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BANGKOK - Asian stocks eked out gains Thursday as traders hunted for bargains after sharp selling in recent days, but markets in Europe fell amid intensifying fears of a messy exit by Greece from the euro common currency.
Greece called a new round of elections for June 17 after coalition talks to form a government fell apart. The president said depositors were pulling hundreds of millions of euros out of banks, weakening the country’s strained financial system.
The developments fueled fears that Greece would exit the euro currency and shake global markets. In elections earlier this month, Greek voters punished parties that supported tough austerity measures needed to secure international bailout money.
But analysts at Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong said the scheduling of new Greek elections suggested “a reduction in near-term uncertainties” that could lead to some relief for volatile markets.
Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.4 per cent to 5,380.72 in early trading. Germany’s DAX fell 0.2 per cent to 6,373.01 and France’s CAC-40 lost 0.2 per cent to 3,042.45.
U.S. stocks were set for a moderately higher opening, with Dow Jones industrial futures up 0.3 per cent at 12,610. S&P 500 futures rose 0.4 per cent to 1,327.
In Asia, stock markets enjoyed a slight rebound as investors went bargain-hunting, analysts said.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 0.9 per cent to close at 8,876.59 after the country posted better-than-expected growth figures for the first quarter. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.3 per cent to 1,845.24. Benchmarks in Taiwan, New Zealand and the Philippines also rose business cards.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.2 per cent to 4,157.40, dragged down by financial stocks. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed 0.3 per cent down at 19,200.93.
Mainland Chinese shares bounced back from early losses, buoyed by calls from the country’s central bank governor, Zhou Xiaochuan, for market reforms.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.4 per cent to 2,378.89. The Shenzhen Composite Index also gained 1.4 per cent to 954.95. Shares in brokerages, financial and trading-related companies led the gains.
Positive news on the U.S. economy on Wednesday underpinned sentiment in Asia. Construction of homes in April rose 2.6 per cent from March, and U.S. factory production increased 0.6 per cent in April, helped by a gain in auto production.
Some Japanese stocks saw big gains amid news that the country’s economy grew at an annualized 4.1 per cent for the January-March quarter thanks to a rebound in consumer spending.
Sharp Corp. jumped 5.7 per cent and Mazda Motor Corp. added 3.8 per cent. Steel company JFE Holdings shot up 5.5 per cent.
Benchmark oil for June delivery was up 52 cents to $93.33 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Wednesday, the contract fell by $1.17 to finish at a seven-month low of $92.81 per barrel in New York.
In currencies, the euro fell to $1.2715 from $1.2725 late Wednesday in New York. The dollar rose to 80.35 yen from 80.29 yen.
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AP researcher Fu Ting contributed from Shanghai.
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JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is facing shareholders five days after disclosing a $2 billion trading loss.
Dimon will speak Tuesday morning at the bank’s annual meeting in Tampa, Fla.
Shareholders will vote on whether to separate the bank’s chairman and CEO positions, both held by Dimon. They will also vote their approval or disapproval of Dimon’s $23 million pay package from last year.
Analysts say Dimon is unlikely to lose those votes.
Investors have pummeled JPMorgan’s stock price since Dimon disclosed the trading loss on Thursday. The stock has dropped 12 percent and lost almost $20 billion in market value.
Dimon got something of a vote of confidence from President Barack Obama, who appeared on ABC’s “The View” for an episode to be aired Tuesday. Obama used the appearance to press for tighter regulation of Wall Street.
“JPMorgan is one of the best-managed banks there is,” the president said. “Jamie Dimon, the head of it, is one of the smartest bankers we got, and they still lost $2 billion and counting.”
Obama said the bank was “making bets” in the market for the complex financial instruments known as derivatives. Dimon has said the bank was hedging against financial risk.
A part of the 2010 financial overhaul known as the Volcker rule would restrict banks from some trading for their own profit. Dimon and critics of the financial industry have disagreed over whether the trading in question would violate that rule.
Dimon is likely to repeat his acceptance of responsibility for the bad trade. He said in a TV interview Sunday that he was “dead wrong” when he dismissed concerns about the bank’s trading last month.
“We made a terrible, egregious mistake,” Dimon told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “There’s almost no excuse for it.”
On Monday, Ina Drew, the bank’s chief investment officer and one of the highest-ranking women on Wall Street, left the bank. Drew oversaw the trading group responsible for the $2 billion loss.
Mattias Loov sought to cut costs for his clients at Stockholm-based H1 Communication AB after the global economic crisis hit the Nordic region. He found a solution 760 kilometers (475 miles) across the Baltic Sea.
H1 now has about 10 percent of its staff in Estonia, where the hourly labor cost is a fifth of Sweden
South Sudan’s military spokesman says Sudanese aircraft dropped 10 bombs in an oil-rich region near a military base south of the shared border.
Col. Philip Aguer said Friday that the bombs were dropped late Thursday afternoon. He said two civilians were wounded in the bombings, which took place on the town of Laloba, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of the Unity State capital of Bentiu in South Sudan.
The attacks came one day after Sudan announced it had accepted an agreement put forward by the African Union to return to talks with South Sudan Same day payday loans. The agreement demands both sides adhere to a cease-fire.
Major violence between the two sides has flared in recent weeks, pushing the region to the edge of all-out war.
Budget Minister Cristobal Montoro said Spain would damage European and global growth if it misses budget-deficit targets and threatened to take over the accounts of regions that don
The housing market continued to struggle in March, despite low home prices and record low interest rates, an industry report revealed Thursday.
Sales of existing homes fell 2.6% compared with a month earlier, to an annualized rate of 4.48 million homes, the National Association of Realtors said.
Gus Faucher, a senior economist at PNC Financial, called the report disappointing.
"We were expecting an increase," he said. "We need a turnaround to help the economy recover."
The Realtors’ group’s chief economist, Lawrence Yun, opted to look on the bright side of the report — sales were up 5.2% year-over-year.
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"We have seen nine consecutive months of year-over-year sales increases," he said. "Existing-home sales are moving up and down in a fairly narrow range that is well above the level of activity during the first half of last year."
The choppy market stands in contrast to the continuing gains made in affordability.
Factoring in price declines that have averaged about 34% nationally, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index, and record low mortgage rates, homebuying is more affordable than ever.
"For buyers who can qualify for a mortgage, now is a very good time to become a homeowner," said Realtors’ president Moe Veissi.
According to Yun, better economic conditions will push sales higher as the year goes on.
"With job growth, low interest rates, bargain home prices and an improving economy, the pent-up demand is coming to market and we expect housing to be notably better this year," he said.
As the year goes on, buyers may find fewer properties to choose from.
The number of homes for sale dropped 1.3% in March to 2.37 million existing homes. That’s a 6.3-month supply at the current sales pace. Inventory declined 21.8% compared with March 2011 and is well below the record of 4.04 million in July 2007.
Ironically, the tighter supply may have cut into sales, with house hunters in some areas of the nation having trouble finding homes to suit their needs or tastes.
"We’re already seeing this in the Western states and in South Florida," said Yun.
If the tightness in inventory spreads, it could signal a rebirth for home builders, who would have to step up development to fill the gap. And putting construction workers back on the job would be a shot in the arm for the overall economy as well as the housing market.
"Conditions are in place for a turnaround," said Faucher. "We’re just waiting for more confidence among buyers. We expect that to happen over the next few months."
BATS Global Markets says it will replace Joe Ratterman as chairman of the board, even as the company’s directors expressed support for him as chief executive.
The announcement Tuesday came after technical difficulties derailed the exchange operator’s initial public offering last week.
BATS operates electronic markets for stocks and stock options in the United States and Europe. The Kansas-based company is a leading platform for high-frequency, computer-driven trading.
In a brief statement, BATS directors said Ratterman "continues to do a tremendous job as CEO of BATS."
"We fully support his leadership, vision and strategic direction as BATS continues to enhance competition and foster innovation in markets worldwide," the statement said.
But the directors still voted to replace Ratterman as chairman under "an enhanced corporate governance structure."
Ratterman, who has been the company’s chairman since 2007, will hold the position until a replacement is named, the directors said saving account payday loan.
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BATS officially withdrew its IPO late Friday after it was forced to halt trading in its own stock and others because the company’s technology malfunctioned.
Ratterman publicly apologized for the problem, saying in a letter to customers that the company’s failure to perform "has no excuses."
BATS is third largest exchange operator in the United States after NYSE Euronext (, Fortune 500), which operates the New York Stock Exchange, and the NASDAQ OMX Group. ()
The company said this week that its troubles have not impacted its market share.
As of Monday, BATS boasted a 10.3% share of the U.S. equities market and a 25.4% share of the European market.
The House on Tuesday passed a bill making it easier for more companies to become publicly traded by bypassing audits and disclosures now required for investors.
The House voted 380-to-41 to pass the bill, which the Senate passed last week. The passage sends the bill to President Obama, who has indicated support.
The measure rolls back some rules the Securities and Exchange Commission enforces on small and medium companies attempting to make an initial public offering or IPOs.
"It is a victory for small companies and entrepreneurs who want Washington to reduce the red tape that stifles innovation, economic growth and job creation," said Rep. Spencer Bachus, an Alabama Republican who heads the House Financial Services Committee.
The bill has sparked concern from the retirement group AARP, investor groups, unions, consumer groups and even the head of the SEC. All of them said the bill could open the door for more failed IPOs and investor fraud.
The bill would relax SEC rules for small and medium-sized companies with less than $1 billion in gross revenue seeking to go public. The measure gives them up to five years, or until revenue tops $1 billion, to supply an independent audit and certain investor disclosures.
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Critics said $1 billion is too high a threshold — some 80% of firms going public would be able to bypass disclosures.
It would also make it easier for companies with as many as 2,000 shareholders to avoid registering with regulators.
The bill would also exempt firms from nonbinding shareholder votes on executive pay and benefits packages, which just came as part of the Wall Street reform law. In the aftermath of the financial crisis, the law made it tougher for CEOs to reap bonuses tied to soaring stock prices — particularly when the company is over-leveraged and making risky bets paydayloans.
Critics, including the Council of Institutional Investors, said that easing the rules applied to far too many companies and could make investors wary of investing in them.
"A company (with $1 billion in revenues) has the resources to comply with disclosures," said Jeff Mahoney, general counsel to the Council of Institutional Investors.
The bill would also allow companies to solicit investors — including the use of advertisements — when going public, which is currently prohibited. And it would allow them to raise money from larger numbers of small, less sophisticated investors.
Barbara Roper of the Consumer Federation of America warned the provision would make it easier for companies to take advantage of seniors, luring them to sink their retirement savings into an IPO.
"A retiree who has that nest egg isn’t necessarily a sophisticated investor and shouldn’t be speculating on private offerings," Roper said.
The bill would also allow what’s called "crowd funding," allowing firms to bypass regulations to raise money from large pools of small investors by directly soliciting them over the Internet. Critics are concerned about the potential for fraud.
The only change that the Senate made last week was to require that those working as an intermediary to such crowd funding register with regulators.
"The bill is far from perfect, but it’s a good bill," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid last week. "It’ll help capital formation."
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