Reuters - Before the Bell

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Friday, December 29, 2017

Wall Street set to open higher on final trading day of 2017

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks were poised to open on a bright note on the final trading day of 2017, wrapping up a year in which major Wall Street indexes recorded their best performance since 2013.

Wall Street eyes 2018 gains with a side of caution

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks are expected to keep rising in 2018 because a massive drop in the corporate tax rate is seen boosting the economy and corporate profits, but strategists say sizable gains could either be short-lived or elusive.

Airbus sprints from behind in bid to upset Boeing order lead

PARIS (Reuters) - Airbus is pulling out the stops to try and take the lead in its annual order contest with Boeing, lining up a spree of billion dollar deals to close a traumatic year dominated by management upheaval and corruption investigations.

U.S. oil prices hit highest since mid-2015 on surprise output drop

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - U.S. oil prices hit their highest since mid-2015 on the final trading day of the year as an unexpected fall in American output and a fall in commercial crude inventories stoked buying.

Current, former Singapore transit employees charged in cheating scheme

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Current and former employees of Singapore transit operator SMRT were charged in court on Friday with duping the company into awarding millions of dollars of contracts to companies in which they had a financial interest.

Goldman expects $5 billion hit to quarterly earnings due to new tax law

(Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc said on Friday it expects fourth-quarter earnings to decrease by about $5 billion due to the new U.S. tax law signed by President Donald Trump last week.

South Korea students dive into virtual coins, even as regulators crack down

SEOUL (Reuters) - Hackers have stolen millions, lawmakers are pushing for new taxes and regulations, and a leading financial official has called them a "Ponzi scheme".

Hong Kong eyes blockbuster China tech IPO queue, led by Xiaomi

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong bankers are eyeing a slew of blockbuster IPOs from Chinese technology firms with a total market capitalization of some $500 billion over the next two years, in a sharp contrast to 2017 - the city's worst year for raising equity in a decade.

Stocks cheer $9 trillion year, downer for the dollar

LONDON/SYDNEY (Reuters) - Markets were ending 2017 in a party mood on Friday after a year in which a concerted pick-up in global growth boosted corporate profits and commodity prices, while benign inflation kept central banks from snatching away the monetary punch bowl.

Goldman Sachs picks Dublin for asset management unit post-Brexit: source

LONDON (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs has picked Dublin as a center for administrative staff in its asset management business following Britain's vote to leave the European Union, a source familiar with the matter said.