Market News News Page 6

As reported by the BBC, shares at Sony have fallen to a 31-year low, just one day after the firm reported a record yearly loss of 456.7 billion yen ($5.7 billion; £3.5 billion). At the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the company’s shares fell as far as 6.7 percent to 1,132 yen. Sony, which has been seeing a loss for the past four years, is...

As reported by the BBC, the largest US bank, JPMorgan Chase, has announced a shocking trading loss of, at minimum, $2 billion (£1.2 billion) on its traders' complex investments. CEO Jamie Dimon is pointing his fingers at "sloppiness and bad judgement", warning that the situation could get worse. The hedging strategy, which is...

As reported by the BBC, fourth quarter profits for Toyota have increased five-fold as the US car market picks up and the recovery from the 2011 natural disasters continue. The company's net profit was 121 billion yen ($1.5 billion; £940 million) during the three months leading up to the end of March--a jump from 25.4 billion a year...

As reported by the BBC, Thomas Cook has revealed a refinancing package valued at £1.4 billion ($2.3 billion) which will offer the troubled tour operator another three years to pay off its debts. The firm says that the new arrangement gives it more sustainability and financial flexibility. Shares in Thomas Cook, which have dropped by over...

As reported by the BBC, EU shares ended higher as investor anxiety over national austerity plans after weekend election results proved to be only short-lived. Pro-bailout factions in Greece fared quite poorly, while Francois Hollande was elected France’s new president, promising to concentrate on growth rather than on austerity measures....

As reported by the BBC, due to slowing European operations, American car giant General Motors has seen a sharp decline in quarterly profits. The company’s net profit in the first three months of 2012 was $1.35 billion (£830 million), dropping from $3.41 billion one year earlier. In Europe, GM saw a loss of $300 million during the...

As reported by the BBC, Facebook has fixed its share price for the approaching initial public offering (IPO), setting the price at between $28 - $35 per stake and valuing the firm at around $85 billion - $95 billion (or £52 billion - £59 billion). The IPO is expected to be the biggest ever for a web firm, larger than Google's...

As reported by the BBC, clothing and household furnishings retailer Next has announced that a strong performance at its Directory home shopping firm has offset a decline in sales at its High Street shops. Total sales went up 1.4 percent for the 13 weeks leading up to April 28. The company’s directory home shopping brand sales went up by...

As reported by the BBC, the New York Dow Jones index has finished at its best level for over four years, buoyed by data showing US manufacturing stronger than expected for April. The Institute for Supply Management also announced that its manufacturing activity index went up to 54.8 in April from 53.4 in March. Figures above 50 show...

As reported by the BBC, French oil company Total has announced a drop in profits, blaming lowered demand and expensive raw material prices at its European petrochemicals firm. Net income for 2012’s first three months was 3.66 billion euros (£3 billion), down by 7% from one year ago. But sales went up by 11% to 51.17 billion euros. The...