2013-05-18: PARIS (Reuters) - The French stock market authority has found LVMH secretly bought shares in rival Hermes to build a stake, and not merely make a financial investment as the luxury group has claimed, a newspaper reported. LVMH said it would fight the findings of the watchdog's probe before its sanctions committee when it meets on May 31 to hear the company's defence. Hermes was not immediately available for comment. LVMH, which owns 22. ...

2013-05-18: PARIS (Reuters) - The French stock market authority has found LVMH secretly bought shares in rival Hermes to build a stake, and not merely make a financial investment as the luxury group has claimed, a newspaper reported. LVMH said it would fight the findings of the watchdog's probe before its sanctions committee when it meets on May 31 to hear the company's defence. Hermes was not immediately available for comment. LVMH, which owns 22. ...

2013-05-18: NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Tata Sons Ltd, the promoter of Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd , cancelled a share auction it had launched in the telecommunications carrier on Friday after most bids were below a floor price set by the company. Tata Sons had planned to sell 51.6 million shares or a 2.7 percent stake in the phone company and increase the public holding to 25 percent in line with rules issued by the stock market regulator. ...

2013-05-17: By Angela Moon NEW YORK (Reuters) - With the broad S&P 500 Index gliding once again into uncharted territory and posting four straight weeks of gains, the talk of Wall Street's rally inevitably hitting a ceiling is starting to get old. Concerns about a technical correction have been a hot topic for weeks, especially as the rally accelerated in May - the S&P 500 is up 4.4 percent so far this month and up nearly 17 percent for the year. But as the three major U.S. stock indexes inch higher and higher to set record after record, many analysts are shrugging off the pullback worries. ...

2013-05-17: (Reuters) - The New York Stock Exchange canceled trades in Anadarko Petroleum Corp after a blip in trading cut the market value of the company by 99 percent, according to a report in Bloomberg. Trading in the shares of the $45.15 billion company plunged to trade at 1 cent per share shortly before markets closed on Friday. The stock gained back its losses and closed up 2.5 pct $90.03 on the New York Stock Exchange. NYSE Euronext canceled trades executed at or below $87.56, the news agency said. (http://r.reuters.com/pyv28t) The U.S. ...

2013-05-17: By Leah Schnurr NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks continued their climb into uncharted territory on Friday, racking up the fourth week of gains in a row as encouraging economic data prompted investors to pick up shares of growth companies. The Dow and the S&P 500 finished at fresh record highs, driven by gains in energy and industrial shares. The indexes have pushed to a series of never-before-seen levels as part of the rally that has lifted equities more than 16 percent for the year so far. ...

2013-05-17: Legislation cleared the House on Friday that would place stricter requirements on the federal agency overseeing Wall Street to assess the costs and benefits of its regulations before they are issued. The ...

2013-05-17: Shares of Marketo, a provider of cloud-based marketing software, leaped in their trading debut on Friday. The stock rose $7.70, or 59.2 percent, to $20.70 in afternoon trading. The shares were priced at ...

2013-05-17: By Herbert Lash NEW YORK (Reuters) - The dollar soared on Friday against major currencies and global equity indexes gained on growing speculation that the Federal Reserve could soon begin to rein in its asset-buying program and after data showed U.S. consumer sentiment hit an almost six-year high. Wall Street stocks advanced, with the benchmark S&P 500 rebounding from its worst decline in nearly three weeks. European equity indexes climbed, helped by a rally in car makers' shares, which rose on signs of a revival in domestic sales. ...

2013-05-17: Legislation has cleared the House that would place stricter requirements on the federal agency overseeing Wall Street to assess the costs and benefits of its regulations before they are issued. The bill ...

2013-05-17: By Caroline Copley BERNE (Reuters) - Switzerland outlined plans on Friday to reform the way it taxes companies as it seeks to counter criticism from Brussels while trying to remain attractive to the many multinationals based in the country. The Swiss have lured thousands of foreign companies including online retailer eBay and trading giant Glencore by taxing foreign profits at a lower rate than domestic earnings, a practice known as "ring fencing". ...

2013-05-17: New Delhi, May 17 (IANS) Ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) Friday said its outlook on India remained negative and there is a one-in-three chance of a downgrade within the next 12 months. But the government asserted that there is nothing to worry about as it is taking the right measures to keep the country on a sustainable growth path.

2013-05-17: By Herbert Lash NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global equity markets rose and the dollar soared against a basket of currencies on Friday, reaching a nearly three-year peak, as speculation mounted over whether the Federal Reserve would soon begin to rein in its asset-buying program. Wall Street opened higher, with the benchmark S&P 500 rebounding from its worst decline in nearly three weeks, following gains in European shares that were lifted by carmakers cheered on by signs of a revival in domestic sales. Also lifting stocks was a survey that showed a rebound in U.S. ...

2013-05-17: Reuters Market Eye - The BSE Sensex risks of some consolidation after indexes ended at their highest close since November 2010 on Friday. Earnings will be key, with Coal India Ltd , State Bank of India Ltd and Jet Airways Ltd set to report next week. Investors will also be eyeing whether strong foreign buying continues. Overseas investors were net buyers for 21 consecutive sessions as of Thursday, bringing their net purchases for the year to about $13 billion, according to regulatory data. ...

2013-05-17: By Laurence Fletcher LONDON (Reuters) - A booming population, fuelled by immigration, will help Britain's economy to grow more strongly than Germany's later this decade and could drive its stock market much higher, according to one of the UK's biggest equity hedge funds. Toscafund, with $1.3 billion of funds open to investment, made its bullish predictions amid signs the UK economy is starting to recover from five years of torpor brought on by the financial crisis, while the euro zone is mired in recession. ...

2013-05-17: LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria's Fidelity Bank said on Friday its first-quarter pretax profit rose 40.42 percent year-on-year to 5.94 billion naira, up from 4.23 billion naira a year ago, the bank said. Gross earnings at the mid-tier lender rose to 31.43 billion naira during the three months as against 22.43 billion naira in the same period last year.

2013-05-17: MUMBAI (Reuters) - Standard & Poor's expects India to grow around 6 percent in the current fiscal year ending March 2014, said credit analyst Takahira Ogawa. The rating agency also does not expects any significant improvement in structural reforms in India, Ogawa said in a teleconference, after reiterating in a release the negative outlook on India's credit rating, which is one notch above junk status. (Reporting by Suvashree Dey Choudhury; Editing by Prateek Chatterjee)

2013-05-17: New Delhi, May 17 (IANS) Global ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) Friday said its outlook on India remained negative and there is a one-in-three chance of a downgrade within the next 12 months.

2013-05-17: By Suvashree Dey Choudhury and Shamik Paul MUMBAI (Reuters) - Standard & Poor's reiterated its negative outlook on India's credit rating, which is one notch above "junk", warning of the need to follow through on reforms and dealing a blow to a government that had recently pitched for an upgrade. The rating agency said the main drag on India's rating is a high fiscal deficit and heavy government borrowing, although it also said India's position had improved over the past year. S&P's statement came as Finance Minister P. ...

2013-05-17: By David Brett LONDON (Reuters) - The dollar held firm near a 10-month high versus a basket of currencies on Friday and European shares fell after a regional Federal Reserve chief said the U.S. central bank may begin to taper its asset buying this summer. European shares were down 0.2 percent at 1,242.49, edging further back from five-year highs and following a retreat in Asian stocks and Thursday's late fall on Wall Street, but still on track for a weekly gain. "The stock market is driven by liquidity and sooner or later this must end," KBC senior economist Koen De Leus said. ...

2013-05-17: Reuters Market Eye - Coal India Ltd may beat Jan-March earnings consensus forecast when it reports results on Monday, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine data. StarMine's SmartEstimates, which place greater emphasis on forecasts by top-rated analysts, expects Coal India to report a profit of 52.91 billion rupees for the quarter compared with a wider consensus mean estimate of 49.97 billion rupees. Shares in Coal India were roughly flat at 2:09 p.m.

2013-05-17: (Adds detail, background, writes through) By Maggie Fick CAIRO, May 17 (Reuters) - Egyptian construction andfertiliser group OCI said its core earnings were flatin the first quarter, citing lower construction margins andreduced output at its Egyptian plants due to interruptions insupplies of natural gas. The Dutch-listed parent of Orascom Construction Industries(OCI) said output from its Egyptian plants was reducedby the gas supply reductions, which it linked to a tax disputebetween its subsidiary OCI and the Egyptian authorities. ...

2013-05-17: ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's government received 621 billion naira in revenues in April, up from 595.7 billion the previous month owing to improved earnings from domestic crude and a petroleum profit tax, the accountant general said on Thursday Accountant General Jonah Otunla said Nigeria had distributed 721.5 billion naira to its three tiers of government -- federal, state and local -- including funds from a repayment by the state oil firm and savings from lower fuel subsidy costs.

2013-05-17: Reuters Market Eye - India's biggest cigarette maker, ITC Ltd may beat Jan-March earnings consensus forecast when it reports results later in the day, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine data. StarMine's SmartEstimates, which places greater emphasis on forecasts by top-rated analysts, expects ITC to report a profit of 19.36 billion rupees for the quarter compared with a wider consensus mean estimate of 19.07 billion rupees. Shares in ITC were up 0.5 percent at 10 a.m. (Reporting by Abhishek Vishnoi)

2013-05-16: SINGAPORE, May 17 (Reuters) - Shares of Singapore AirlinesLtd (SIA) fell as much as 3 percent after Asia'ssecond-largest carrier reported weaker-than-expected full-yearresults and warned of a tough outlook amid competition from Gulfcarriers and low-cost regional rivals. SIA shares fell as low as S$11.11 on Friday, the weakestlevel since May 7. SIA said on Thursday net income rose nearly 13 percent toS$379 million ($304 million) for the year to March 31, below anaverage forecast of S$409.6 million, according to ThomsonReuters StarMine SmartEstimates. The fourth-quarter profit of S$68. ...

2013-05-16: SINGAPORE, May 17 (Reuters) - Singapore Power International(SPI) has agreed to sell a 19.9 percent stakein Australia's SP AusNet to China's State Grid InternationalDevelopment Ltd for A$824 million ($812 million), SPAusnet said in a stock market filing on Friday. SP AusNet, listed in Australia and Singapore, owns andoperates electricity and gas distribution assets in Victoriastate, including the state-wide electricity transmissionnetwork. SPI will continue to hold a 31.1 percent stake in SP AusNetand SP AusNet will remain publicly listed, the statement said. For details, click on: ($1 = 1. ...

2013-05-16: By Leah Schnurr NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Thursday, with the downturn accelerating late in the day after a Federal Reserve official said the central bank could begin easing up on its monetary stimulus this summer. The three major U.S. stock indexes had earlier traded in a tight range, supported by a gain of more than 12 percent in Cisco Systems shares and as investors took in a batch of economic data that pointed to slower growth. ...

2013-05-16: Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. was downgraded by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services Thursday after the credit rating agency changed the way it evaluates insurance companies. The ratings agency ...

2013-05-16: (Reuters) - Shares of Cisco Systems Inc rose as much as 14 percent on Thursday, a day after the company reported quarterly results and financial targets that were better than Wall Street expected. Cisco shares hit a multiyear high of $24.24 on the Nasdaq after the results and the company's forecast eased concerns about weak technology spending after many technology rivals had recently given much bleaker financial targets. The last time Cisco's shares traded above $23 was in November 2010. ...

2013-05-16: (Reuters) - Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's on Thursday cut its rating on Berkshire Hathaway Inc , the insurance and industrial conglomerate controlled by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, by one notch, citing the company's reliance on its insurance operations for dividend income. S&P cut the counterparty rating on Berkshire to "AA" from "AA+," but the agency left Berkshire's insurance units' financial strength ratings intact at "AA+." The outlook on all ratings is negative, S&P said in a statement. ...