The Other Side of Life 24/7: Business Today: U.S. consumer prices post biggest drop in six years

Friday, January 16, 2015

Business Today: U.S. consumer prices post biggest drop in six years

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01/16/2015

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U.S. consumer prices post biggest drop in six years

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. consumer prices recorded their biggest decline in six years in December and underlying inflation pressures were benign, which could bolster the case for delaying the first interest rate increase from the Federal Reserve.

Oil up $2 as IEA sees signs 'tide will turn'

LONDON (Reuters) - Brent crude oil rose more than $2 to around $50 a barrel on Friday after the West's energy watchdog forecast the market sell-off would end, although analysts said a strong rebound soon was unlikely as global output continued to outweigh demand.

Goldman hit by weak fixed-income, investment banking revenue

(Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc reported a 7 percent drop in quarterly profit as investment banking revenue slid and an unexpected bout of market volatility in December hit its bond trading business.

Futures fall in wake of Swiss move; Wall St. to drop for week

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures fell on Friday, following five straight days of losses for major indexes, as markets continue to absorb the shock of Switzerland's move to ditch its currency cap.

BP's fine for 2010 oil spill capped at $13.7 billion

HOUSTON/LONDON (Reuters) - BP Plc will face a maximum fine of $13.7 billion under the Clean Water Act for its Gulf of Mexico oil spill, several billion dollars less than feared, after a judge ruled that it was smaller than the U.S. government claimed.

Fed should not tighten policy in 2015, Kocherlakota says

(Reuters) - The Federal Reserve should keep rates near zero for all of 2015, Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota reiterated on Friday, or risk slowing U.S. job growth and inflation's return to the Fed's 2 percent goal.

Alibaba's latest mobile messaging effort: social networking for businesses

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Alibaba Group Holding Ltd , the world's biggest e-commerce company, is piloting a mobile messaging app aimed at marrying social networking with business, an Alibaba spokeswoman said on Friday, as the company expands its enterprise services.

Swiss franc shock shuts some FX brokers; regulators investigate

LONDON/HONG KONG (Reuters) - Retail foreign exchange brokers from New Zealand to New York were nursing hefty losses from the Swiss National Bank's shock move to abandon a cap on its currency, with some even being forced out of business.

Unfazed by market swings, Fed sticks to mid-2015 hike scenario

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Tumbling oil prices have strengthened rather than weakened the Federal Reserve's resolve to start raising interest rates around midyear even as volatile markets and a softening U.S. inflation outlook made investors push back the timing of the "liftoff."

Alibaba in major initiative to court China consumer for U.S. retailers

SAN FRANCISCO/BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's Alibaba Group Holding Ltd plans a major move to win U.S. business this year, by offering American retailers new ways to sell to China's vast and growing middle class.