7 April, 2015 by The TZ Newswire Staff Comments Off on Shell seeking to buy BG in first oil super-merger in over a decade
Shell seeking to buy BG in first oil super-merger in over a decade
BG, which has a market value of $46 billion, said in a statement on Tuesday it was in advanced discussions regarding a possible offer by Shell, whose market capitalisation is $202 billion. Exxon is worth $360 billion. A successful deal would give Shell access to BG’s multi-billion dollar projects in Brazil, East Africa, Australia, Kazakhstan and Egypt, including some of the world’s most ambitious liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects. The collapse in global oil prices has sparked much speculation about mergers in the industry and BG has often been cited as a potential target.
7 April, 2015 by The TZ Newswire Staff Comments Off on Oil down on U.S. stock build, record Saudi output
Oil down on U.S. stock build, record Saudi output
Oil prices fell more than a percent on Wednesday as industry data showed a larger-than-expected weekly build in U.S. stockpiles and as Saudi Arabia reported record output in March. The decline in prices followed a rally on Tuesday, when U.S. crude approached 2015 highs following strong jobs data and government forecasts for lower U.S. crude production growth and higher global demand for oil. “We’re going to need to see a very big uptick in demand to offset that supply,” Ben Le Brun, analyst at OptionsXpress in Sydney said. Data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) showed U.S.
7 April, 2015 by The TZ Newswire Staff Comments Off on U.S. jobs opening data points to skills mismatch
U.S. jobs opening data points to skills mismatch
U.S. job openings surged to a 14-year high in February but a steady pace of hiring suggested employers are having trouble finding suitable workers, a trend that could put upward pressure of wage growth. Job openings, a measure of labor demand, increased 168,000 to a seasonally adjusted 5.1 million, the Labor Department said in its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey on Tuesday. The so-called JOLTS report is one of the indicators being closely watched by Federal Reserve officials as they contemplate raising interest rates this year.
7 April, 2015 by The TZ Newswire Staff Comments Off on Fed should not raise rates until late 2016: Kocherlakota
Fed should not raise rates until late 2016: Kocherlakota
Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota on Tuesday laid out a case for waiting until the second half of 2016 to start raising interest rates, and to then raise them gradually to just 2 percent by the end of 2017. His remarks afterwards to reporters suggest he is increasingly worried that market expectations for nearer-term rate rises, fueled by comments from many of Kocherlakota’s Fed colleagues, could knock the wind out of the economic recovery. “That conversation (about raising rates) in and of itself is a tightening of policy,” Kocherlakota said.
7 April, 2015 by The TZ Newswire Staff Comments Off on Mercedes, Nissan expand cooperation to build pickup
Mercedes, Nissan expand cooperation to build pickup
Daimler AG on Tuesday said it would expand its cooperation with partner Nissan Motor Co Ltd to develop a mid-sized pickup truck for Mercedes-Benz as the German premium automaker seeks to narrow its sales gap with rival BMW. The new Mercedes-Benz pickup targets commercial and private clients in Europe, Latin America, Australia and South Africa, and will share some of the underpinnings with an all-new Nissan NP300 truck, Daimler and Nissan said in a joint statement.
7 April, 2015 by The TZ Newswire Staff Comments Off on Vietnam’s bikers race to upgrade as auto sales explode
Vietnam’s bikers race to upgrade as auto sales explode
Famous for its swarms of scooters, Vietnam is seeing auto sales surge amid the rapid expansion of a young, style-conscious middle class after 15 straight years of economic growth of over 5 percent. While major regional car markets Indonesia and Thailand saw annual declines in auto sales last year, Vietnam’s leapt 43 percent, Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA) data shows. Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, Ford and Honda reported solid annual sales increases, despite high import taxes.
7 April, 2015 by The TZ Newswire Staff Comments Off on Boeing beats Airbus in first quarter net orders, deliveries
Boeing beats Airbus in first quarter net orders, deliveries
U.S. planemaker Boeing (BA.N) beat European rival Airbus (AIR.PA) in net new orders and deliveries in the first quarter, according to figures released on Tuesday. The aircraft giants showed mixed results in the traditionally slow quarter for new orders but the gap between them in deliveries, which generate most revenue, widened after Boeing handed over a record number of jets for the period. Airbus said it had booked gross orders of 121 aircraft in January-March, beating Boeing’s 116.