Stocks and Economy

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks extended losses as data showed manufacturing in the in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region unexpectedly contracted in May, adding to concerns about the global economy as Europe's debt crisis threatens to worsen. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 51.16 points, or 0.41 percent, to 12,547.39. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 7.36 points, or 0.56 percent, to 1,317.44. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 20.10 points, or 0.70 percent, to 2,853.94. (Reporting By Edward Krudy)

BALTIMORE (Reuters) - Europe's debt crisis, higher oil prices and the year-end budget cuts and tax increases still remain risks to the U.S. economy, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Thursday. "We still live in a dangerous and uncertain world, with Europe confronting a severe and protracted crisis," Geithner said in remarks prepared for the Greater Baltimore Committee group of regional businesses and non-profit organizations. But although Geithner said the United States was facing "very tough challenges," he said they were manageable. ...

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Standard Chartered Bank of Kenya posted a 41 percent rise in quarterly pretax profit, helped by higher revenue and a smaller provision for bad debt. "Consumer banking income momentum has continued while wholesale banking has also had a strong start to the year with a record performance in client income," chief executive Richard Etemesi said on Thursday. "Both the businesses enter the second quarter with good momentum, but we remain vigilant about the global outlook and the uncertainties within the political and economic environment in Kenya. ...

MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron urged Europe's rulers on Thursday to do more to quell the euro zone debt crisis and raised the prospect of a Greek default to argue he must stick to his unpopular attempt to cut spending and reduce debt at home. Warning that the survival of the euro was now in question, Cameron showed growing alarm and frustration that the crisis was spinning out of control, threatening Britain's $2.5 trillion (1.58 trillion pounds) economy and his own electoral prospects in 2015. ...

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's borrowing costs shot up at a bond auction on Thursday, after economic data confirmed the country is back in recession and reports of an outflow of deposits from nationalized Bankia hammered its share price. The Spanish Treasury had to pay around 5 percent to attract buyers of three- and four-year bonds. The longer-dated paper sold with a yield of 5.106 percent, way above the 3.374 percent the last time it was auctioned. "This ... ...

Spain tumbled into recession and European stock markets and the euro fell Thursday as Greece installed a crisis government to tackle its crippling debt, EU leaders prepared for talks and analysts raised the spectre of a run on eurozone banks.

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's may cut its economic growth projections for this year, while inflation forecasts could be higher than previously expected, Finance Minister Tendai Biti said on Thursday. Since 2009, the southern African country has been recovering from a decade of decline, but the economy remains fragile with coalition government partners President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai bickering over policy. Last year Biti projected the economy was expected to grow by 9.4 percent in 2012, driven by strong performances in mining and agriculture. ...

NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (Reuters) - A further lifting of U.S. sanctions on Myanmar, which could come during a visit by officials to Washington this week, would be crucial to opening its long-isolated economy, a senior Myanmar government official said. Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin meets U.S. officials on Thursday, stoking expectation the United States might announce a further lifting or suspension of sanctions, including investment restrictions, on the country that is also known as Burma. It is the first official visit by a Myanmar minister to the United States in decades. ...

Japan's economy grew by a faster-than-expected 1.0 percent in the three months to March, official figures showed Thursday, as rising domestic demand and a boost in exports kept it on the recovery path.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's economy bounced back in the first quarter from a year-end lull, powering ahead of other major industrial nations thanks to rebuilding of the tsunami-battered northeast, solid private spending and some improvement in exports. The world's third-largest economy grew 1.0 percent in the January-March quarter, just above a median forecast of 0.9 percent. A 0.2 percent contraction in the economy reported for the final three months of 2011 was revised up to flat in the government data released on Thursday. ...