The Other Side of Life 24/7: Business Today: Stock futures rise, boosted by Japan data

Monday, June 10, 2013

Business Today: Stock futures rise, boosted by Japan data

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06/10/2013

Reuters Election 2012 Daily round-up of the day's top news from the campaign trail, the White House and all the politics in between

Stock futures rise, boosted by Japan data

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock futures were higher on Monday after data showed Japan's economy gained momentum, while investors were likely to continue to gauge when the Federal Reserve may slow the pace of its stimulus program.

McDonald's May sales rise 2.6 percent; shares up

(Reuters) - McDonald's Corp said sales at its established restaurants around the world rose 2.6 percent in May as it expanded offerings for late-night breakfasts, tweaked other menus and benefited from advertising value-priced meals.

Bill Gates buys into British security firm G4S

LONDON (Reuters) - Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has increased his stake in G4S , the world's biggest security firm, which is looking to bounce back from a blunder over its staffing of the London 2012 Olympics.

BNP may unite U.S. ops to meet new rules: source

PARIS (Reuters) - BNP Paribas may unite U.S. retail unit BancWest with its U.S. investment bank in a bid to offset the impact of proposed tougher rules for foreign banks in the United States, a source close to the bank said.

Insight: Threat of break-up looms over Mexican telecoms tycoon Slim

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - As Mexico gets ready to unleash a battery of regulations to curb the power of telecoms mogul Carlos Slim, the government is sending clear signals that it will not shy away from breaking up his business if necessary.

Obama to name Furman as chief economist

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Monday will nominate longtime adviser Jason Furman to be his new chief White House economist, an administration official said.

U.S., Japan leading recovery in major economies: OECD

PARIS (Reuters) - The major developed economies are gradually gaining momentum led by faster growth in Japan and the United States, the OECD said on Monday.

AstraZeneca buys U.S. lung drug firm Pearl for up to $1.15 billion

LONDON (Reuters) - AstraZeneca is to buy U.S. respiratory drug specialist Pearl Therapeutics for up to $1.15 billion as Britain's second biggest drugmaker steps up a drive to rebuild its product pipeline via deal-making.

Google close to buying Israeli mapping start-up Waze: report

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Google is close to buying Waze for $1.3 billion, an Israeli newspaper reported on Sunday, potentially trumping rival offers for the Israeli mapping start-up.

Exclusive: Activist investor sends Alere letter calling for unit sales

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An activist investor who has been campaigning for change at Alere Inc sent the company a letter on Monday calling for the health diagnostics and services company to sell three of its businesses, which it believes can yield more than $3 billion in proceeds.