Current News Today
Wall Street holds steady after Facebook opens
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were little changed on Friday, with equities unchanged by the delayed market debut of Facebook . Facebook rose 11 percent to $42 in early trading. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 7.34 points, or 0.06 percent, at 12,435.15. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 0.64 points, or 0.05 percent, at 1,305.50. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 5.14 points, or 0.18 percent, at 2,808.55. (Reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Dave Zimmerman)
2012-05-18T15:37:38Z
| Facebook shares rise 11 pct in frenzied trade
NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc shares opened 11 percent higher on Friday, after the pioneering online social network raised as much as $18.4 billion in one of the biggest initial public offerings in U.S. history. After a delay in the opening print that drove up anxiety levels among traders and onlookers outside the Nasdaq, the company's closely watched stock began trading at $42.05, compared with an IPO price of $38. ...
2012-05-18T15:46:21Z
| Banks' rising bad loans add to Spanish troubles
MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish banks' bad loans rose in March to their highest in 18 years, underscoring the problems facing the government as it drafts in independent auditors in an attempt to reassure investors it can clean up the sector. The Bank of Spain said bad loans rose to 8.37 percent of banks' outstanding loans, the highest since August 1994 and up from 8.3 percent in February, which was also revised higher. The data was released before Spain names auditors on Monday to assess how bad the losses are likely to get, and how much cash banks will need to rebuild their balance sheets. ...
2012-05-18T14:27:26Z
| Europe thinks the unthinkable on Greece
BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) - European officials are working on contingency plans in case Greece bombs out of the euro zone, the EU's trade commissioner said on Friday, while Berlin said it was prepared for all eventualities. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, one of Greece's harsher critics, said market turmoil fuelled by the euro zone debt crisis could last another year or two. "Regarding the crisis of confidence in the euro ... in 12 to 24 months we will see a calming of the financial markets," he said. ...
2012-05-18T14:43:26Z
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Current News Today
G8 leaders look to head off euro zone crisis
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Leaders of major industrial economies meet this weekend to try to tackle a full-blown crisis in Europe where fears are growing that Greece could leave the euro zone bloc, threatening the future of the common currency. President Barack Obama, the G8 host, has urged European leaders repeatedly to do more to stimulate growth, fearing contagion from the euro crisis that could hurt the U.S. economy and his chances of re-election in November. ...
2012-05-18T10:06:45Z
| Iran may seek "tactical gain" with U.N. nuclear deal
VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran and the U.N. nuclear watchdog are making headway towards a framework deal on how to tackle concerns about its atomic activity, diplomats say, a potential bargaining chip for Tehran in next week's negotiations with world powers. Iran says such an agreement is needed before it can consider a request by U.N. inspectors to visit the Parchin military site where they believe explosives tests relevant for developing nuclear weapons may have been carried out. ...
2012-05-18T11:47:19Z
| Growing military buildup, spying in China: Pentagon
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon said on Friday it believes China spent up to $180 billion on its military buildup last year, a far higher figure than acknowledged by Beijing, and it accused "Chinese actors" of being the world's biggest perpetrators of economic espionage. The Pentagon, in its annual assessment to Congress of China's military, flagged sustained investment last year in advanced missile technologies and cyber warfare capabilities and warned that Chinese spying threatened America's economic security. ...
2012-05-18T14:59:58Z
| Police detain 400 "Blockupy" activists in Frankfurt
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German police said they detained 400 anti-capitalist protesters in Frankfurt on Friday for defying a ban on demonstrations against austerity policies implemented to tackle the intensifying euro zone debt crisis. The demonstration in the German financial capital was part of a four-day-long "Blockupy" protest, due to run until Saturday, against capitalism and swingeing austerity measures. "Hungry? Eat a banker," read one banner protesters held up outside the Messeturm skyscraper housing Goldman Sachs' offices. Reuters' Frankfurt office is also in the building. ...
2012-05-18T14:45:24Z
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