CA-BUSINESS Summary

TSX drops on weak resource shares, BlackBerry doubts

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell for the first time in four sessions on Thursday as energy and mining stocks were hurt by declining prices and weak investor sentiment, while BlackBerry plunged on doubts about the company's recovery plan. BlackBerry ended the session down 7.4 percent at C$13.82, making it easily the weakest performer on the S&P/TSX composite index <.gpstse> as analysts called into question whether the company's new BlackBerry 10 smartphones can return it to long-term profitability.

Canada retaliation on U.S. labels may go beyond beef, pork

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - Canadian retaliation against the United States for its country- of-origin meat-labeling rules may target more products than U.S. beef and pork, Canadian Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said on Thursday. The U.S. meat-labeling rules have led to a sharp reduction in U.S. imports of Canadian and Mexican livestock, and the World Trade Organization (WTO) has ordered the United States to make changes to the rules by May 23.

RBC CEO apologizes for controversy over outsourcing

TORONTO (Reuters) - The head of Royal Bank of Canada apologized to employees on Thursday in a move to quell a media firestorm over the bank's plan to outsource jobs, and to assure Canadians that the nation's largest bank complies with labor regulations. "I want to apologize to the employees affected by this outsourcing arrangement as we should have been more sensitive and helpful to them," RBC Chief Executive Gord Nixon said in an "Open Letter to Canadians" on Thursday.

Analysts discuss paradigm shift: breaking up banks

(Reuters) - At least three Wall Street analysts this week have written reports about the possibility of the biggest banks breaking themselves up to boost profitability, signaling that investors may be more willing to embrace an idea that is still toxic to some lawmakers in Washington. New regulations in areas like capital requirements are imposing higher costs on the biggest investment banks, raising doubts about their future profitability. These questions make the biggest global investment banks "un-investable," wrote analyst Kian Abouhossein, who himself works at JPMorgan, one of the biggest global investment banks.

Harper says trend still positive for domestic economy

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's economic performance remains generally positive, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Thursday, despite some bad economic data and downgrades to economic forecasts for 2013. "We can expect we're going to have good months and bad months in terms of numbers. The trend lines remain generally positive," Harper told reporters in Calgary.

Analysis: Yuan speculators muddle China's exports, complicating reform

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Companies gambling on yuan appreciation are distorting Chinese trade statistics, creating a monetary policy headache for Beijing officials and complicating government plans to liberalize the capital account. Speculative inflows disguised as trade are causing concern because they aggravate a recent trend - the sudden resurgence of hot money inflows. Some $125 billion poured into China in January and February after nine consecutive months of outflows, exclusive of hot money masquerading as trade.

Tesco's year-old revamp weaned on fresh food focus

LONDON (Reuters) - After a decade pushing its non-food business, Tesco , Britain's biggest retailer is changing, and a conspicuous focus on fresh produce greets shoppers at its newly styled superstores. "Customers were saying they felt we didn't have the right products in our shop," said Kiran Sudan, store manager at the recently refurbished Kensington superstore in west London, whose catchment area is a multi-cultural mishmash of affluent dwellings and social housing.

BOJ's Kuroda: have taken all steps needed for inflation goal

TOKYO (Reuters) - The Bank of Japan has taken all necessary steps to meet its 2 percent inflation target in two years and will try to minimize the market disruption from its massive bond buying, Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Friday. Kuroda conceded that some people doubted the BOJ could meet its inflation goal and said unexpected events could mean it would take longer than planned, but said the BOJ would maintain its new policy framework for as long as needed.

No increase in aid to Cyprus, Luxembourg finance minister says

BERLIN (Reuters) - The finance minister of Luxembourg said on Friday that Europe and the International Monetary Fund could not increase their 10 billion contribution to a bailout for Cyprus despite news that the cost to the island is going to be higher than expected. "I believe the policy will be that the volume will remain at 10 billion," Luxembourg's Luc Frieden told German radio from Dublin, where European Union finance ministers were due to meet.

Analysis: Insider trading probe impact on KPMG expected to be short-lived

(Reuters) - KPMG will suffer some financial and reputational damage from insider trading charges filed against a former senior audit partner, but significant legal liability for the firm was unlikely, said audit industry experts on Thursday. The global accounting giant fired Scott London, a long-time Los Angeles audit partner, after learning he shared privileged information on audit clients with a golf partner, Bryan Shaw.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ca-business-summary-013043037--finance.html

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