June 7 (Reuters) -- The euro fell below $1.19 on Monday for the first time in more than four years but recovered some losses as strong German manufacturing data prompted investors to book profits after the currency's recent slide.
European corporate demand helped lift the euro after it touched $1.1876 EUR=EBS, its weakest level since March 2006. But it remained well below $1.20, a level pierced Friday after Hungary's warning about its deficit reminded investors of the severe debt problems plaguing some European countries.
"After Hungary's warning and weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs data on Friday, selling got a bit overdone," said Amelia Bourdeau, senior strategist at UBS in Stamford, Connecticut.
June 7 (Bloomberg) -- The airline industry will post a $2.5 billion profit in 2010, reversing two years of losses, the International Air Transport Association said today, scrapping an estimate for a $2.8 billion deficit as the economy rebounds.
The profit would be the industry’s first since 2007 and only the third in a decade after previous results were afflicted by recession, terrorist attacks, epidemics and wars. Europe is the only region still forecast to lose money in 2010.
Prospects for carriers have improved in the past few months as economic growth in Asia and the U.S. boosts demand for travel and capacity cuts imposed last year bolster ticket prices. IATA had been predicting a loss as recently as March 11. Moody’s Investors Service today also raised its outlook for the industry to stable from negative, citing improving
June 7 (Bloomberg) -- BP Plc said that spending increased at a faster rate on the response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the worst in U.S. history.
BP has spent $1.25 billion so far, the company said in a statement in London today. That’s about $27 million a day, compared with $24 million a day in a June 1 estimate. BP said it captured 11,100 barrels on June 6 from the leaking well on the ocean floor, more than the previous day and about half of the top end of the estimated spill rate.
A new cap over the well is capable of collecting the “vast majority” of the oil gushing out, Chief Executive Officer Tony Hayward said in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corp. yesterday. The U.S. Coast Guard said that the Gulf will be under “siege” from oil pollution until the fall.
June 7 (Wall Street Journal) -- Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., a subsidiary of Bank of America Corp., agreed to pay $108 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that the company collected excessive fees from homeowners who were struggling to keep their homes, the commission said Monday.
The settlement is one of the largest judgments imposed in an FTC case, FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said.
The settlement funds will be used to reimburse 200,000 homeowners who were allegedly overcharged by Countrywide before it was acquired by Bank of America in July 2008.
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