By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Consumer spending unexpectedly rose in March, temporarily boosted by demand for utilities due to colder weather, according to data on Monday that did little to alter a picture of a cooling in the economy. The Commerce Department said consumer spending advanced 0.2 percent last month after a 0.7 percent [...]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Sales of new single-family homes rose in March, indicating the housing market recovery remains on track. The Commerce Department said on Tuesday sales increased 1.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 417,000 units. Last month’s rise followed a 7.6 percent drop in February. Economists polled by Reuters had expected sales [...]
By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Factory activity expanded at its slowest pace in six months in April, the latest sign that economic growth continued to lose momentum early in the second quarter, though the recovery has not been derailed. Even as the economic picture has dimmed in recent weeks as the effects of government [...]
By Margaret Chadbourn WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Home resales edged downward in March, pointing to some slowdown in the housing market recovery pace as overall economic activity cools. The National Association of Realtors said on Monday existing home sales slipped 0.6 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.92 million units. Economists polled [...]
By Tom Bill LONDON (Reuters) – Insatiable demand among the global super-rich for swanky retail property in Europe has driven rental returns on the best shopping streets so low they are not much higher than the safest government bonds. As the wealthy shield cash from the hazards of the financial crisis in the world’s most [...]
By Bill Rigby SEATTLE (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp Chief Financial Officer Peter Klein is leaving at the end of June after 3-1/2 years in the post, as the world’s biggest software company struggles with sharply declining personal computer sales and a lukewarm reception for the new Windows 8 operating system. The 11-year Microsoft veteran becomes [...]
By Jonathan Spicer and Leah Schnurr NEW YORK (Reuters) – Easy money policies are bringing some relief to lower-income Americans hard-hit in the recession and the easing could become increasingly potent as the housing market recovers, a top Federal Reserve official said on Thursday. In a speech on equality and the economy, Fed Governor Sarah [...]
(Reuters) – Bank of America Corp has reached a record $500 million settlement with investors who claimed they were misled by its Countrywide unit into buying risky mortgage securities. The settlement requires the court approval, and is the largest accord to date resolving a federal securities class-action case over mortgage-backed securities, lawyers for the plaintiffs [...]
By Rick Rothacker and Tanya Agrawal (Reuters) – Bank of America Corp’s revenue fell across almost all its businesses in the first quarter, and the bank was hit yet again by mortgage mess cleanup costs, showing the difficulties Chief Executive Brian Moynihan faces in moving past the housing crisis. Many of the bank’s revenue generators [...]
By David Henry and Tanya Agrawal (Reuters) – Citigroup Inc reported a higher-than-expected 31 percent rise in first-quarter profit on Monday as revenue from its securities and investment banking business swelled. The No. 3 U.S. bank said on Monday that net income rose to $3.8 billion, or $1.23 per share, in the period — the [...]
