: "Mid-20s." BMI Research, part of the Fitch ratings agency, said: "What is underway now is a structural market rebalancing in which low oil prices clear out high cost production - a relatively small part of which is U.S. shale. It is not the result of OPEC policy, but of the basics of supply and demand." U.S. crude was briefly supported on Friday as U.S. drillers removed 10 oil rigs in the week ended Nov. 20, the biggest weekly decline since late October, bringing the total rig count down to 564, oil services company Baker Hughes Inc (N:BHI) said in its closely followed report. U.S. crude's December futures which expired on Friday ended 15 cents down at $40.39 after hitting a low of $38.99, the cheapest since Aug. 27. Markets were keeping an eye on developing geopolitical tensions in the oil-producing Middle East as Jordan's King Abdullah, a U.S. ally, will hold talks in Moscow on Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin on how to tackle "terror groups" led by Islamic State in Syria, an official source said. Meanwhile, Algeria's energy earnings are forecast to fall to $26.4 billion next year after low oil prices cut into the OPEC nation's economy, Finance Minister Abderrahmane Benkhalfa said on Sunday.

NYMEX crude falls sharply in Asia as investors look ahead to OPEC

Crude oil prices fell in Asia after early gains on Monday with the focus on an upcoming OPEC meeting early next month. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil for delivery in January dropped 1.97% to $41.08 a barrel. In the week ahead, market players will focus on a flurry of U.S. economic data due on Wednesday for further indications on the strength of the economy and the likelihood of a December rate hike. U.S. markets will be closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday and Friday will be a half day. On Monday, markets in Japan are shut for a holiday. The euro zone is to release survey data on manufacturing and service sector activity. Germany and France are also to release individual reports.The U.S. is to release private sector data on existing home sales. Last week, oil prices swung between gains and losses in choppy volatile trade on Friday, as investors reacted to the expiration of the December West Texas Intermediate oil contract. Industry research group Baker Hughes (N:BHI) said late Friday that the number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. decreased by 10 last week to 564. A lower U.S. rig count is usually a bullish sign for oil as it signals potentially lower production in the future. Gains were limited amid lingering concerns over a domestic supply glut. U.S. crude inventories rose for the eighth consecutive week last week, remaining near levels not seen for this time of year in at least the last 80 years. Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for January delivery tacked on 48 cents, or 1.09%, to close the week at $44.66 a barrel on Friday. It earlier rallied to a session high of $45.50 on pre-weekend short-covering. The oil market has been on the defensive in recent months amid uncertainty about how quickly the global glut of crude is set to shrink. Global oil production is outpacing demand following a boom in U.S. shale oil production and after a decision by the OPEClast year not to cut production. OPEC will meet on December 4 to review their output strategy. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf OPEC members have recently indicated they will continue to stick to their policy of defending market share by keeping production high.

VW cuts 2016 capital spending plan as cheating scandal widens

By Andreas Cremer and David Shepardson WOLFSBURG, Germany/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Volkswagen AG (DE:VOWG_p) cut 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) from its 2016 investment plan on Friday, as its emissions cheating scandal expanded to include tens of thousands more U.S. vehicles.
Volkswagen has told U.S. regulators that emissions issues in larger luxury cars and SUVs extend to an additional 75,000 vehicles dating back to 2009, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Friday.
The disclosure widened the VW scandal, which had previously focused mainly on smaller-engined, mass-market cars, and raised the possibility that engineers at both the Audi and VW brands could have been involved in separate emissions schemes.
Earlier on Friday, the supervisory board of Europe's biggest auto manufacturer said it would cap spending on property, plant and equipment at around 12 billion euros ($12.8 billion) next year, down about 8 percent on its previous plan of around 13 billion euros.
Volkswagen (VW) (DE:VOWG_p) is battling the biggest business crisis in its 78-year history after admitting in September that it cheated diesel emissions tests in 482,000 2.0-liter diesel cars sold in the United States since 2009.
In November, the EPA and California Air Resources Board also accused VW of evading emissions in at least 10,000 Audi, Porsche and VW sport utility vehicles and cars with 3.0-liter V-6 diesel engines. VW initially denied the findings.
But during a meeting on Thursday, VW and Audi officials told the EPA that all 3.0-liter diesel engines from model years 2009 through 2016 had higher emissions than allowed.
Audi spokeswoman Jeri Ward acknowledged that the 3.0-liter software at issue "meets (EPA and CARB's) definition of a defeat device."
The new disclosure covers a total of 85,000 vehicles, the EPA said, including the diesel Audi 2016 Audi A6 Quattro, A7 Quattro, A8, A8L, Q5, Porsche Cayenne and Volkswagen Touraeg.
Analysts have said the scandals could cost the company 40 billion euros or more in fines, lawsuits and vehicle refits.
The widening scandal "slows VW's ability to move beyond the negative headlines and start the rebuilding process," said Karl Brauer, senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book.
"You can't recover from a scandal while it's still growing. You have to reach a point where everything is on the table and no more bad news is coming — then you can start repairing the damage."
The EPA and CARB held a two-hour meeting on Friday afternoon with VW to discuss the company's plans for the 482,000 2.0 liter cars that the automaker has admitted have illegal software that allow them to evade emissions standards.
The EPA said in a statement the automaker had provided an "initial proposal" for fixing the 2.0 liter diesel vehicles and that it would be taken under review.
CARB and EPA plan another meeting with senior VW officials to discuss the issue in the first week of December.
Chief Executive Matthias Mueller said in a statement: "We are operating in uncertain and volatile times and are responding to this. We will strictly prioritize all planned investments ... anything that is not absolutely necessary will be canceled or postponed."
The cut in capital spending is VW's first since the height of the financial crisis in 2009.
In previous years, the company has published investment plans for several years ahead. But on Friday, it only gave numbers for next year, and did not give a figure for research and development, which last year accounted for about a quarter of overall planned spending of 85.6 billion euros for 2015-19.
CUTBACKS
Some analysts have long urged VW to reduce spending and become more efficient, with profit margins at its mass-market namesake brand lagging those at rivals.
They have suggested the emissions scandal could provide an opportunity for management to force through changes that otherwise might have been resisted by the company's influential trade unions, and ultimately boost VW shares.
VW's preference shares, down about a third since the crisis broke, were up 1.5 percent to 107.40 euros at 1355 GMT.
Amid fears the emissions scandal could hit sales of diesel vehicles, Mueller said VW would increase spending on alternative technologies such as electric and hybrid vehicles by 100 million euros next year compared with previous targets.
He said construction of a planned new design center in VW's home town of Wolfsburg was being put on hold, saving about 100 million euros, while the construction of a paint shop in Mexico was under review.
In the model range, the successor to the high-end Phaeton saloon, an electric model, is being delayed.
Earlier on Friday, the European Commission gave VW until the end of the year to provide information on its overstatement of fuel efficiency in some vehicles.
VW also said Mueller would temporarily take on responsibility for personnel matters until a replacement was found for Horst Neumann, who retires at the end of November. It named two new employee representatives to the supervisory board as well, to replace departing ones.