Haque Specialized Group's News

The US Senate confirmed Rex Tillerson as President Donald Trump's secretary of state on Wednesday, filling a key spot on the Republican's national security team despite concerns about the former Exxon Mobil Corp chief executive officer's ties to Russia, reports Reuters. The vote, mostly along party lines, was by far the closest in at least half a century. Fifty-six senators backed Tillerson, and 43 voted no. Every Republican favoured Tillerson, along with four members of the Democratic caucus, Senators Heidi Heitkamp, Joe Manchin, and Mark Warner as well as Angus King, an independent. Democratic Senator Chris Coons did not vote. Tillerson's predecessor in the position, John Kerry, was confirmed by 94 to 3. Condoleezza Rice, the last secretary of state nominated by a Republican, was confirmed by 85-13. Senate Democrats had tried, but failed, to delay the vote on Tillerson because of Trump's executive order banning immigration from seven mostly Muslim countries and temporarily halting the entry of refugees. They said they wanted to ask Tillerson more questions about the issue after Trump signed the order on Friday, prompting protests and chaos at airports across the country and uncertainty and disruption for travelers around the world. But Republicans hold a majority of 52 seats in the 100-member Senate, and so far have confirmed all of the six Trump nominees who have come up for votes. Senators had also expressed concerns over Tillerson's ties to Russia after the executive spent years there working for the oil company. Some faulted him for failing to promise to recuse himself from matters related to Exxon Mobil businesses for his entire term as secretary of state rather than only the one year required by law. Republicans and other Tillerson supporters said they thought he would be a strong leader as the country's top diplomat, citing his experience running a giant corporation operating on six continents. They also said it was important to finalize Trump's national security team quickly, to address international crises and reassure allies wondering about the new president's "America First" foreign policy.....

Published at: 2017-02-02 00:00:04

US stocks ended higher on Wednesday, the S&P 500 rose to cap a four-day losing streak, buoyed by gains in Apple shares and after the Federal Reserve kept US interest rates unchanged, as expected. Apple shares rose 6.1 per cent to $128.75, its highest close in a year and a half.  This made it the biggest positive influence on the three major indexes, which would have all ended in the red for the day without Apple's boost. However, stocks struggled to gain momentum and the S&P 500 avoided its fifth session of consecutive declines by the slightest margin. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 26.85 points, or 0.14 per cent, to end at 19,890.94, the S&P 500 gained 0.68 point, or 0.03 per cent, to 2,279.55 and the Nasdaq Composite added 27.87 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 5,642.65. Dow component Exxon slipped 1.1 per cent after a string of price target cuts from brokerages. The oil major had reported results on Tuesday. Johnson Controls fell 3.4 per cent to $42.50 after its quarterly organic sales growth fell short of its estimate. On the upside, Facebook shares added almost 2.0 per cent in extended trading following higher-than-expected quarterly profit and revenue. During the regular session, Advanced Micro Devices rallied 16.3 per cent to $12.06 in nearly four times its usual daily volume a day after reporting results. Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.09-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.01-to-1 ratio favored advancers. The S&P 500 posted 30 new 52-week highs and two new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 135 new highs and 27 new lows. About 7.59 billion shares changed hands in U.S. exchanges, above the 6.8 billion daily average over the last 20 sessions, according to Reuters.....

Published at: 2017-02-02 00:00:04

A tribunal in Barisal district has convicted a man and sentenced him to life term imprisonment in a rape case. The convicted was identified as Bazlur Rahman, son of Eshak Ali of Icchagura area in the city, according to UNB report. In its judgement on Wednesday, the tribunal also fined the convict Bazlur Tk 50,000. He will have to suffer in jail for three years more if he fails to pay the fine. The court also asked the government to bear the expenses of the rape victim's child until it turns 21 years. According to the prosecution, the convict developed an affair with the plaintiff in 2010 and made her to sleep with him promising to marry her. When the girl became pregnant, the convict took her to a hospital on February 6, 2011 to undergo abortion. However, the victim fled the hospital and later gave birth to a baby girl. As the convict refused to marry the victim, she filed a case with Kotwali Police Station. Police then submitted a charge-sheet against Bazlur Rahman on April 3, 2011. After examining records and seven witnesses, Barisal Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal Judge Sheikh Abu Taher handed down the verdict.....

Published at: 2017-02-02 00:00:04

US oil fell on Thursday after official data showed US crude and gasoline stockpiles rose sharply, although signs that OPEC and other producers are holding the line on output cuts are helping support prices. Front month futures for West Texas Intermediate CLc1 were down 34 cents at $53.54 a barrel at 0016 GMT (1.16 am BST) on Thursday. They rose $1.07 to close at $53.88 the day before. Trading of Brent crude LCOc1 had not started. The contract settled up $1.22 a barrel at $56.80 on Wednesday. US crude stocks grew last week, along with gasoline and distillate inventories, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday. Crude inventories rose 6.5 million barrels in the week to Jan. 27, far exceeding analyst expectations for an increase of 3.3 million barrels. Gasoline stocks climbed by 3.9 million barrels, compared with analyst expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1-million barrel gain.  Gasoline demand has been seasonally weak, down 5.7 per cent from a year ago over the past four weeks. But indications that producers from the OPEC and other producers including Russia are curbing output helped underpin prices. Russia cut production in January by around 100,000 barrels per day (bpd), according to data seen by Reuters. Earlier this week, a Reuters survey found high compliance by OPEC with agreed cuts.  The curbs follow last year's agreement to lower supplies by a combined 1.8 million bpd to prop up prices that remain at about half their mid-2014 levels, according to Reuters.....

Published at: 2017-02-02 00:00:04

The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday in its first meeting since President Donald Trump took office, but painted a relatively upbeat picture of the US economy that suggested it was on track to tighten monetary policy this year. The US central bank said job gains remained solid, inflation had increased and economic confidence was rising, although it gave no firm signal on the timing of its next rate move. Fed policymakers are still awaiting clarity on the possible impact of Trump's economic policies. "Measures of consumer and business sentiment have improved of late," the Fed said in a unanimous statement following a two-day policy meeting in which it left its benchmark interest rate in a range of 0.50 per cent to 0.75 per cent. The Fed also highlighted that the unemployment rate, currently at 4.7 per cent, was still hovering near its recent low. Financial markets were little changed after the rate decision, while investors were still expecting the next rate increase to occur in June, according to Fed funds futures data compiled by the CME Group. The Fed raised rates in December for only the second time in a decade and forecast three rate increases in 2017. Fed Chair Janet Yellen recently underscored that, with the economy near full employment, the central bank risked a "nasty surprise" on inflation if it is too slow with rate hikes. The Fed said in its statement that it still expects inflation to rise to its 2 per cent target in the medium term, although it noted that inflation compensation was still low and long-term inflation expectations were little changed. It did, however, indicate that the effects of weak oil prices had ended, something that will give it a "clean" read on inflation in the future. On Monday, the Commerce Department reported an uptick in inflation to 1.7 per cent. "The economy continues to chug along and sentiment has improved. The Fed does sound more confident about eventually getting to its 2 per cent inflation target," said Brian Jacobsen, chief portfolio strategist at Wells Fargo Funds Management. FISCAL POLICY UNCERTAINTY Investors had all but ruled out a rate increase this week, given the uncertainty surrounding Trump's fiscal and trade policies and how they would affect the Fed's outlook. Trump's promises on infrastructure spending, tax cuts, regulation rollbacks and a renegotiation of trade deals could quickly spur higher inflation, which may necessitate a faster pace of rate hikes. The businessman-turned-politician has offered few specifics on his economic plans or a timeline for their rollout, while the announcement of policies viewed by many as protectionist and an immigration crackdown have caused market jitters in recent days. "There is still uncertainty about fiscal policy, so the Fed is likely waiting for a bit more data and more certainty," said Tony Bedikian, head of global markets at Citizens Bank. Earlier on Wednesday, data showed US factory activity accelerated to more than a two-year high in January while a report by a payrolls processor showed US private employers added 246,000 jobs in January, far above analysts' expectations. The Labor Department is scheduled to release its closely-watched monthly jobs report for January on Friday. Yellen may also give a clearer signal on the Fed's thinking when she provides semi-annual testimony to Congress in mid-February. There are seven more Fed policy meetings in 2017, with the next one scheduled for March 14-15.  ....

Published at: 2017-02-02 00:00:04