Business Desk
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
ECONOMY
DOLLAR MAY EXTEND LONGEST RALLY SINCE 2000
The dollar may rise for a sixth week against the euro, the longest stretch since August 2000, as traders speculate Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will signal higher interest rates in his first appearance before Congress, a Bloomberg survey shows.
Fifty percent of the 58 strategists, investors and traders surveyed on February 10 from Sydney to New York advised buying the dollar against the euro, up from 43% last week. The survey also predicted the dollar will gain against the British, Swiss, Australian, and Canadian currencies.
Mr. Bernanke will speak to Congress this week for the first time since succeeding Alan Greenspan amid investor expectations he’ll pledge to guard against inflation. Reports on retail sales and factory orders this week may support the argument for at least two more rate increases by the central bank this year.
– Bloomberg News
FINANCE
MERRILL IN ADVANCED TALKS FOR $8B BLACKROCK STAKE
Merrill Lynch & Company is in advanced talks to buy a “large” stake in BlackRock Incorporated for $8 billion that would create a fund-management firm with $1 trillion in assets, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.
The talks come after last month’s failure of a proposed deal under which Morgan Stanley would have bought a controlling stake in BlackRock, the newspaper said.
A Morgan Stanley acquisition could have reduced its earnings per share, the Journal said, adding Merrill may be able to avoid that scenario by buying a stake less than 50%.
– Bloomberg News
