China demands Malaysian satellite data on plane

BEIJING: China demanded Tuesday that Malaysia turn over satellite data used to conclude that a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet was lost in the southern Indian Ocean with no survivors during a flight to Beijing.

Among the flight´s 239 passengers, 153 were Chinese nationals, making the incident a highly emotional one for Beijing. Family members of the missing passengers have complained bitterly about a lack of reliable information and some suspect they are not being told the whole truth.

Deputy Foreign Minister Xie Hangsheng told Malaysia´s ambassador to Beijing that China wanted to know what exactly led Malaysia to announce Monday night that the plane had been lost, China´s Foreign Ministry said on its web site. "We demand the Malaysian side to make clear the specific basis on which they come to this judgment," Xie was quoted as telling Datuk Iskandar Bin Sarudin during their meeting late Monday.

There was no immediate response from the Malaysian side. Monday´s announcement sparked mournful, angry and chaotic scenes at the Beijing hotel where relatives had gathered. Around 2:00 a.m. Tuesday morning (1800 GMT Monday) a group of family members read out a statement condemning Malaysia Airlines and the Malaysian government and military and vowing to hold them responsible for the deaths of their loved ones.

The plane vanished less than an hour into an overnight flight March 8 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Relatives planned to stage a further protest outside the Malaysian Embassy in Beijing.

C$ hit by disappointing jobs data

TORONTO: The Canadian dollar slumped against the greenback on Friday, briefly piercing the C$1.11 level after data showed the domestic economy unexpectedly shed jobs last month, in contrast to an acceleration of jobs growth south of the border.
Canada lost 7,000 jobs in February, contrary to expectations for an increase of 15,000. The unemployment rate held steady at 7 percent, but the data was unlikely to give the Bank of Canada much reason to change its neutral policy stance.
The report was a setback for the loonie, wiping out most of its gains in the past two days that had pushed the currency to a two-week high on Thursday.
"The direction of the move makes sense to me ... however, the size of the move was a bit of a surprise to me, even considering the strength of the US report," said Greg Moore, senior currency strategist at Royal Bank of Canada in Toronto.
"I think it can be justified by the fact that we've seen big choppy moves over the past week or two, so it's just been more volatile moves in general."
The Canadian dollar ended the North American session at C$1.1090 to the greenback, or 90.17 US cents, weaker than Thursday's close of C$1.0992, or 90.98 US cents. The loonie hit a session low of C$1.1101.
The currency is likely to trade in the mid-C$1.09 to mid-C$1.11 range for the time being, said Moore.
"Next week is another very quiet week, there's not much to point to at all in Canada that could change the overall macro picture. So I think that essentially leaves us neutral for now," he said.
A separate report on Friday showed Canada's trade deficit narrowed more than expected, but that silver lining was eclipsed by the employment data.
Data south of the border boosted the greenback to the Canadian dollar's detriment as the US added 175,000 jobs in February, beating expectations.
Canadian government bond prices were mostly lower across the maturity curve, with the two-year off 0.2 Canadian cent to yield 1.053 percent and the benchmark 10-year was down 14 Canadian cents to yield 2.523 percent.

US stocks rise after upbeat jobless claims data

WASHINGTON: US stocks opened modestly higher on Thursday as investors weighed improved unemployment claims data ahead of Friday's key monthly jobs report.
Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 42.43 points (0.26 percent) at 16,402.61.
The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite rose 12.03 (0.28 percent) to 4,370.00, while the S&P 500 index, a broad measure of the markets, advanced 5.36 (0.29 percent) to 1,879.17.
US initial jobless claims for the week ending March 1 fell more than expected, by 26,000 to a three-month low of 323,000.
"Another employment update is in the spotlight ahead of tomorrow's nonfarm payrolls number," Wells Fargo Advisors said.
Analysts project the Labor Department's report will show job creation picked up to 163,000 in February after a mere 113,000 in January.
The unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 6.6 percent.

S&P 500 hits record on data, ECB; focus shifts to jobs report

NEW YORK: U.S. stocks mostly rose on Thursday, with the S&P 500 hitting a record after better-than-expected jobless claims data ahead of Friday's all important nonfarm payrolls report.
Boosting appetite for riskier assets, the European Central Bank decided not to take any action at its meeting on Thursday because economic and monetary conditions had not changed enough to warrant it. The euro hit its highest level against the U.S. dollar since late December.
Investors' focus shifted to Friday's employment data, due at 8:30 a.m. ET, which is likely to show job growth in the U.S. picked up enough in February to encourage the Federal Reserve to continue to scale back its monetary stimulus. But the gain was likely to be tepid given the unrelentingly harsh winter.
"There isn't much action today in terms of direction and volume on caution ahead of the jobs report tomorrow," said Ryan Detrick, analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research in Cincinnati, Ohio.
With less than a hour left in trading, about 4.9 billion shares traded on U.S. exchanges, according to data from BATS Global Markets, below the daily average of about 7 billion in the past month.
The biggest gainers were stocks in basic materials, financial and industrial sectors, often associated with strong economic fundamentals. The S&P basic materials index was up 0.4 percent, the S&P financial index was up 0.8 percent and the S&P industrials index was up 0.5 percent.
But the Nasdaq 100 fell 0.2 percent, led lower by Staples, which lost 15 percent to $11.39. The largest U.S. office supplies retailer forecast a decline in sales. Staples also said it would close up to 225 stores in the United States and Canada by 2015.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 71.49 points or 0.44 percent, to 16,431.67, the S&P 500 gained 4.1 points or 0.22 percent, to 1,877.91 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 5.914 points or 0.14 percent, to 4,352.06.
Crimea's parliament voted to join Russia and its Moscow-backed government set a referendum for 10 days' time on the decision in a dramatic escalation of the crisis in the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula.
U.S. President Barack Obama took steps to punish those involved in threatening Ukraine while European Union leaders agreed to suspend visa and investment talks with Russia.
An index of Moscow stocks lost more than 2 percent after the vote in Crimea, but pared the losses and closed down 1 percent. The rouble weakened 0.4 percent versus the U.S. dollar. A U.S.-traded Russian ETF fell 1.3 percent to $23.37.
With the S&P 500 at a record and lingering tensions between Ukraine and Russia, investors turned to the options market for hedges against a market decline. The S&P 500 climbed to an all-time intraday high of 1,881.94 earlier in the session.
Put buying in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF continued, with the weekly $185 and $187 strikes that expire Friday garnering the most interest as of Wednesday's close, according to Schaeffer's Investment Research. The ETF was up 0.3 percent at $188.22.
Costco Wholesale Corp was down 1.8 percent at $114 after the warehouse retailer reported a bigger-than-expected 15 percent fall in quarterly profit as unusually deep discounting in the holiday shopping season hurt margins.
Weekly applications for U.S. unemployment insurance fell to 323,000, the lowest in three months, a sign of strength in a labor market that has been hobbled by severe weather. New orders for U.S. factory goods, however, fell more than expected in January and shipments also slipped, adding to signs of a recent slowdown in manufacturing activity.