Finance time

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson arrived in Moscow on Sunday for economic talks with Russia’s top leaders that some observers say could help shift the focus of a sometimes frosty U.S.-Russia relationship towards the more productive areas of trade and investment.
Paulson, on his first trip to Russia since taking over as Treasury Secretary […]

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HSBC (HSBA.L: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday it was committed to a $6.3 billion takeover of South Korea’s No. 6 bank, but warned it would not wait forever for approval of a deal seen as a major test of the country’s openness to foreign investors.
A newspaper report the deal might fall through had […]

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Japanese machinery orders fell more than economists expected in March as a global slowdown and waning profits dissuaded companies from investing in factories and equipment.
Equipment orders, which signal capital spending in the next three to six months, declined 8.3 percent from February, when they fell 12.3 percent, the Cabinet Office said today in […]

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The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment insurance last week fell the most since September 2005, while the total remaining on benefits rose to the highest in almost four years.
Initial jobless claims dropped by 53,000, more than double the decline economists had forecast, to 357,000 in the week ended April 5, […]

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Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda will “take concrete action'' next week to avoid a leadership vacuum at the central bank after the opposition rejected Toshiro Muto, a government spokesman said.
Fukuda will “think hard'' about how to avoid a vacancy when Bank of Japan Governor Toshihiko Fukui's term ends March 19, Chief Cabinet Secretary […]

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After a series of gloomy readings on the economy, mortgage rates fell this week in the slumping housing market, erasing last week’s jump, Freddie Mac reported Thursday.
"Weak economic reports that indicated declines in the job market, slowing in manufacturing and low consumer confidence drove bond yields lower this week and mortgage rates followed," Freddie […]

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An “abrupt shift'' by state investment funds into euro-denominated assets could fuel gains in the currency, according to a draft European Commission paper.
“While an increased international use of the euro would definitely bring benefits, an abrupt shift towards the European currency'' by sovereign wealth funds “could put unwelcome upward pressure on the euro […]

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The more Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke cuts interest rates, the less appealing 10-year Treasuries become to investors like Doug Dachille, chief executive officer of First Principles Capital Management LLC.
Consumers taking advantage of lower borrowing costs have pushed the Mortgage Bankers Association's refinancing index to its highest level since March 2004. […]

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