CA-BUSINESS Summary

Asian shares ease, Easter slows trade

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares and the euro fell on Monday with exchanges closed in several Asian markets, including Australia and Hong Kong, as well as in Europe for Easter holidays. But China's March factory output ran at its fastest in 11 months, producing a reading of 50.9 on the official manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) published on Monday, below 52.0 in economists' forecasts but still signaling economic recovery may be accelerating.

Japan business mood improves as market reacts to "Abenomics"

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese business sentiment improved in the first three months of 2013, a central bank survey showed, after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's aggressive monetary and fiscal policy prescriptions helped to weaken the yen and bolster share prices. The survey comes ahead of the Bank of Japan's first policy-setting meeting under new Governor Haruhiko Kuroda this week, when the board is set to expand monetary stimulus and debate an overhaul of its policy framework.

Insight: China's losing battle against state-backed polluters

SHANGHANG COUNTY, China (Reuters) - When Zijin Mining Group threatened to move its headquarters some 270 kms from its home county of Shanghang to Xiamen on China's southeast coast, a local Communist Party boss rushed to confront the company's chairman Chen Jinghe. "If you want to move, you'll have to move the Zijin Mountain to Xiamen as well," the official told Chen, referring to a vast local mine that has helped transform the firm into China's top gold producer and second-biggest copper miner.

China March PMIs rebound, domestic demand shines

BEIJING (Reuters) - Stronger domestic demand helped China's factory activity to rebound in March, with new orders up sharply in a sign that the underlying economic recovery is strong enough to weather any risks from patchy export performance, surveys showed on Monday. China's official manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) released by the National Bureau of Statistics rose to an 11-month high of 50.9 in March, above the 50-point level that indicates growth on the month, but below a Reuters poll consensus forecast of 52.0.

Analysis: Insider case against SAC manager may be tough to prove

NEW YORK (Reuters) - To win a guilty verdict against one of hedge fund titan Steven A Cohen's most senior portfolio managers, U.S. prosecutors face a tough task: convincing a jury that a man who already admitted to breaking the law is telling the truth on the witness stand. On Friday, U.S. authorities arrested and charged Michael Steinberg, a 16-year veteran of Cohen's $15 billion SAC Capital Advisors, with insider trading in shares of the technology stocks Dell and Nvidia .

ECB's Draghi phoned Napolitano over resignation reports: press

ROME (Reuters) - European Central Bank President Mario Draghi phoned Italian President Giorgio Napolitano after media reports that the 87-year-old head of state was planning to resign early to clear the way for new elections, newspapers reported on Sunday. Napolitano pledged on Saturday that he would stay in office until the end of his term on May 15 following reports that he planned to step down to break the deadlock created by last month's election, which left no party able to form a government.

Panasonic unit in U.S. bribery investigation: WSJ

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A unit of Japan's Panasonic Corp is under investigation by U.S. authorities looking at whether the company paid bribes overseas to airline employees or government officials to help land business, the Wall Street Journal reported. Citing company documents, the Journal said Panasonic Avionics had received a subpoena looking for communications between Panasonic Avionics, consultants and others. The subpoena also asked for documents related to payments to the airline employees and government officials, the newspaper said.

Japan just might be set to open a new chapter

LONDON (Reuters) - ?Historic' is an overused word. But if the Bank of Japan meets expectations and embarks this week on a radical policy shift to crush deflation, the meeting will go down as, well, historic. Because of gently falling prices, Japan has not grown in nominal terms for two decades, reducing its relevance for the global economy.

Monte Paschi says lost billions in deposits after February scandal

MILAN (Reuters) - Customers' deposits at Italian bank Monte dei Paschi fell by "a few billion euros" after a scandal erupted in February over loss-making derivatives trades at the lender, the bank said in a document posted on its web site on Saturday. Monte dei Paschi last week reported a higher-than-expected net loss for the whole of 2012 on the back of a rise in provisions for bad loans and 730 million euros in losses on the derivatives trades, which are at the center of a fraud.

EU, IMF resisting Greek bank NBG's takeover of Eurobank: sources

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's international lenders have asked Athens to halt National Bank's takeover of rival Eurobank, worried that the resulting lender would be too big for the state to deal with, two bankers close to the talks told Reuters on Saturday. The lenders' concerns come as an unexpected twist in the takeover deal, which was launched in October and completed with a share swap. The two banks have already begun integrating operations after getting approval by authorities.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ca-business-summary-002909128--finance.html

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