NowMyNews

class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Asian markets turned mixed on Friday as investors offered only polite applause for the European Central Bank's latest stimulus package, while the euro became an unlikely star following a sharp short-covering rally. Trading was hesitant as attention quickly shifted to the U.S. payrolls report due later on Friday where the outcome is considered even more uncertain than usual. While the median forecast is for a solid jobs gain of 218,000, estimates range from a little as 110,000 to as high as 325,000. ECONUS The ECB action provided enough of a boost to risk sentiment to generate a 0.3 percent lift in MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS. "From a broader perspective, the ECB's latest easing measures are important," said Frederic Neumann, co-head of Asian economics research at HSBC. "They underline our call that global liquidity should remain highly accommodative for emerging mark

Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell said on Friday that he wanted to see signs that the U.S. class="mandelbrot_refrag"> economy was tightening up before before interest rates could be raised. _0"> While acknowledging that employment in the United States had rebounded, Powell highlighted "significant" slack, referring to unemployed or underutilised workers. The Fed hopes to end its stimulus programme for the U.S. class="mandelbrot_refrag"> economy by the end of the year, clearing the way for it to eventually raise interest rates.   true       "I’m looking for some sign the economy is getting tight before we can start thinking about raising rates," Powell said at an event in London. Powell added there was a "significant amount of slack in the labour market" in the United States at present. In brief prepared remarks, Powell said the Fed's evolving statements about the future path for rates have played an imp

Mercedes-Benz ( id="symbol_DAIGn.DE_0"> DAIGn.DE ) keeps delivering double-digit sales growth, but its overhauled line-up of luxury cars has yet to move it past German rival Audi ( id="symbol_VOWG_p.DE VOWG_p.DE ). _0"> Deliveries of Daimler's flagship passenger-car brand rose 10.4 percent in May to a record 134,031 vehicles, helped by 30 percent growth in class="mandelbrot_refrag"> China , the company said on Friday. _1"> That compared with 152,000 deliveries, or 10.8 percent growth, at Volkswagen's Audi which has outsold Mercedes every month this year. Having eclipsed Mercedes in 2011 as the world's No. 2 luxury carmaker behind BMW ( id="symbol_BMWG.DE_2"> BMWG.DE ), Audi sold 72,516 more cars than its Stuttgart-based rival in the first five months. Last year, the gap was 114,000. But launches in March of Mercedes's new C-Class saloon and the GLA offroader may pave the way for a second-half turnaround,

China aims to cut the proportion of cash that commercial banks must keep with the People's Bank of China, the banking regulator said on Friday, signalling further monetary loosening although the IMF and World Bank say the class="mandelbrot_refrag"> economy is doing fine. The China Banking Regulator Commission (CBRC) did not say when reductions in banks' reserve requirement ratios would be made, but it is the third time in as many months that Beijing has signalled a cut in RRRs, which would free up more cash for lending needed to shore up growth. The CBRC did, however, qualify its comments, saying RRR reductions would be available to those banks whose lending to small firms and the farm sector warranted the reward. It did not elaborate. The central bank also signalled on Friday that it would keep credit supply ample by letting China's main money market rate fall again this week. Aside from prospects for reductions in banks' RRR, two bankers told Reut

Canada is enjoying an unexpected boom in production of ultra-light crude known as condensate, defying long-held predictions of dwindling supply. This surprising bounty from one corner of Alberta, better known as the home to Canada's vast tar-like oil sands reserves, is a boon for firms like Vermilion Energy Inc and Chevron who have built up positions in the Duvernay, now hotly tipped as one of North America's most exciting shale plays with vast reserves waiting to be tapped. It also is fuelling hope of cost relief for traditional heavy oil sands companies such as class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Cenovus Energy Inc , who in the past have paid premiums of up to $25 a barrel to buy imported condensate used to dilute their viscous oil sands production so that it can flow through pipelines. The change in outlook has been abrupt. A year ago, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers expected condensate production to shrink from 139,000 barrels per day to barely 100

Sears Holdings Corp's controlling shareholder Eddie Lampert met with Ford Motor Co ( id="symbol_F.N_0"> F.N ) CEO Alan Mulally earlier this year to seek advice on how to turn around the ailing retailer, two sources familiar with the matter said. One of the sources said that Mulally, who is due to retire from Ford in July, was left with the impression that Lampert was gauging whether Mulally might be open to the possibility of becoming Sears' next CEO. The second source said Lampert, who is currently Sears' chairman and CEO, did not offer Mulally a job and there is no search process underway for a new CEO. Lampert, who is a billionaire hedge fund manager, flew to Dearborn, Michigan, where Ford is headquartered, in either February or March to meet Mulally, the sources said. In the meeting, Lampert asked Mulally about how he had turned around Ford and built an effective management structure at the No. 2 U.S. automaker, the sources said. Sears ( id="symb

Chrysler Group LLC said it was recalling about 10,700 sport utility vehicles to fix a defect that leads to unintended acceleration in cruise-control mode. _0"> The vehicles being recalled are certain 2014 Dodge Durangos and Jeep Cherokees, Grand Cherokees and high-performance Grand Cherokee SRTs assembled between Jan. 16 and April 17. More than half of the recalled vehicles are with dealers or in transit to dealers, Chrysler, a unit of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles FIA.MI, said on its website on Thursday. ( r.reuters.com/ven89v ) About 6,100 vehicles are in the United States, 950 in Canada, 425 in class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Mexico and 3,200 outside the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) region, the company said. The company said it was unaware of any injuries, accidents or complaints related to the issue. Chrysler said it was found that when cruise control is engaged, and the driver overrides the system by pressing and then releasing the accelerator p