Town Hall News

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s factory activity contracted for the sixth straight month in April, but the details of a private survey released on Monday showed the manufacturing sector was edging towards stabilisation amid a slower decline in new orders. The final au Jibun Bank Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index was up slightly at 49.5 in April from March’s 49.2, and matched the flash reading. New orders contracted at the softest […]

By Katya Golubkova TOKYO (Reuters) – Oil prices fell on Monday as jitters over the prospect of the U.S. Federal Reserve raising interest rates combined with weaker Chinese manufacturing data to erase earlier gains. Brent futures for July delivery were down 55 cents, or 0.7%, at $79.78 a barrel at 0009 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude lost 54 cents, also a 0.7% drop, to trade at $76.23. […]

By Chris Prentice, Nupur Anand and Saeed Azhar NEW YORK (Reuters) -PNC Financial Services Group, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Citizens Financial Group Inc were among banks that submitted final bids for First Republic Bank on Sunday in an auction being run by U.S. regulators, sources familiar with the matter said. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp had been expected to announce a deal on Sunday night, with the regulator likely […]

By Chris Prentice, Nupur Anand and Saeed Azhar NEW YORK (Reuters) -PNC Financial Services Group, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Citizens Financial Group Inc were among banks that submitted final bids for First Republic Bank on Sunday in an auction being run by U.S. regulators, sources familiar with the matter said. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp had been expected to announce a deal on Sunday night, with the regulator likely […]

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s exports fell for a seventh straight month in April in annual terms, data showed on Monday, marking their longest losing streak in three years and suggesting persistent pressure on the economy from frail global demand. Overseas sales by Asia’s fourth-largest economy fell 14.2% year-on-year to $49.62 billion in April, the trade ministry data showed, after a 13.6% fall in February and compared with a 13.5% […]

By Lucinda Elliott and Daniela Desantis ASUNCION (Reuters) -Paraguay’s conservative ruling party candidate Santiago Pena, 44, was closing in on victory in the country’s presidential election on Sunday evening, with a near 16-point lead ahead of his center-left rival with over 96% of the votes counted. The preliminary official count showed economist Pena with 42.8% ahead of lawyer and political veteran Efrain Alegre’s 27.5%, with an anti-establishment challenger in third […]

By Lucinda Elliott and Daniela Desantis ASUNCION (Reuters) -Paraguay’s conservative ruling party candidate Santiago Pena, 44, was closing in on victory in the country’s presidential election on Sunday evening, with a near 16-point lead ahead of his center-left rival with over 96% of the votes counted. The preliminary official count showed economist Pena with 42.8% ahead of lawyer and political veteran Efrain Alegre’s 27.5%, with an anti-establishment challenger in third […]

(Reuters) -Japan’s Astellas Pharma said on Monday it agreed to buy U.S.-based drugmaker IVERIC Bio Inc for about $5.9 billion in its biggest acquisition, giving it access to a range of ophthalmology treatments. Through Berry Merger Sub Inc, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Astellas U.S. Holding, the Japanese company agreed to acquire IVERIC for $40 per share in cash, Astellas said in a release. The acquisition price is a 22% premium […]

BRASILIA (Reuters) -The Brazilian government assured the Yanomami people on Sunday that it will redouble efforts to remove the remainder of the wildcat miners in the reservation following the fatal shooting of a member of the indigenous community. Gold miners killed one man and seriously injured two others in an attack on Saturday in the Yanomami territory, where authorities have been evicting illegal miners who invaded Brazil’s largest indigenous reservation, […]