CA-BUSINESS Summary

TSX steady as lackluster data, earnings drag

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index closed little changed on Tuesday as sluggish economic data from China, Germany and the United States revived concerns about the global recovery. Lackluster earnings reports from some Canadian companies also weighed down investor sentiment.

Apple unlocks more cash for investors as profit slides

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc on Tuesday bowed to investors' demands to share more of its $145 billion cash pile, while posting its first quarterly profit decline in more than a decade. The new expanded capital plan includes issuing debt for the first time to fund $100 billion in share repurchases and higher dividends until the end of 2015. That doubles the amount from a program set up last year and makes Apple the largest dividend-paying company in the world.

Analysis: Sleeping ad giant Amazon finally stirs

SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc is known in the advertising industry as the "sleeping giant" because the world's largest Internet retailer harbors a trove of consumer-spending data that many marketers have called an unrealized opportunity. Now it's awakening to the potential. After running ads on its own website for years, the company has taken the first steps toward becoming a true Internet advertising network, using the knowledge garnered from its data to place targeted ads for some of the world's biggest advertisers across thousands of other websites.

Barclays first-quarter profit hit by restructuring charge

LONDON (Reuters) - British bank Barclays said first-quarter profit fell a quarter from a year ago after a rise in losses in its European business and a hefty bill for the cost of a restructuring plan by its new chief executive. Barclays on Wednesday reported an adjusted pretax profit for the three months ended March of 1.79 billion pounds ($2.74 billion), down from 2.4 billion a year ago and just below a mean forecast of 1.85 billion from analysts polled by the company.

BOJ's new price forecasts Friday to be credibility test

TOKYO (Reuters) - The Bank of Japan is set on Friday to project that it will meet its 2 percent inflation target in two years, a forecast analysts say may be too optimistic and could put the bank's credibility on the line. The central bank, charged with overturning years of dogged deflation, is not expected to come up with any fresh policy initiatives after new Governor Haruhiko Kuroda stunned markets on April 4 by promising to inject about $1.4 trillion into the economy to hit the inflation target in roughly two years.

Asian shares rise on firm U.S. earnings, soft money outlook

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares advanced on Wednesday, tracking global equities higher on the back of solid U.S. earnings, but the euro was pressured by soft German data tipping a possible rate cut to support the fragile euro zone economy. European equities will likely remain underpinned by this expectation of further monetary easing, and European stock markets are seen rising. Financial spreadbetters predict London's FTSE 100 <.ftse>, Paris's CAC-40 <.fchi> and Frankfurt's DAX <.gdaxi> will open up to 0.3 percent higher. <.l><.eu/>

Credit Suisse beats forecasts, targets 2013 cash payout

ZURICH (Reuters) - Credit Suisse's quarterly earnings beat analysts' expectations and the bank flagged a cash dividend for this year, as the restructuring of its investment banking division starts to bear fruit. Switzerland's second-largest bank reported first-quarter net profit of 1.303 billion Swiss francs ($1.38 billion), up from 44 million francs a year earlier. The result beat the average estimate of 1.255 billion francs in a Reuters poll Of analysts.

Apple's cash plan takes heat off Cook, buys him time

(Reuters) - Tim Cook wants investors to "think different" about Apple: less as a hyper-growth startup-like company and more as a mature but robust technology corporation with the world's most lucrative dividend. If Wall Street follows Apple's famous advertising slogan of old, it may relieve some of the pressure on Apple's chief executive, quiet investors' grumbling about its recent share price slide, and buy the company time to do what it says it does best: come up with and market new products.

Nasdaq may set aside $10 million to settle probe on Facebook IPO: WSJ

(Reuters) - Nasdaq OMX Group Inc is planning to set aside $10 million in anticipation of settling a probe over its botched handling of Facebook Inc's initial public offering last year, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with Nasdaq internal discussions. Nasdaq executives had been hoping for a settlement of about $5 million, the Journal said.

Bank of Canada's Macklem confirms interest in governor role

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Tiff Macklem, currently second in command at the Bank of Canada and widely seen as the lead contender to succeed Governor Mark Carney, confirmed on Tuesday that he would be interested in running the central bank. "Yes if asked I will serve, but there is a process that is ongoing and I don't think it would be appropriate to start asking interview questions here when there is a separate process," Macklem told a House of Commons committee, when asked if he would take the job.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ca-business-summary-010250234--finance.html

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