CA-BUSINESS Summary

TSX set to open lower after weak jobs data

(Reuters) - Canada's main stock index was set to open lower on Friday after Canadian and U.S. jobs data came in much weaker than expected, raising concerns about the health of the North American economy. TOP STORIES

C$ sharply weaker on grim employment data

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar weakened to a nearly two-week low against its U.S. counterpart on Friday after both U.S. and Canadian employment data came in far weaker than expected, erasing a short-lived rally by the currency to 6-week highs. The Canadian currency fell to C$1.0220 to the U.S. dollar, or 97.85 U.S. cents, after data showed Canada unexpectedly lost jobs in March and U.S. employers added far fewer jobs than expected, raising fears that the North American economic recovery was not as robust as previously thought.

Canadian economy unexpectedly sheds 54,500 jobs in March

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's economy unexpectedly shed 54,500 jobs in March, more than wiping out the previous month's big gain and pushing up the jobless rate to 7.2 percent from 7.0 percent, Statistics Canada data indicated on Friday. Market analysts had forecast an increase of 8,500 jobs following the 50,700 jobs which were added in February. March represented the biggest monthly loss since February 2009, when the economy shed 69,300 positions.

Canada trade deficit rises to C$1.02 billion in February

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Lower exports and slightly higher imports pushed Canada's trade deficit in February up to C$1.02 billion ($1.01 billion) from a revised shortfall of C$746 million in January, Statistics Canada said on Friday. Market operators had expected a modest surplus of C$200 million after the initial C$237 million deficit reported in January.

Exclusive: Some wealth advisers take a fee for clients' fund assets

(Reuters) - At least three wealth management firms that market themselves as objective financial advisers are getting payments for investing their clients' money in certain mutual funds, a practice that even some of these firms say could create conflicts of interest. The firms, known as registered investment advisers, are typically paid by clients with fees tied to the growth or contraction of client assets, and not to specific products. But Fidelity Investments and Charles Schwab Corp are paying these financial advisers as much as 0.25 percent of the assets that their clients put in no-transaction-fee mutual funds.

Exclusive: Buyout firms eye Yankee Candle in $2 billion deal - sources

(Reuters) - Yankee Candle Co Inc has attracted offers from several private equity firms in a sale process that could value the largest scented candle maker in the United States at about $2 billion, people familiar with the matter said. Bain Capital LLC, Advent International Corp, CVC Capital Partners Ltd , Clayton, Dubilier & Rice LLC and Ares Management LLC have made it through the first round of bidding and are set to meet with Yankee Candle's management over the next few weeks, the sources said.

Weak job gains cast shadow on U.S. economic outlook

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - American employers hired at the slowest pace in nine months in March, a sign that Washington's austerity drive could be stealing momentum from the economy. The economy added just 88,000 nonfarm jobs last month and the jobless rate ticked a tenth of a point lower to 7.6 percent largely due to people dropping out of the work force, Labor Department data showed on Friday.

Exclusive: UBS was mystery lender for Thai group's Ping An deal - sources

HONG KONG (Reuters) - The mystery lender behind a Thai billionaire's $9.4 billion purchase of a stake in China's No.2 insurer was UBS, which offered the region's fourth largest bridge loan ever and a complex financing package known to only a few involved, people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The Swiss bank's financial backing for the biggest foreign purchase of Chinese stock explains how a Thai conglomerate scraped together $7.4 billion in cash for the deal's final payment, after its main lender backed out at the 11th hour.

GM, Opel CEOs to meet German leader Merkel

BERLIN (Reuters) - The chief executive of General Motors and the head of its Opel unit in Germany will meet Chancellor Angela Merkel next week to discuss the rejection of a plant closure timetable by workers which could speed the factory's shutdown. With job losses looming at Opel's Bochum plant and against a background of European car sales in freefall, government spokesman Georg Streiter said Dan Akerson and Karl-Thomas Neumann will have a one-hour session with Merkel in Berlin on Thursday.

ECB's Coeure sees euro zone inflation straying off course

PARIS (Reuters) - The European Central Bank will monitor euro zone inflation carefully over the next 18 months as it threatens to sink further below the ECB's 2 percent target, Executive Board member Benoit Coeure said on Friday. Euro zone inflation slipped in March for a third straight month to an annual rate of 1.7 percent, compared to the ECB's goal of close to, but not above, 2 percent.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ca-business-summary-010222419--finance.html

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