Thứ Ba, 18 tháng 12, 2012
Blast Kills 10 Girls in Eastern Afghanistan; Car Bomber Targets Kabul
In separate incidents on Monday, ten girls were killed in eastern Afghanistan when a roadside bomb exploded, police said, and a suicide bomber targeted a military contractor in Kabul.
Hospitals Fear They’ll Bear Brunt of Medicare Cuts
Consensus is building around the idea that the largest Medicare savings should come from institutional providers of care.
Asian shares inch higher on "fiscal cliff" hopes
TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares crept higher on Tuesday, tracking the overnight gains in U.S. stocks, as fresh signs of compromise maintained a new optimism that the U.S. "fiscal cliff" budget tussle could be settled before tax hikes and spending cuts begin to bite early next year.
Oil and copper also firmed on the prospect of progress in the U.S. budget talks, but expectations of more monetary easing in Japan kept the yen soft.
President Barack Obama is seeking higher tax revenues which include increased rates on the wealthy while he is willing to cut some spending by changing the way cost of living adjustments are made to Social Security retirement benefits and other programs.
Obama's offer shows his willingness to give way on an item that some of his supporters had sought to protect, and may help advance negotiations with top Republican John Boehner to avert the fiscal cliff before the end-year deadline.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.miapj0000pus> was up 0.2 percent, following a rise in global shares on Monday. The index snapped an eight-day winning streak on Monday as investors took profits from last week's rally.
Fears over the U.S. fiscal crisis have dragged on many markets, but regional equities took direction from local factors.
Australian shares <.axjo> led Asia's outperformers with a 0.7 percent gain, lifted by a rise in iron ore prices <.io62-cni> to a five-month high.
"Iron ore is a very key commodity in the Chinese industrial machine, steel usage will bounce back and that is good news for our exporters," said Baillieu Holst director Richard Morrow.
Seoul shares <.ks11> rose marginally but underperformed others in Asia, as investors were reluctant to build positions ahead of South Korea's presidential vote on Wednesday.
In Japan, the Nikkei average <.n225> surged 1.1 percent to an 8-1/2-month high and edged closer to the key 10,000-mark, with sentiment bolstered by a landslide election win for the conservative Liberal Democratic Party on Sunday. <.t>
LDP leader Shinzo Abe, who is due to be confirmed as Japan's next premier on December 26, is calling for far more aggressive monetary stimulus and huge public works spending to rescue Japan out of decades-long deflation, pledges which are seen pressuring the yen and supporting Japanese stocks by improving earnings for Japanese exporters.
"The Nikkei is up today primarily due to the rise in U.S. stocks overnight, but the 'Abe-effect' is surprisingly longer-lasting as investors seem to be postponing the timing of unwinding their positions until they see the details and specifics in policies," said Ayako Sera, market economist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank.
YEN REMAINs PRESSURED
The dollar inched up 0.1 percent to 83.95 yen, off a 20-month high of 84.48 yen hit on Monday but well above its late New York levels on Friday.
Abe applied fresh pressure on the Bank of Japan on Monday, saying that the election result reflected strong public support for his views, which he hoped the BOJ would take into account at its two-day policy meeting starting on Wednesday.
"The dollar has more upside against the yen ahead of the BOJ's meeting, with expectations for some additional easing steps being strengthened after Abe's comments yesterday," said Yuji Saito, director of foreign exchange at Credit Agricole in Tokyo.
"The corrective fall in the dollar/yen after the election was small and it's crawling up because the yen weakening trend is still intact. But after the BOJ meeting, there will likely be pre-holiday profit-taking, pushing the dollar/yen down by 1 to 2 yen," he said, adding that the dollar could temporarily touch 85 yen before profit-taking sets in by the end of the year.
The benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond yield hit a one-month high of 0.750 percent on concerns that big-scale fiscal stimulus could seriously increase the country's debt burden.
U.S. Treasury yields also inched up in Asia, with the 10-year yields briefly reaching 1.796 percent, its highest level since October 26, on hopes for a deal on the U.S. fiscal cliff.
London copper was up 0.2 percent to $8,078.50 a metric ton (1.1023 tons).
U.S. crude rose 0.4 percent to $87.57 a barrel and Brent added 0.5 percent to $108.18.
(Additional reporting by Victoria Thieberger in Melbourne; Editing by Eric Meijer)
City Room: PATH Service to Return to Hoboken Wednesday
PATH service is resuming between Hoboken and 33rd Street in Manhattan, but service between Hoboken and the World Trade Center is still weeks away, officials said.
Ohio State’s Monitoring of Athletes’ Spending Raises Privacy Concerns
Ohio State’s new compliance measures include educating student-athletes on how to budget their money as well as monitoring athletes’ spending habits, which has raised concerns about violations of privacy.
U.S. Is Expected to Extend Google Antitrust Inquiry
Google must submit a plan in January to change its practices to avoid a fine or finding of wrongdoing, Europe’s top antitrust enforcer said.
UN Court Acquits Congo Rebel Leader of War Crimes
The International Criminal Court on Tuesday acquitted a Congolese militia leader of all charges in the destruction of a strategic village in eastern Congo in 2003.
Gunmen Kill 5 Female Polio Workers in Pakistan
Gunmen killed five Pakistani women working on a U.N.-backed polio vaccination campaign in two different cities on Tuesday, officials said. The attacks were likely an attempt by the Taliban to counter an initiative the militant group has opposed.
Task Force Created to Regulate Legalized Marijuana in Colorado
Six weeks after voters made Colorado one of two states to legalize the recreational use of marijuana, a task force started to determine how the state will regulate its use.
DealBook: Cerberus to Sell Manufacturer of Rifle Used in School Shooting
The private equity giant will sell its investment in the gunmaker after a rifle from the company's Bushmaster brand was used by the gunman in the school shootings in Connecticut.
Tennessee County Agrees to Changes in Juvenile Justice System
The sweeping changes to the Shelby County, Tenn., justice system show a growing momentum of finding new ways to treat teenagers who break the law, advocates say.
ArtsBeat: Video: Anthony Tommasini on 'Clair de Lune'
The chief classical music critic for The Times analyzes a reader’s favorite moment in “Clair de Lune,” Debussy’s popular piano work.
‘These Tragedies Must End,’ Obama Says
In a bereaved Connecticut town, President Obama chided the nation for not having done enough to protect its children from attacks like the one Friday that left 20 elementary school students dead.
Movie Review: Jessica Chastain in ‘Zero Dark Thirty’
“Zero Dark Thirty” treads on unusual territory for moviegoers used to Hollywood’s practice of simplifying morality.
The Appraisal: For 3 Families, Wooden Water Tanks Are in the Blood
Installing, maintaining and replacing them in New York City are tasks largely handled by old family businesses.
The Caucus: Congressman Picked for South Carolina Senate Seat
The move makes Representative Tim Scott, a Republican, the first black senator from the South since the late 19th century.
The Bribery Aisle: How Wal-Mart Used Payoffs to Get Its Way in Mexico
Wal-Mart de Mexico was an aggressive and creative corrupter, offering large payoffs to get what the law otherwise prohibited, an examination by The New York Times found.
Titans 14, Jets 10: Jets Lose to Titans as Sanchez Throws 4 Interceptions
The Jets were eliminated from playoff contention in a loss to the Tennessee Titans in which they committed five turnovers, all by their franchise quarterback, Mark Sanchez.
Pew Study Finds One in 6 Follows No Religion
A global study of religious adherence by Pew Research Center has found that about one of every six people has no religious affiliation, making the “unaffiliated” the third-largest group worldwide.
Amid the Whiz of Bullets, Seeking Comfort in Song
From school officials, parents and police, a clearer picture is emerging of the scene inside the school; to keep children calm, some teachers sang songs, others handed out lollipops.
Pro-Gun Democrats Signal Openness to Limits
In the aftermath of the Connecticut school killings, momentum was building on Capitol Hill for tightening controls over firearms.
Army Officer Reaches Deal in Private Chen’s Suicide
The only officer implicated in the death of Danny Chen, the Chinese-American infantryman who killed himself while he was deployed in Afghanistan, will be dismissed from the military.
Memo From Washington: After School Tragedy, Partisanship Cools in Washington
Though seemingly unrelated, the emotionally wrenching school shooting may soften the hearts of politicians as they try to resolve the fiscal crisis.
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