| EBay results bolstered by newer businesses
NEW YORK: EBay posted better-than-expected profit in the first quarter as several of its newer businesses compensated for disappointing results in its mainstay auction service. The faster-growing units include shopping.com, a price comparison site; some classified listing sites; a service to let online merchants accept credit cards; and Skype, the online voice chat service. "We are on track with our well-crafted portfolio," Meg Whitman, eBay's chief executive, said in an interview after the earnings report Wednesday. The results sent eBay's stock up about 3 percent in after-hours trading. Overall, the company earned $377 million in the first quarter, up 52 percent from a year earlier. Excluding charges related to stock-based compensation and some other items, the company earned 33 cents a share, above the 29 cents that analysts had predicted.
Banks want RBI okay to trade in illiquid bonds
MUMBAI: Banks have urged the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to make arrangements for purchasing illiquid government securities, so that they become more marketable instruments. In a memorandum submitted by the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) to the central bank, the association has stated that a huge stock of illiquid securities held by banks is forcing them to deal only in benchmark securities. Illiquid securities typically are bonds with a higher premium, not traded on a regular basis. Across the same tenor, there is likely to be a difference of up to ten basis points between the actively-traded security and the illiquid ones. On an average, nearly 5-10% of a bank's total bond portfolio could comprise illiquid papers. Out of nearly 100 such securities issued so far, less than 10 of them are actually traded in the market.
Lunchtime markets: FTSE lower on bidding war concerns
Investors' fears over merger and acquisition activity weighed on the markets and the FTSE 100 was 4.7 lower in early trade at 6482.1. The FTSE 250, however, picked up 14.4 to 11915. Barclays led the blue-chip index lower, down 1.2pc to 741p. Investors were concerned that the bank would be drawn into a costly bidding war for ABN Amro following its agreed 3.225-for-1 all share bid, worth around \u20AC67bn (£46bn), for the Dutch bank. .
Canadian Stocks May Fall on Earnings Concern; CN Rail May Drop
April 23 (Bloomberg) -- Canadian stocks may fall on concern that earnings don't justify share prices that lifted the Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index to a record last week. Canadian National Railway Co. may report later today that profit declined because of bad weather and a strike. Alcan Inc. is scheduled to release results tomorrow, and energy companies EnCana Corp. and Suncor Energy Inc. are due to publish earnings on April 25 and April 26. The Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index rose 90.01, or 0.7 percent, to 13,664.71, in Toronto on April 20. The benchmark has gained 5.9 percent this year and closed at a record 13,711.96 on April 18, as higher commodity prices and takeovers lifted stocks. ``We're concerned about the trend in earnings,'' said Andre Chabot, who helps manage C$300 million at Triasima Portfolio Management Inc.
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