The following are the overnight top stories: 1. Sony Slumps After Hirai Cuts Forecast as Tsuga Revamps Panasonic 2. China Manufacturing Gauge Tops Estimates in Recovery Boost 3. Asian Stocks Drop as Dollar Strengthens on Fed Tapering Concern 4. Muddy Waters Attack Forces NQ Mobile CEO Khan to Fight Tarnish 5. DBS Joins OCBC in Beating Profit Estimates on Lending, Fees 6. Israel Said to Strike Syrian Air Base to Destroy Missiles 7. Lewis Gets Lower Yields in Hunt for Variety: South Africa Credit 8. S. Africa Unions Threaten Strikes as Platinum Pay Offer Rejected 9. Six Workers Die After Eskom Tunnel Collapses in South Africa 10. Gold Demand in Indian Festival Season Seen Lower on Import Curbs 1) Sony Slumps After Hirai Cuts Forecast as Tsuga Revamps Panasonic Sony Corp. President Kazuo Hirai is paying the price for trying to revive ailing TV and smartphone sales, with more than $2 billion of market value lost today, as his counterpart at Panasonic Corp. benefits from paring those units as it struggles to compete. Sony stock headed for the biggest drop in five years after it unexpectedly lowered its full-year profit forecast by 40 percent on stalling television and digital camera demand. 2) China Manufacturing Gauge Tops Estimates in Recovery Boost A Chinese manufacturing gauge rose more than estimated to an 18-month high in October as output strengthened, adding to evidence the nation’s economic recovery is sustaining momentum. The Purchasing Managers’ Index was at 51.4, the National Bureau of Statistics and China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said today in Beijing. 3) Asian Stocks Drop as Dollar Strengthens on Fed Tapering Concern Asian stocks dropped and the dollar strengthened, heading for its best week since July, as speculation the Federal Reserve will reduce stimulus in coming months overshadowed improving Chinese manufacturing data. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined 0.3 percent at 10:58 a.m. in Tokyo as Japan’s Topix lost 0.6 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index slipped 0.2 percent. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures advanced 0.1 percent. 4) Muddy Waters Attack Forces NQ Mobile CEO Khan to Fight Tarnish As Omar Khan helped whip up 1,500 guests and employees gathered in a Beijing ballroom for NQ Mobile Inc.’s eighth birthday on Oct. 25, the co-chief executive officer himself had little to celebrate. A day earlier, NQ Mobile, the maker of security software to thwart mobile-phone hackers, was accused by a research firm of inflating revenue, triggering a 47 percent stock decline. 5) DBS Joins OCBC in Beating Profit Estimates on Lending, Fees DBS Group Holdings Ltd. and Oversea- Chinese Banking Corp., Southeast Asia’s largest lenders, unexpectedly posted third-quarter profit gains as rising loans and fee income offset tighter interest margins. Net income at DBS rose 1 percent to S$862 million ($694 million) for the quarter ended Sept. 30 from S$856 million a year earlier, the Singapore-based lender said in a stock exchange statement. 6) Israel Said to Strike Syrian Air Base to Destroy Missiles Israel carried out air strikes in Syria, according to a U.S. official who asked not to be identified discussing security matters. Israeli warplanes struck a Syrian base near the Mediterranean port of Latakia, targeting missiles that were earmarked for the Hezbollah militant group, according to reports by CNN and Al-Arabiya television. 7) Lewis Gets Lower Yields in Hunt for Variety: South Africa Credit Lewis Group Ltd., a South African furniture retailer, is paying less to borrow money than its biggest competitor because of a desire by investors to purchase higher-yielding debt than that offered on bonds sold by banks. 8) S. Africa Unions Threaten Strikes as Platinum Pay Offer Rejected South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers said it would strike at Northam Platinum Ltd. Nov. 3 and Solidarity rejected an offer by Lonmin Plc as labour and platinum producers hold wage talks. “We gave it all,” exhausting every option, Ecliff Tantsi, chief NUM negotiator at Northam, said by phone. The union will wait to strike until the evening shift at the end of the weekend to allow more time for dialogue, he said. 9) Six Workers Die After Eskom Tunnel Collapses in South Africa Six people died and several others were injured when a tunnel operated by Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. collapsed near Ladysmith, South Africa, the state-owned utility said in an e-mailed statement. A rescue operation is underway at the construction site in the coastal KwaZulu-Natal province, Eskom said in the statement. 10) Gold Demand in Indian Festival Season Seen Lower on Import Curbs Gold purchases in India, the biggest consumer, will probably be less in the festival season this year as import curbs reduce supplies and demand cools after surging in April when prices slumped into bear market. Sales of coins and bars may decline to as little as 25 percent of purchases a year earlier, according to the All India Gems & Jewellery Trade Federation.
Posted on: Fri, 01 Nov 2013 06:34:05 +0000
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