Merrill Lynch & Co Inc, which stunned Wall Street with $8.4 billion in write-downs in the third quarter, could have to write down another $4.5 billion in the current quarter, a Goldman Sachs analyst's report said on Thursday.
China's biggest lender ICBC is to buy 20 percent of South Africa's Standard Bank for 36.67 billion rand ($5.6 billion) in cash, in the biggest foreign investment yet in Africa.
Bank of America Corp on Wednesday said it planned to eliminate 3,000 jobs, and shook up its corporate and investment bank after a dismal quarter at that unit led to a 32 percent drop in overall profit.The second-largest U.S. bank said a majority of the cuts will be in corporate and investment banking, and the rest elsewhere. The cuts amount to 1.5 percent of the bank's 198,000-person workforce.
Merrill Lynch & Co Inc reported $7.9 billion in net write-downs for the third quarter on Wednesday as shaky risk management and bad bets on subprime mortgages and collateralized debt obligations triggered the company's first quarterly loss in six years. More write-downs could be on their way if the company further cuts its exposure to CDOs.
Japan's Nikkei 225 average rose 0.7% to 16,563.51, aided by a higher close on Wall Street for the second straight day, while the broader Topix index advanced 1% to 1,585.86.
Shares of E*Trade Financial Corp plunged more than 7 percent on Thursday, a day after the online brokerage posted a third-quarter loss and lowered its full-year forecast for the fourth time this year.
Chinese online game developer Giant Interactive Group Inc was set to begin marketing a U.S. initial public offering on Thursday worth roughly $700-$800 million, sources familiar with the deal said, joining a record-breaking capital-raising push by Internet firms.
Intel Corp shares rose 4.3 percent on Wednesday as its better-than-expected quarterly report helped boost other microchip shares, even as fellow technology heavyweight International Business Machines Corp posted lower hardware sales.
China's biggest e-commerce firm, Alibaba.com Ltd, plans to raise as much as US$1.32 billion after setting a price range for its Hong Kong initial public offering, sources familiar with the deal said on Monday.
Nine banks have agreed to pay $180 million for a minority stake in Thomson Corp's TradeWeb bond trading platform, and will invest an additional $100 million in a bid to expand the service they sold in 2004.
Infosys Technologies Ltd, India's No 2 software services exporter, said quarterly profit rose by nearly a fifth but its shares tumbled 7 percent on market concerns over the rapidly rising rupee and the risk of a U.S. downturn.
Oil prices jumped on Wednesday as expectations for tighter fuel inventories surfaced as the Norther Hemisphere moves into the winter season.
The Dow and S&P 500 jumped to close at records on Tuesday after minutes from the Federal Reserve's last meeting showed inflation expectations were contained, leaving open the question of whether another rate cut is near.
Stocks inched higher on Tuesday as investors bet that quarterly earnings reports, which begin later on Tuesday, would beat estimates and brokerages raised price targets on some of the biggest technology stocks.
Northern Rock's advisers are in talks with U.S. buyout firm JC Flowers over a rescue bid for the stricken UK mortgage bank, as U.S. firm Cerberus also considers a move, sources familiar with the matter said.
Banks will likely be reluctant to make new business loans if tight credit conditions persist, hampering capital spending and the economy in the coming months, according to Goldman Sachs.
Citigroup, the largest U.S. bank by market value, said on Monday its third-quarter net income will drop 60 percent on losses and writedowns stemming from subprime and leveraged loan woes, fixed income trading, as well as weakness in its consumer business.
Shares in British reinsurance broker Benfield rose up to 13 percent on Friday after a report it had received an unsuccessful 700 million pound ($1.42 billion) bid approach from Goldman Sachs revived takeover speculation.
Citigroup and Merrill Lynch have bought 5 percent stakes in India's top commodities exchange, valuing it at up to $1.1 billion, or more than the Bombay Stock Exchange which sold stakes earlier this year.
Merrill Lynch & Co Inc faces a $1.5 billion third-quarter loss on its fixed-income business, driven by $4 billion in asset write-downs connected to leveraged loans and mortgages, a Goldman Sachs analyst said on Wednesday.
Britain's government has appointed U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs to advise it on Northern Rock, a source close to the Treasury said, as the stricken bank told politicians its business was sound.
Harman International Industries Inc, whose $8 billion sale fell apart last week, warned on Monday that quarterly profit would be less than half what Wall Street expected, sending its shares down as much as 8 percent.