Consumer sentiment at 4-year high in early May
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. consumer sentiment rose to its highest level in more than four years in early May as Americans were upbeat about the job market and buying plans improved, a survey showed on Friday, offering an encouraging sign for the economic recovery. Separate data earlier in the day showed U.S. producer prices unexpectedly fell in April as energy costs dropped the most in six months, a sign of easing inflation pressures that could give the Federal Reserve more room to help the economy should growth weaken. ...
Consumer sentiment at more than 4-yr high in May
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. consumer sentiment rose to its highest level in more than four years in early May as Americans remained upbeat about the job market, a survey released on Friday showed. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's preliminary May reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment improved to 77.8 from 76.4 in April, topping forecasts for 76.2. It was the highest level since January 2008. Despite the recent slowdown in job growth, nearly twice as many consumers reported hearing about new job gains than said they had heard about recent job losses, the survey said. ...
China industrial output growth weakest in nearly three years
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese industrial production weakened sharply in April as investment slowed to its lowest level in nearly a decade, showing an economy that is surprisingly vulnerable to a global slowdown and a credit crunch at home. Industrial production rose by 9.3 percent in April, the lowest level since May 2009, while retail sales surprised the market by slowing to a 14.1 percent rise, the lowest level in 14 months. Fixed asset investment rose by 20.2 in the first four months of the year, the slowest level since December 2002. "It's obviously much weaker than anyone had expected. 9. ...
Futures briefly tick higher after data
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures briefly edged higher on Thursday after data showed new U.S. claims for unemployment benefits dipped last week, allaying some concerns about the slowing economic recovery. S&P 500 futures rose 8.3 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration of the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures added 45 points and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 11.5 points. (Reporting By Chuck Mikolajczak; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
S&P 500 flirts with two-month low before rebound
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell for the fifth day in six on Wednesday as investors kept their focus on the turmoil in Europe, but news that Greece will receive its latest debt bailout payment helped cut losses late in the session. In the afternoon the Nasdaq briefly turned positive and the S&P rose to break-even after news that Greece will get 5.2 billion euros in emergency aid. The turmoil in Europe has driven Wall Street's slide and more investors were hedging against potential further losses. The Dow fell for a sixth straight day and the S&P touched a two-month low before cutting losses. ...
Appeals court grants wax seal to Maker’s Mark
A rose by any other name may smell as sweet, but an appeals court says a liquor bottle with a red dripping wax seal by any name other than Maker's Mark would be illegal.
Disney earnings rise despite "John Carter" loss
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co's quarterly earnings, dragged down by a loss from science fiction bomb "John Carter," beat Wall Street expectations with 21 percent profit growth driven by its theme parks and media networks. Disney, which operates theme parks, a movie studio and TV properties, posted fiscal second quarter earnings of $1.1 billion and a 6 percent increase in revenue to $9.629 billion. Adjusted earnings per share rose 18 percent to 58 cents. Analysts on average had expected 55 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. ...
Home prices rise for first time in 8 months: Corelogic
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Home prices rose in March for the first time since last July, helped by tighter housing inventory, data analysis firm CoreLogic said on Tuesday. CoreLogic's home price index gained 0.6 percent from February, but was still down 0.6 percent compared with March a year ago. Excluding sales of distressed properties, prices climbed 0.9 percent on a yearly basis. Homeowners in danger of foreclosure, or in "distress", often sell their homes at significantly reduced prices. ...
Dish Network adds more subscribers than expected
(Reuters) - Dish Network Corp , the second-largest satellite TV company behind DirecTV, added more subscribers than expected in the first quarter after holding the line on prices for its programming packages. Dish, whose shares rose 1 percent in premarket trading, added a net 104,000 subscribers during the quarter, topping analysts' average estimate of 62,000, according to StreetAccount data. It was Dish's second quarter in a row of subscriber growth, after shedding about 250,000 subscribers during the second and third quarters of 2011. ...
Toyota says China sales in April up 68 percent
BEIJING (Reuters) - China sales by Japan's Toyota Motor Corp and its two local joint-venture partners rose 68 percent in April from a year earlier to about 81,700 vehicles, according to a company spokesman. For the first four months of the year, the Japanese auto maker sold a total of about 293,200 vehicles, a 14.3 percent increase from the same period last year, said the spokesman, Takanori Yokoi. Yokoi said the large year-on-year jump in April sales was due chiefly to the fact that sales during April last year were comparatively low because of the massive earthquake on March 11. ...
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