CA-BUSINESS Summary

U.S. stock index futures signal higher Wall Street open

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open on Monday after Friday's sell-off, mirroring gains in Japan and Europe, with futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq 100 rising 0.1 to 0.2 percent. Earnings forecasts have been scaled back heading into first-quarter reports, due to start on Monday with Alcoa . S&P 500 earnings are expected to have risen just 1.6 percent from a year ago, according to Thomson Reuters data, down from a 4.3 percent forecast in January.

Yen falls on BoJ bond buys, while shares, oil recover

LONDON (Reuters) - The yen tumbled against the euro and the dollar on Monday as the Bank of Japan embarked on its massive stimulus drive, while the lingering impact of weak U.S. jobs data limited gains in oil and equity markets. The euro climbed to a three-year peak of 128.44 yen, while the dollar gained 1.5 percent to sweep past 99 yen after the BoJ conducted its first bond purchases since announcing the new monetary easing steps last week.

Airbus seen close to BA deal, adding pressure for Boeing revamp

PARIS (Reuters) - A potential $7 billion order from British Airways for Airbus A350 jets is set to hand Boeing Co its next major challenge as it nears the end of a three-month crisis over the grounding of the 787 Dreamliner, analysts said. If confirmed, the order would strike a blow inside one of Boeing's most loyal wide-body customers and may hike pressure on the U.S. planemaker to defend future profits by formally offering a revamped version of its successful 777 mini-jumbo.

Greece's NBG-Eurobank merger suspended, official says

ATHENS (Reuters) - National Bank's plan to absorb Eurobank to form Greece's biggest banking group will be suspended until both are recapitalised, and a state bank support fund will decide if the they should merge, a Finance Ministry official said on Sunday. National acquired 84.3 percent of Eurobank via a share swap in February with a view to absorbing it as part of broader consolidation in the banking industry to cope with fallout from Greece's debt crisis and deep recession.

In China, off-balance-sheet lending risks lurk in the shadows

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's banks are feeding unwanted assets into the country's "shadow banking system" on an unprecedented scale, reinforcing suspicions that bank balance sheets reflect only a fraction of the actual credit risk lurking in the financial system. Banks' latest earnings reports only added to concerns. Despite the slowest economic growth in 13 years in 2012, the banking system's official non-performing loan (NPL) ratio actually declined, renewing a debate about how reliable those figures are.

Luxembourg says willing to ease banking secrecy: paper

BERLIN (Reuters) - Luxembourg is prepared to ease its banking secrecy rules and work more closely with foreign tax authorities, Finance Minister Luc Frieden told a paper, in a comment welcomed by Germany which wants to crack down on tax havens. Frieden told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung there was an international trend towards automatically exchanging information about depositors, adding; "We no longer strictly reject this, in contrast to before."

Canada to probe report that RBC outsourcing work

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada is investigating a report that its largest bank is using temporary foreign workers hired by an outsourcing company to effectively replace existing staff, a situation the government said it would not accept. A Conservative government minister revealed the probe on Saturday after a report from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC story said Royal Bank of Canada was planning to eliminate about 50 employees in its investor services division in Toronto and have the work done by outsourcing company iGate Corp .

UPS appeals EU rejection of $6.7 billion TNT Express bid

NEW YORK (Reuters) - United Parcel Services Inc has appealed the European Union regulator's decision to block its 5.16 billion euro ($6.7 billion) bid for Dutch competitor TNT Express NV , a UPS spokeswoman told Reuters on Sunday. U.S.-based UPS, the world's No. 1 package delivery company, dropped its bid to buy the Dutch firm on January 14, on the expectation of an EU veto of the merger.

UK firms see more jobs but no economic growth: survey

LONDON (Reuters) - British businesses expect to increase hiring over the next six months but given falling confidence among manufacturers, they do not anticipate overall growth in the nation's economy, a survey showed on Monday. An optimism index from accountancy firm BDO, which measures business performance expectations two quarters ahead, rose to 92.2 in March from 90.6 in February.

Hong Kong nets only small fry for laundering illegal Chinese money

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Luo Juncheng, a delivery man and school dropout from China's Guangdong province, was 19 years old when he opened an account at Bank of China subsidiary Chiyu Bank in Hong Kong in mid-2009. Over the next eight months, he moved more than HK$13 billion ($1.7 billion) through the account, making nearly 5,000 deposits and more than 3,500 withdrawals in the largest money laundering case on record in the territory.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ca-business-summary-001252902--finance.html

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