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The yuan has raided Friday under the psychological threshold of 6.50 to the dollar, a first reinforcing expectations of a continuation of politics by Beijing of appreciation of its currency to counter inflation.

Although this bar is not significant 6.50 yuan on the technical side, the Chinese media and economists should see in it a new indication on the latitude of increase that has the motto. It has appreciated by 27.5% since the currency reforms undertaken by China in 2005.

Currency traders took advantage of the momentum created by the central bank, by setting the daily central parity of the yuan, pushing the currency to 6.4898 per dollar on the spot market.The currency has appreciated by over 5% against the greenback since its separation from the dollar in June 2010 and 1.5% this year.

"This indicates that this assessment will continue. In fact, we see no sign of an acceleration of that assessment, but they'll probably keep the current pace," Judge Liu Dongliang, an analyst with China Merchants Bank.

Beijing authorities have understood more and more clearly that they wanted to use exchange rate policy as a weapon in their fight against inflation, which hit in March a high of 32 months at 5.4% annually in reducing the impact of imported raw materials.

U.S. growth in the first quarter was weaker than expected, while core inflation has been higher than anticipated, according to final figures for the period published Thursday by the Commerce Department.

Soaring food prices and gasoline, bringing inflation to its highest growth rate in two and a half years, has weighed on consumption.

The gross domestic product (GDP) of the world's largest economy has grown by 1.8% yoy in the first three months of the year, against 3.1% last quarter and +2.0% expected by analysts.

Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve chairman, had set the stage on Wednesday saying the first quarter GDP would surely be below 2%.

In addition, the Fed has lowered its growth forecast for 2011, relying now on a range of +3.1% to +3.3%, against a range of +3.4% to +3.4% in January announced .

In this context, Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve chairman, hinted Wednesday that the U.S. central bank did not hurry to withdraw its support measures for the economy.

The weekly jobless claims have also increased the odds against the United States last week, which could jeopardize the recovery of production in the second quarter.

Production has suffered a particularly harsh winter, rising imports and budgetary savings with the lowest public spending over 27 years.

"Climate is the first factor. It weighed on consumption and construction. (The cost) energy consumption was also affected.Rising gasoline prices have begun more heavily on consumers' budgets, "said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Pierpont Securities.

Prices of Treasuries gained ground after the publication of these data and the dollar amplified its losses against the euro and the yen.

CONSUMER INFLATION burdened by

Consumption has slowed sharply in the first quarter, rising 2.7% after growing by 4% in the last quarter of 2010.

Consumer prices rose 3.8%, their strongest pace since the third quarter of 2008, after a 1.7% increase the previous quarter.

Excluding food and energy, prices rose 1.5%, their biggest increase since the fourth quarter of 2009, after +0.4% in the previous quarter.

However, economists are betting on a recovery in consumption in the second quarter as they will consider that rising gas prices should be limited.

The slowdown was also caused by lower exports, while imports have increased simultaneously.

The recovery in business inventories, a sharp increase over this period, added 0.93 percentage points to growth.

The decrease in premiums is offset by higher wages. Bonuses were down 8% for employees of the City this year.

Bonuses paid to employees of the UK financial sector fell 8% this year, but this lack-of-gain was offset by a 7% increase in average wages in the City, according to a study released Tuesday, April 26 by firm CEBR.

According to the Centre for Economics and Business Research, annual bonuses – traditionally paid during the first quarter – fell by 8% from last year in the City, to 6.7 billion pounds, or about 7.6 billion euros. It is far from the record 11.6 billion pounds established three years ago, before the outbreak of the financial crisis.

But according to research firm, the total remuneration of employees of UK banks are not provided at half-mast: according to his calculations, the decrease in premiums was offset by a 7% increase in average wages by sector compared to last year, an increase much higher than wages in the UK across all sectors, which was only 2%.

"Our research has shown that the decline in bonuses paid this year was offset by an increase in fixed remuneration. Employees of the City are not paid less, their salaries are simply less and less dominated by the premiums "said co-author of the study, Scott Corfe, the CEBR said in a statement.

Toyota could drag world's third largest automobile manufacturers in 2011, behind General Motors and Volkswagen, because of the consequences of the earthquake in Japan, which reduced its production by about two-thirds of Japanese in March.

A shortage of electronic components and parts resin threatens to disrupt supplies to the Japanese automotive industry, whose production is also affected by power cuts after the earthquake and tsunami of 11 March.

The Toyota production in Japan, world leader since 2008, has declined from 62.7% in March.Nissan, the No. 2 industry in the archipelago, has seen his fall by 52.4%, while the number 3 Honda has reported a fall of 62.9% over last month.

Toyota is almost certain to lose his first world ranking this year in favor of General Motors and could even be overtaken by Volkswagen, Judge Koji Endo, Japan Advanced Research.

He said the Japanese giant, which sold 8.42 million vehicles last year against 8.39 million for GM, is moving toward sales of around 6.5 million units this year.Other analysts expect sales of between 6.3 and 7 million units due to lack of accurate prediction delivered by the group.

Toyota said Friday forecast a return to normal production by November or December, bringing to nine month period between the resumption of full operations of the earthquake that ravaged northern Japan.

On Monday, Honda also said it would wait until the end of the year to observe a return to normal production side.

The magazine has awarded the group's marketing director for Mountain View's role in the Egyptian revolution. Nicolas Sarkozy and Le Pen are in the list. Wael Ghonim facing the crowd on Tahrir Square in the Egyptian revolution.

Wael Ghonim, marketing manager for Google Middle East and hero of the Egyptian revolution, alongside Julian Assange and Nicolas Sarkozy in the list of the hundred most influential people in 2011 from Time magazine, published Thursday.

In this eclectic list, one finds the American Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz, the founder of Wikileaks Julian Assange, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the founder of social networking site Facebook Mark Zuckerberg or interpreter of Oscar-winning film "The speech of a king, "Colin Firth. "These are the 100 most influential people in 2011," Time wrote on his website."They are artists, activists, researchers and reformers, leaders of state and captains of industry. Their ideas provoke dialogue and dissent, and even revolutions," the magazine.

The list distinguishes 34 women, a record according to Time, and 49 "international personalities from 25 countries," said a statement from the newspaper. "Six names are directly related to the revolutions that have crossed the Middle East, including Wael Ghonim, the Tunisian rapper El General and also a son of Muammar Gaddafi, Seif al-Islam. Wael Ghonim "embodies the youth who constitute the majority of Egyptian society," said the politician in the magazine Egyptian Mohamed ElBaradei. "It's a bright young man (…) who understood that social networks including Facebook, became the most powerful tool to develop ideas and mobilize people.He helped launch an extraordinary peaceful revolution which led to the departure of Hosni Mubarak and his regime's demise (..) Thank you Wael, thank you to the Egyptian youth, "he concludes.

Among heads of state can find French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama. The Chairman of the Front National (FN), Marine Le Pen, is also part of the list.

Schneider said Wednesday that rumors of interest in the American Tyco saying not to consider this year's acquisition of large size.

The group's action last week has cleared much of its gains this year, losing nearly 10% in five sessions, amid rumors surrounding the ambitions of Schneider Electric in terms of external growth, particularly vis- à-vis the U.S. giant.

"Let me tell you there is no proposed acquisition of large, now or in the foreseeable future," said Jean-Pascal Tricoire, chief executive of the group, during a teleconference with analysts."For the foreseeable future, I hear this year."

Schneider left the door open to passing on a larger transaction in 2012 or beyond.

"We have a strict policy of not commenting on market rumors (…) but we had to make an exception last week by issuing a statement. The rumors had become rather irrational, and we will see increasing speculation impacting our stock price, "he added.

The action Tyco stumbled after development.Around 7:20 p.m., the title lost in New York 2.94% to 49.54 dollars.

Believing that the writ denial issued last Thursday was not enough to convince the market, Jean-Pascal Tricoire also drove home the point in an interview published Thursday in Le Figaro, where he said the group's current priority is the acquisition of small, a few dozen to several hundred million euros.

"We may also be interested in the business of medium size, a billion to several billion euros," he added.

OBJECTIVES MATERIALS AND MAINTAINED DESPITE JAPAN

World number one low-voltage electrical equipment and number two for the medium voltage solutions specialist management of electricity, has also reported a first quarter continued organic growth at double-digit Turnover for the fourth consecutive quarter, emerged globally in line with expectations.

Schneider conducted the first-quarter sales of 4.94 billion euros, representing organic growth of 11.8%, boosted by emerging markets, China and India in mind, but also by the recovery of mature economies .

Ten analysts polled by Reuters expected the drafting of an average of 4.96 billion euros and organic growth of 10.9% organic.In the fourth quarter, organic growth stood at Schneider was 12.1%.

Despite some supply problems from Japan since the earthquake, Schneider Electric has maintained its targets for the full year, including organic growth of its sales by 6% to 9% and improved its margin EBIT at 15.0 to 15.5%, against 14.5% in 2010 on a proforma basis.

The group also said it expects an increase of 350 million euros of the cost of raw materials on the year, it intends to compensate for price increases.

If the activity "Energy" (MV), which was integrated D Areva, is still enjoying a slow recovery, the industry "Power" (low voltage), the main contributor to sales was driven by the use of electrification in China or India, but also by the French application in electrical solutions and accelerating recovery in North America.

Schneider also received the quarter demand for sensors in the industry and the popularity of new savings for video surveillance systems.

Sales of new cars fell by 5% in March. Renault drops nearly 15%. Sales of new cars in the EU were down 5% in March.

Sales of new cars in the European Union fell by 5% in March, after a rebound in February that has been only temporary, according to data released Tuesday by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA).

Sales of new cars in the EU had rebounded 0.9% in February over a year. It was the first increase since March 2010. Then they had stopped falling, amid disappearance of scrapping, reaching lows of -18.6% -16.6% in July and October.

In March, 1,558,915 new cars were registered in the EU (except Malta and Cyprus, whose statistics are not available).During the first quarter 2011, sales fell 2.3% to 3,583,185 units, driven down by the British market (-8.7%), Italian (-23.1%) and Spanish ( -27.3%). The biggest fall in the first three months of the year was recorded in Greece (-57.4%). On March alone, the first two European automotive markets, Germany and France, recorded sales up 11.4% to 327,921 units and 6.1% to 257,533 units. Other major markets of Western Europe have unscrewed however: the drop was 7.9% to 366,101 units in the United Kingdom, 27.6% to 187,687 units in Italy and 29.1% to 88,396 units in Spain.

Among builders, the European leader, German Volkswagen (VW, Audi, Seat, Skoda) sold 335,939 cars in March, up 3.8% year on year. His fellow BMW it is also good outlets, with sales up 7% to 87,677 units.In contrast, those of Daimler (Mercedes, Smart) fell 1.9% to 68,727 units. The French PSA Peugeot Citroen, European number two, is down from 6.9% to 200,823 units, while another French manufacturer, Renault fell 14.6% to 139,441 units. The U.S. GM (Opel, Vauxhall, Chevrolet) also decrease, but to a lesser extent (-0.9% to 142,202 units). Sales of fellow Ford continue to plunge (-16.7% to 139,897 units), like those of Italy's Fiat (-20.2% to 105,244 units). Japanese Toyota takes a few colors (+0.8% to 69,550 units).

The International Monetary Fund should provide recommendations on national policies that encourage or discourage excessive capital flows, said Saturday the Monetary and Financial Committee of the IMF.

"Taking due account of the situation in each country and benefits of financial integration, this approach must include recommendations for both the policies which give rise to capital inflows and management of capital inflows," write Members of the Committee in their statement.

The International Monetary and Financial Committee of the Board of Governors of the IMF, which includes business leaders from around the world, also notes that the global economy "ramping up" but it "remains vulnerable" and exposed to "risk substantial. "

Also ahead there that "it should take credible measures to accelerate progress on the forehead of financial stability and sustainability of sovereign debt, and to rebalance public finances in time in the advanced countries."

The Committee also considers it necessary to avoid inflationary overheating in emerging markets and cope with risks associated with rising commodity prices.

It calls for further work on widening the basket of currencies that includes the special drawing rights (SDRs), the unit of account used by the IMF, which can be exchanged against foreign currency "freely usable".

The major world economic powers are working on integration of the Chinese yuan in the reference basket of the SDR.

Today, the four major global reserve currencies – dollar, euro, yen and British pound – are the basis for calculating the value of SDRs. The integration of the yuan in the "basket" would require a full convertibility of Chinese currency, which could lead to an appreciation that Beijing fears.

Ireland faces challenges relating to weak economic growth but has managed so far to implement the terms of the bailout of 85 billion euros, said Friday a team of IMF experts and the European Union.

Experts from the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission and European Central Bank (ECB) have cordoned off on Friday a two-week study on the Irish economic program monitoring.

The team believes that the program continues normally but that difficulties remain and it is important to act quickly.

Experts believe that domestic demand will continue to decline, albeit at a slower pace, resulting, however, a downward revision of growth projections relied upon by the bailout program.

The team congratulated Ireland for actions on the banking system, believing that resistance tests whose results were released last month is a "major step in restoring the health of the banking system."

Skyrock shareholders have a mandate to two investment banks to explore options for their investments, said Wednesday a head of Axa Private Equity, the main shareholder of music radio.

Pierre Bellanger, founder of the second music radio in France, was fired Tuesday from his post as CEO by the board of the group, which has aroused strong protests from Wednesday to listeners and leaders, worried about the future of the station.

"We are an investment fund, our job is to support companies.But usually after four or seven years, it begs the question of who could be the partner that could take over, "he told Reuters Lise Fauconnier, managing director of Axa Private Equity, which owns 70% of Skyrock .

"It is within this framework that has a mandate (…) actually two banks, Messier (Messier and Associates Maris) and Gerald de Roquemaurel, to explore different options to us, "she added, noting that the initiative was" nothing new ".

All shareholders, including Pierre Bellanger, which owns 30% directly and indirectly in the group, commissioned the two banks, "she said.

She declined to say whether contacts with potential buyers had been forged.

In a statement released Tuesday night, the board of directors of the company Nakama, the holding company group supervision Skyrock, announced the appointment as CEO of Marc Laufer, a former NextRadioTV and NRJ Group.

Pierre Bellanger is no longer an executive function within the group he founded in 1986, but remains chairman of the board of directors.

MOBILIZATION

This decision caused a significant mobilization of listeners of the station, which broadcasts mainly rap and R'n'B, some of whom came to show on Wednesday before its premises in Paris.

On the website of the radio, you could also read many messages of support and calls for sending letters to various politicians.

The investment fund Axa Private Equity calls on his side for peace.

Marc Laufer arrives alone.It will rely on teams that have the force of Skyrock, "said Lise Fauconnier, ensuring there was no question of 50 job cuts as mentioned in some media.

"The group Skyrock faces challenges that are a little structural and we, as shareholders, it is our responsibility to find solutions," she added.

Skyrock has faced as a further erosion of advertising revenue and increased competition in the field of blogs with the arrival of new players such as Facebook.

In a statement, the Movement of Young Socialists supported on radio and requested assistance from the Minister of Culture Frederic Mitterrand.

"Skyrock, is one of the voices of youth, the first radio listening by 15-25 year olds," said the MJS in a statement. "The board will make more profitable radio and rumors legitimately concerned about selling 4 million listeners."