S.Africa's rand, bonds edge up ahead of data

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's rand firmed marginally on Tuesday ahead of a slew of domestic economic data but stayed within its recent trading range, awaiting further direction from global markets.

The rand was trading at 8.6700 against the dollar at 0640 GMT from Tuesday's close of 8.6725.

"The data today will not have much impact on the rand. We will continue to look at international factors," said Ion de Vleeschauwer, Bidvest Bank's chief dealer.

"We're really stuck in the ranges between 8.60-70 and that will probably continue for the rest of the week."

The rand was supported by a stabilising euro as nerves calmed over Italy's latest political turmoil and prospects of more stimulus from the Federal Reserve pinned down the dollar, although weaker-than-expected data could put it under pressure.

Retail sales figures are due at 0700 GMT, with economists expecting year-on-year spending growth on the high street to have slowed to 4.0 percent in October.

At 1100 GMT, economists expect manufacturing output to have fallen 1.2 percent, hit by labour unrest in the mines.

The rand has lost more than 7 percent since the start of the year and came under pressure intense pressure from August because of wildcat strikes in the mining sector and a yawning current account deficit.

Government bonds rose, pushing yields down 2 basis points to 7.335 on the benchmark 2026 issue and 1 basis point to 5.46 percent for the shorter-dated 2015 note.

The Treasury will auction 2.1 billion rand of debt spread over the 2031 and 2048 government bonds at 0900 GMT.

Read More..

Mexican president confident of key reforms in 2013

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said on Monday he is confident that reforms to shake up state oil giant Pemex and the country's tax regime, key planks of his drive to accelerate economic growth, will be approved in 2013.

The youthful Pena Nieto took office on December 1 pledging to fire up the economy after years of underperformance, during which it fell behind its big Latin American peer Brazil.

In his election campaign he identified energy and tax reforms as central to raising growth to rates of around six percent per year, or about three times the average rate of the past decade.

Though his Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) fell short of a congressional majority in regaining the presidency after 12 years on the sidelines, Pena Nieto is adamant he can pass energy and tax reforms that have foundered in the past.

"I would give a horizon of one year for these reforms," the 46-year-old told Reuters in an interview in Mexico City.

"Next year will be the time for all of it to happen from scratch: presenting the initiative, the necessary consensus to back it up and make them happen, and get the required approval."

He did not provide details on what shape the reforms would take beyond saying that he looked forward to Mexico forging "strategic" tie-ups with the private sector in the oil industry.

Asked whether he could secure the support in Congress to approve his plans, Pena Nieto said he was "very upbeat," noting that he has already signed a pact with the leading political parties to work together on reforms.

He said he was also confident of reaching consensus next year on his aim to provide universal social security coverage in Mexico, and that he would press for constitutional change to spur more competition in the telecommunications sector.

He did not provide more details. Mexican television is dominated by broadcasters Televisa and TV Azteca while the world's richest man, Carlos Slim, has a tight grip on the fixed-line and mobile phone markets.

Pena Nieto's predecessor as president, Felipe Calderon of the conservative National Action Party, or PAN, failed to win Congress' support for a major reform of Pemex.

But Calderon took the first steps towards opening it up to outside investment, putting out incentive-based contracts to private firms to improve the efficiency of the oil industry.

Pemex has struggled to make the most of Mexico's crude oil reserves, and Pena Nieto has pledged to open up the company to more private investment. To make it worthwhile for investors, Pena Nieto believes a constitutional change is needed.

STRATEGIC ASSOCIATION

Mexico relies on oil revenues to fund nearly a third of the federal budget, which has not only concentrated much power in Pemex but also left it open to over-exploitation by the state.

The dependence on oil revenues is regularly cited as an obstacle to Mexico's efforts to improve its credit rating. The fact that no party has had a majority in Congress for 15 years has stood in the way of a far-reaching tax reform.

Pena Nieto's planned tax reform is tricky because it could involve applying value-added tax (VAT) to food and medicine for the first time. That could risk opposition inside the PRI since it would hit the poor, who make up roughly half of Mexico's population.

The president declined to say how his government would approach the subject of changes to VAT, though many experts see few ways of quickly raising more revenues without it.

Mexico has one of the smallest tax takes in Latin America, collecting revenues worth only about 11 percent of gross domestic product, excluding oil income.

Mexico's constitution stipulates that the right to exploit crude oil belongs to the state, and the new government must find a way of allowing private investors to help find the crude without surrendering control of its natural resources.

"I believe constitutional reform is what enables us to generate the legal certainty for the opportunities of getting Mexico more private investment to develop its energy infrastructure," Pena Nieto said.

Created when the PRI nationalized the oil industry in 1938, Pemex became a symbol of Mexican self-sufficiency, and many attempts to reform the lumbering monopoly have foundered.

Output at Mexico's largest oil fields fell sharply between 2004 and 2009, although it has since stabilized. However, the government has said output will stagnate without significant new investment, and the world's no. 7 oil producer risks becoming a net oil importer if it fails to improve production trends.

Pena Nieto has held up Brazil's state-owned oil firm Petrobras as a model for Mexico to follow. Petrobras trades shares on the stock exchange and Pena Nieto has said a partial listing of Pemex could be a possibility in the future.

For now, Mexico needed to create alliances with private capital to get the best out of Pemex, he said.

"Brazil has a legal framework which allowed it to create strategic associations, which is what I'm proposing, a strategic association with the private sector," he added.

Read More..

Italy's Berlusconi attacks "Germano-centric" Monti

ROME (Reuters) - Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi accused the technocrat government of Mario Monti on Tuesday of pursuing economic policies dictated by Germany that had dragged Italy into recession.

In remarks that point to a bitter election campaign fought over European issues, Berlusconi said Germany had taken advantage of the financial crisis to lower its own borrowing costs at the expense of other states.

He said Monti's government had been compliant in following a harmful austerity policies set by other European countries.

"The Monti government has followed the Germano-centric policies which Europe has tried to impose on other states and it has created a crisis situation which is much worse than where we were when we were in government," he told his own Canale 5 television.

Read More..

Wal-Mart under fire in India, government signals probe

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's government said on Tuesday it was prepared to launch an inquiry into lobbying by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. , buckling under an opposition campaign to discredit a flagship economic policy that allows foreign supermarkets to trade in Asia's third largest economy.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has pressed ahead with the policy despite fierce political opposition, arguing that foreign capital and expertise is needed to revive the flagging economy and modernize India's food supply chain.

Opposition uproar over the issue has repeatedly caused parliament to be adjourned in recent weeks and derailed efforts to pass more reforms to bring investment to the banking, pensions and insurance industries.

In a recent disclosure filing, Wal-Mart told U.S. authorities it had spent $25 million on lobbying activities in the United States over the past four years to help win market access to markets including India - considered one of the last major frontiers for global retailers.

India's opposition parties, led by the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have seized on media coverage of the filing as evidence the company had engaged in lobbying in India, even though the filing referred only to lobbying activities in the United States.

"The government views this with as much concern as all sections of the house and has no hesitation in having an inquiry ... to get to the facts of the matter," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath told parliament.

He said he would announce steps towards an inquiry in parliament later on Tuesday. But later his office strongly denied he had given a date for any action, raising questions about whether the government would indeed launch an investigation.

Wal-Mart, which discloses issues and expenditures associated with lobbying in various markets on a quarterly basis in the United States, said the allegations it had lobbied in India were "entirely false".

"The expenditures are a compilation of expenses associated with staff, association dues, consultants, and contributions spent in the United States," a spokesman for the company's local tie-up Bharti Walmart said.

Read More..

World stocks wane as US budget talks drag on

BANGKOK (AP) — World stock markets lost some steam Tuesday as efforts by U.S. leaders to reach a budget deal before the year's end appeared deadlocked and fears lingered that a leadership change in Italy could derail Europe's efforts to tackle its financial crisis.

Markets in Asia appeared to take in stride news that HSBC, the British banking giant, will pay $1.9 billion to settle a money-laundering probe by federal and state authorities in the United States. HSBC shares rose 0.3 percent in Hong Kong and fell 0.3 percent in London.

Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.2 percent to 5,910.52. Germany's DAX rose 0.2 percent to 7,542.72. The CAC-40 in Paris rose 0.1 percent to 3,616.35.

Wall Street futures were sluggish ahead of the opening bell in New York. Dow Jones industrial futures fell marginally to 13,181 and S&P 500 futures shed 0.1 percent to 1,418.80.

Jackson Wong, vice president at Tanrich Securities in Hong Kong, said investors were prepared for the bad news on HSBC after rumors of a settlement leaked out Friday. Helping to calm nerves was HSBC's sale last Wednesday of its 15.6 percent stake in China's Ping An Insurance to a Thai conglomerate for about $9.4 billion.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 0.1 percent to 9,525.32, with Japanese utilities coming under pressure a day after a team of geologists said that a nuclear power plant in western Japan is likely located on an active fault. Japanese guidelines prohibit nuclear facilities above active faults.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. fell 1.4 percent and Kansai Electric Power Co. tumbled 4.4 percent.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.2 percent to 22,323.94 and South Korea's Kospi added 0.4 percent to 1,964.62. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.4 percent to 4,576. Benchmarks in Singapore and Indonesia also rose while New Zealand, India and mainland China fell.

Investors got a slight jolt after Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, who has been credited with restoring confidence in Italy's economy, announced he will resign by year's end. Monti said over the weekend that he found it impossible to lead after former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's party, Parliament's largest, dropped its support for the government.

Analysts fear Monti's unexpected resignation could spark a new round of Italian political turmoil and slow efforts to get one of Europe's largest economies back in shape.

Anxiety was also growing as talks drag on between President Barack Obama and Republican lawmakers over a way to avoid the "fiscal cliff," a series of tax hikes and spending cuts that will come into effect Jan. 1 if no agreement is in place to cut the budget deficit.

Benchmark oil for January delivery was up 11 cents to $85.66 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 37 cents to finish at $85.56 per barrel on the Nymex on Friday.

In currencies, the euro rose to $1.2947 from $1.2938 in New York on Monday. The dollar rose slightly to 82.35 yen from 82.33 yen.

Read More..

Pfizer/Bristol drug cuts recurrence of blood clots - study

(Reuters) - A new blood clot preventer from Pfizer Inc and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co reduced the risk of recurrence of clots in veins and lungs and death by 80 percent with no increase in major bleeding in a study testing extended use of the drug.

In the year-long trial of 2,486 patients who had been previously treated for the condition known as venous thromboembolism (VTE) the drug, apixaban, met the combined primary goal by significantly reducing the recurrence of blood clots and death from any cause compared with a placebo, according to data presented at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.

The rate of recurrence or death was 11.6 percent in the placebo group compared with 3.8 percent for those who got 2.5 milligrams of apixaban and 4.2 percent for the 5 mg dose of the drug. The results were also published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The incidence of major bleeding, always a concern with blood thinners, was extremely low in all three arms of the trial, researchers said - 0.5 percent for placebo, 0.2 percent for the low dose of apixaban and 0.1 percent for the higher dose.

"Usually when you have an effective antithrombotic you have to pay a price in terms of bleeding. This was not the case in this study," Dr. Giancarlo Agnelli, the study's principal investigator, said in a telephone interview.

"There was no evidence at all of increased major bleeding and this is extremely important because you are comparing an active drug with placebo," he said.

There was a slightly higher rate of clinically relevant nonmajor bleeding, such as nose bleeds that required medical attention, observed in patients taking the higher dose of apixaban at 4.2 percent compared with the low dose and placebo, researchers said.

Apixaban belongs to a new class of blood thinners that aim to replace decades old and difficult to use warfarin. The drug, which will be sold under the brand name Eliquis, is widely considered to be one of the most important new medicines for Pfizer and Bristol-Myers, both of which saw their top selling products lose patent protection in the past year.

AWAITING U.S. APPROVAL

It is approved in Europe and awaiting a U.S. approval decision for preventing blood clots and strokes in patients with atrial fibrillation - a type of irregular heart beat - and is also being tested against warfarin as a primary treatment for VTE with data expected next year.

A rival drug from Bayer and Johnson & Johnson called Xarelto is already approved for both conditions, but based on clinical data analysts have said they believe Eliquis is the best class.

An approval for extended use in VTE patients, during which they would take the drug for at least a year after initial treatment, could significantly boost future sales.

"The evidence is for one year. The next step would be to see whether this clinical benefit is extended after one year," Agnelli said.

VTE consists of deep vein thrombosis, typically blood clots in the legs, and pulmonary embolism, which are dangerous clots in the lungs. Clots that begin in the extremities can travel to the heart and lungs and can be fatal. VTE is typically treated with warfarin for three to six months.

After that, "there is quite a remarkable level of uncertainty about whether to extend or not," explained Agnelli, professor of internal medicine at the University of Perugia in Italy, who presented the data at the ASH meeting.

"Extended treatment might be clinically relevant because the recurrence rate after stopping treatment can be 10 percent in the first year," Agnelli said. "Reducing the recurrence of VTE means reduced hospitalization costs and in some cases fewer fatal events."

Physicians have been looking for alternatives to warfarin, which must be closely monitored to keep levels therapeutic but not toxic. The new drugs do not require monitoring or the dietary and lifestyle changes necessary with warfarin. But they still face an uphill battle as warfarin is far less expensive, and doctors have a comfort level using a drug that has been around for more than half a century despite the challenges.

Patients in the study had received treatment with warfarin for six to 12 months before starting the one-year extension trial that aimed to show further treatment could reduce recurrence rates and to see if the lower dose of apixaban was a viable option.

"It is quite clear that the lower dose is as effective as the higher. For the first time we showed that by reducing the dose of an antithrombotic agent in this clinical setting we can have the same efficacy with no major bleeding," Agnelli said.

"This is actually something that could change clinical practice," he added.

Read More..

Civilian Trauma May Contribute To Combat PTSD

War is hell. And for many soldiers, the experience leaves lasting scars. And not just physical ones. A subset of veterans develop posttraumatic stress disorder  or PTSD. But it might not be only the horrors of battle that make them susceptible. According to a study in the journal Psychological Science [link to come] echoes of  childhood abuse may contribute.

Psychologists assessed the mental health of hundreds of Danish soldiers before, during and 8 months after they were shipped to Afghanistan. Turns out the vast majority, some 84%, were resilient, showing no undue signs of stress at any time. A small number, about 4%, developed PTSD, with symptoms that showed up when the troops returned home.

When the researchers compared those two groups, they discovered that the cohort with PTSD had not been exposed to more battlefield trauma—but they were more likely to have experienced violence or abuse in civilian life, particularly as a child.

For the remaining soldiers, being deployed actually helped: something about being part of the team quelled the anxiety they started out with. That finding suggests that PTSD is not uniform, even for those in uniform. And that one man’s poison may be another man’s cure.

Read More..

USDA to allow more meat, grains in school lunches

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Agriculture Department is responding to criticism over new school lunch rules by allowing more grains and meat in kids' meals.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told members of Congress in a letter Friday that the department will do away with daily and weekly limits of meats and grains. Several lawmakers wrote the department after the new rules went into effect in September saying kids aren't getting enough to eat.

School administrators also complained, saying set maximums on grains and meats are too limiting as they try to plan daily meals.

"This flexibility is being provided to allow more time for the development of products that fit within the new standards while granting schools additional weekly menu planning options to help ensure that children receive a wholesome, nutritious meal every day of the week," Vilsack said in a letter to Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D.

The new guidelines were intended to address increasing childhood obesity levels. They set limits on calories and salt, and phase in more whole grains. Schools must offer at least one vegetable or fruit per meal. The department also dictated how much of certain food groups could be served.

While nutritionists and some parents have praised the new school lunch standards, others, including many conservative lawmakers, refer to them as government overreach. Yet many of those same lawmakers also have complained about hearing from constituents who say their kids are hungry at school.

Though broader calorie limits are still in place, the rules tweak will allow school lunch planners to use as many grains and as much meat as they want. In comments to USDA, many had said grains shouldn't be limited because they are a part of so many meals, and that it was difficult to always find the right size of meat.

The new tweak doesn't upset nutritionists who fought for the school lunch overhaul.

Margo Wootan, a nutrition lobbyist for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, says the change is minor and the new guidance shows that USDA will work with school nutrition officials and others who have concerns.

"It takes time to work out the kinks," Wootan said. "This should show Congress that they don't need to interfere legislatively."

Congress has already interfered with the rules. Last year, after USDA first proposed the new guidelines, Congress prohibited USDA from limiting potatoes and French fries and allowed school lunchrooms to continue counting tomato paste on pizza as a vegetable.

The school lunch rules apply to federally subsidized lunches served to low-income children. Those meals have always been subject to nutritional guidelines because they are partially paid for by the federal government, but the new rules put broader restrictions on what could be served as childhood obesity rates have skyrocketed.

School kids can still buy additional foods in other parts of the lunchroom and the school. Congress two years ago directed USDA to regulate those foods as well, but the department has yet to issue those rules.

Sen. Hoeven, who had written Vilsack to express concern about the rules, said he will be supportive of the meals overhaul if the USDA continues to be flexible when problems arise.

"This is an important step," he said. "They are responding and that's what they need to do."

Read More..

Venezuela's Chavez says cancer back, operation in days

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's Hugo Chavez said on Saturday that his cancer  had returned and he would undergo another operation in the coming days, and for the first time the president named a successor if anything happened to him.

The news was a big blow for supporters of the 58-year-old socialist leader, who elected him in October to a new six-year term in office. Twice since mid-2011 Chavez has said he was cured, and then had to have more surgery.

In an emotional television broadcast from the Miraflores presidential palace, Chavez was flanked by ministers and looked resolute. He even sang, briefly. And in his first comments on a possible successor, he said supporters should vote for Vice President Nicolas Maduro.

Speculation about Chavez's health had grown during a three-week absence from public view that culminated in his latest trip for medical tests in Cuba - where he has undergone three cancer operations since June 2011. He returned to Venezuela on Friday.

"Unfortunately, during these exhaustive exams they found some malignant cells in the same (pelvic) area ... . It is absolutely necessary, absolutely essential, that I undergo a new surgical intervention," the president said.

"With God's will, like on the previous occasions, we will come out of this victorious. I have complete faith in that."

Chavez, who has dominated Venezuelan politics since taking power 14 years ago, said he would return to Cuba on Sunday, and that the operation would take place there in next few days.

He said he had rejected the advice of his doctors to have the surgery sooner, on Friday or this weekend, telling them he needed to fly back to Venezuela to seek the permission of lawmakers to return for the operation.

"I decided to come, making an additional effort, in truth, because the pain is not insignificant," Chavez said. "But with treatment and painkillers, we are in the pre-operation phase."

MADURO GETS THE NOD

Chavez has been receiving treatment at the tightly guarded Cimeq hospital in Havana as a guest of his friend and political mentor, former Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

The normally garrulous president had sharply cut back his public appearances since winning the October 7 election, saying the campaign and radiation therapy had left him exhausted.

Under Venezuela's constitution, an election would have to be held within 30 days if Chavez were to leave office in the first four years of his next term, which is due to begin on January 10.

For the first time, in a rare admission that he might not be able to govern for as long as he hopes, he singled out Maduro - a 50-year-old former bus driver and union leader - as his chosen candidate.

"He is a complete revolutionary, a man of great experience despite his youth, with great dedication and capacity for work," Chavez said. "In a scenario where they were obliged to hold a new presidential election, you should choose Nicolas Maduro."

In addition to putting his own future in doubt, the news that Chavez's cancer has returned is also a blow to ruling Socialist Party candidates who wanted him to campaign alongside them before elections for state governors on December 16.

Another prolonged absence recuperating in Cuba could also postpone important policy decisions, such as a widely expected devaluation of the bolivar currency.

Read More..

Study could spur wider use of prenatal gene tests

A new study sets the stage for wider use of gene testing in early pregnancy. Scanning the genes of a fetus reveals far more about potential health risks than current prenatal testing does, say researchers who compared both methods in thousands of pregnancies nationwide.

A surprisingly high number — 6 percent — of certain fetuses declared normal by conventional testing were found to have genetic abnormalities by gene scans, the study found. The gene flaws can cause anything from minor defects such as a club foot to more serious ones such as mental retardation, heart problems and fatal diseases.

"This isn't done just so people can terminate pregnancies," because many choose to continue them even if a problem is found, said Dr. Ronald Wapner, reproductive genetics chief at Columbia University Medical Center in New York. "We're better able to give lots and lots of women more information about what's causing the problem and what the prognosis is and what special care their child might need."

He led the federally funded study, published in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.

A second study in the journal found that gene testing could reveal the cause of most stillbirths, many of which remain a mystery now. That gives key information to couples agonizing over whether to try again.

The prenatal study of 4,400 women has long been awaited in the field, and could make gene testing a standard of care in cases where initial screening with an ultrasound exam suggests a structural defect in how the baby is developing, said Dr. Susan Klugman, director of reproductive genetics at New York's Montefiore Medical Center, which enrolled 300 women into the study.

"We can never guarantee the perfect baby but if they want everything done, this is a test that can tell a lot more," she said.

Many pregnant women are offered screening with an ultrasound exam or a blood test that can flag some common abnormalities such as Down syndrome, but these are not conclusive.

The next step is diagnostic testing on cells from the fetus obtained through amniocentesis, which is like a needle biopsy through the belly, or chorionic villus sampling, which snips a bit of the placenta. Doctors look at the sample under a microscope for breaks or extra copies of chromosomes that cause a dozen or so abnormalities.

The new study compared this eyeball method to scanning with gene chips that can spot hundreds of abnormalities and far smaller defects than what can be seen with a microscope. This costs $1,200 to $1,800 versus $600 to $1,000 for the visual exam.

In the study, both methods were used on fetal samples from 4,400 women around the country. Half of the moms were at higher risk because they were over 35. One-fifth had screening tests suggesting Down syndrome. One-fourth had ultrasounds suggesting structural abnormalities. Others sought screening for other reasons.

"Some did it for anxiety — they just wanted more information about their child," Wapner said.
Of women whose ultrasounds showed a possible structural defect but whose fetuses were called normal by the visual chromosome exam, gene testing found problems in 6 percent — one out of 17.
"That's a lot. That's huge," Klugman said.
Gene tests also found abnormalities in nearly 2 percent of cases where the mom was older or ultrasounds suggested a problem other than a structural defect.

Dr. Lorraine Dugoff, a University of Pennsylvania high-risk pregnancy specialist, wrote in an editorial in the journal that gene testing should become the standard of care when a structural problem is suggested by ultrasound. But its value may be incremental in other cases and offset by the 1.5 percent of cases where a gene abnormality of unknown significance is found.

In those cases, "a lot of couples might not be happy that they ordered that test" because it can't give a clear answer, she said.

Ana Zeletz, a former pediatric nurse from Hoboken, N.J., had one of those results during the study. An ultrasound suggested possible Down syndrome; gene testing ruled that out but showed an abnormality that could indicate kidney problems — or nothing.

"They give you this list of all the things that could possibly be wrong," Zeletz said. Her daughter, Jillian, now 2, had some urinary and kidney abnormalities that seem to have resolved, and has low muscle tone that caused her to start walking later than usual.
"I am very glad about it," she said of the testing, because she knows to watch her daughter for possible complications like gout. Without the testing, "we wouldn't know anything, we wouldn't know to watch for things that might come up," she said.
The other study involved 532 stillbirths — deaths of a fetus in the womb before delivery. Gene testing revealed the cause in 87 percent of cases versus 70 percent of cases analyzed by the visual chromosome inspection method. It also gave more information on specific genetic abnormalities that couples could use to estimate the odds that future pregnancies would bring those risks.

The study was led by Dr. Uma Reddy of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Read More..