• • • • •

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows as a percentage of Africa's gross fixed capital formation increased to 19 per cent in 2005, the 2006 World Investment Report has stated. Countries such as the United Kingdom, United States, South Africa, China, Brazil and India witnessed an increase investment in their services. Five countries (South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco and Sudan) in descending order of value of FID accounted for 66 % of the region's inflows. The report attributes the performance to the acquisition of Amalgamated Bank of South Africa (ABSA) by Barclays Bank (United Kingdom) for 5 billion dollars. Meantime, total FDI inflows into Africa in the commodity sector surged to reach 31 billion dollars in 2005, representing a historic growth rate of 78 %. read more

Technorati Tags: , inflows, africa, fdi, 2005, countries, news

NEW YORK (AP) — Commodities prices climbed broadly Monday as the dollar sank to a record low on expectations the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this week. The Federal Reserve starts a two-day meeting on Tuesday, and investors widely expect the central bank to lower its benchmark federal funds rate, or the interest banks charge each other on overnight loans. Energy prices rose after Petroleos Mexicanos — Mexico’s state-owned oil company, known as Pemex — said it would shut down 600,000 barrels of daily crude production due to stormy weather, a fifth of its production. The markets for wheat, corn and soybeans are likely to move closely with each other in the coming months, said David Hightower of Hightower Futures Research in Chicago, as the market tries to assess how much acreage will be needed to meet the growing demands for each. read more

Technorati Tags: prices, dollar, commodities, concerns, crude, currencies, news

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) – Shang Fulin, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), said yesterday that the country has basically completed system and technical preparations for the launch of its first stock index futures, according to the official Xinhua news agency. The country’s new regulations on futures trading came into effect in April, extending its coverage from commodities futures trading to financial futures and option contract trading. The country’s futures market, comprising of the Shanghai Futures Exchange, Dalian Commodity Exchange, Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange and China Financial Futures Exchange, turned over a record 21 trln yuan last year, according to Xinhua. The content on this site, including news, quotes, data and other information, is provided by AFX News and its third party content providers for your personal information only, and neither AFX News nor its third party content providers shall be liable for any errors, inaccuracies or delays in content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. read more

Technorati Tags: futures, news, content, financial, forbes, , news

Reuters is the world’s largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters. Reuters journalists are subject to the Reuters Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. read more

Technorati Tags: news, reuters, business, agency, alerts, disclosure, news

Crude oil futures close at record high of 91. Crude oil for December delivery climbed 1. Earlier Friday, the contract rose to a new record intraday high of 92. Crude recorded a gain of 4. read more

Technorati Tags: crude, high, oil, record, 1, 4, news

AIG tumbled to the lowest since August on speculation the world's largest insurer will report charges stemming from mortgage defaults. Merrill posted its steepest two-day decline since 2002 after analysts said the value of subprime assets at the biggest brokerage may erode further. Writedowns spurred by the worst housing slump in 16 years have caused profits at financial companies in the S&P 500 to decline 22 percent in the third quarter, the worst performance among 10 industries. Stocks also fell after government reports showed an unexpected drop in durable goods orders and initial unemployment claims topped economists' forecasts, spurring concern the economy may slip into a recession. The engine maker reported third-quarter earnings that rose less than analysts anticipated on higher costs related to new truck engines that meet stricter emissions standards. The world's biggest maker of security software posted a 60 percent drop in profit and forecast earnings for this quarter that missed analysts' estimates. read more

Technorati Tags: company, posted, quarter, aig, analysts, biggest, news

Higher oil and gold prices sent the Toronto Stock Market soaring at the opening Thursday, with Wall Street trending lower on an unexpected decline in orders for durable goods and a fall in jobless claims that was smaller than expected. Please let us know if this reader’s comment breaks the editor’s rules and is obscene, abusive, threatening, unlawful, harassing, defamatory, profane or racially offensive by selecting the appropriate option to describe the problem. In a fully moderated conversation, every comment is reviewed by a Globe and Mail editor before it appears on the site. On semi-moderated conversations we encourage our community of readers to assist with the moderation by alerting us any time a published comment violates our stated policy. Once you submit a complaint about a comment, a message will be sent immediately to the editors of the site who will determine whether the remark belongs on the site. read more

Technorati Tags: comment, conversation, comments, site, globe, mail, news

Reuters is the world’s largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters. Reuters journalists are subject to the Reuters Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. read more

Technorati Tags: news, reuters, business, agency, alerts, disclosure, news

Reliance Energy, Reliance Industries and Reliance Communications saw fresh accumulation besides strong rollovers. Despite strong rollovers, the Nifty November future maintained a discount of 33. Nifty November 5900 call and Nifty 5500 puts were the most active indicating that the Nifty may rule in that range during November. Among the counters that saw strong rollovers include CNX Nifty Junior, Alok Industries, Ballarpur Industries, Bajaj Hindustan, Bank of Baroda, Century Textiles, Essar Oil, IFCI, GE Shipping, GTL, India Cements, Jindal Stainless, JSW Steel, NDTV, Nagarjuna Fertilizers, Orchid Chemicals, S. They sold heavily on Nifty futures though they remained net buyers in Nifty options, which indicates that overseas investors are expecting a volatile path. read more

Technorati Tags: nifty, rollovers, strong, counters, fampo, futures, news

Sheet rubber declined to Rs 97. As HUL focuses on the premium tea market, Tata Tea catches up with the category leader. Gold prices to firm up by 7. Copyright ? 2007, The Hindu Business Line. read more

Technorati Tags: tea, 2007, 7, 97, business, catches, news