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Ft.com
Violent clashes broke out in Moscow on Sunday as tens of thousands of demonstrators poured on to the streets to protest at the inauguration of Vladimir Putin as president on Monday. At least 400 demonstrators were arrested and scores injured after fighting with riot police broke out – the first serious violence since the start of protests in December. Hundreds of riot police had cordoned off part of Bolotnaya Square, where the protesters had been due to hold a sanctioned rally, as well as a bridge leading over the Moscow river to the Kremlin. Violence erupted as angry demonstrators tried to break through police lines. Protesters picked up sections of the metal cordon fence and started jabbing at police, who charged in response. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/ccac424c-9796-11e1-9b05-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1u9kOFjow

Pricing for Facebook’s premium “social” advertisements continues to rise, two recent studies have found – a positive indicator that could offset concerns about a dip in advertising growth and help sentiment towards the internet company’s initial public offering. A report to be released on Monday by Marin Software, a digital marketing platform that processes more than $100m worth of spending on Facebook, found a 26 per cent increase over the last year in the cost per click for “premium” ad formats such as Sponsored Stories, which highlight friends’ “likes”, comments and other endorsements of brands’ activity on the site. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/77a89c04-9774-11e1-83f3-00144feabdc0.html?ftcamp=published_links%2Frss%2Fhome_uk%2Ffeed%2F%2Fproduct#axzz1u9kOFjow

Wsj.com
European elections led to a flight to safety by investors in Asia, sending the euro down against the dollar and the yen Monday. That sent Japanese stocks tumbling, pushing the Nikkei down 2.8% to its lowest level since Feb. 15.  Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index opened 2% lower, Singapore’s main index slumped 1.46% and Korea’s Kospi was 1.66% lower. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304451104577388922986849422.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories

French voters elected Socialist Party candidate François Hollande as president Sunday, choosing a national leader who has pledged to shift the burden of economic hardship onto the rich and to resolve the protracted euro sovereign-debt crisis by softening the current prescription of austerity. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304363104577387392104042960.html?mod=WSJ_Home_largeHeadline

Greek voters on Sunday delivered a stinging rejection of the country’s two incumbent parties—the Socialist, or Pasok, party and the conservative New Democracy—and the austerity program they support, raising the specter of political instability that could ultimately challenge the country’s future in the euro zone. More than 60% of the popular vote went to smaller left- and right-wing parties that have campaigned against the austerity program Greece must implement in exchange for continued financing from its European partners and the International Monetary Fund. With the political landscape dramatically recast, difficult talks for a multiparty coalition were set to follow the election of Greece’s most fragmented Parliament since the restoration of democracy and the fall of the military junta in 1974. But the prospect of a viable government emerging from these talks looked dim, raising the possibility of fresh elections before long—possibly by the middle of next month.http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304363104577387513275938738.html?mod=WSJEurope_hpp_LEFTTopStories

Some of Europe’s biggest banks are increasingly hoarding their cash at central banks, anxious the continent’s crisis could intensify and leave them with bigger problems.At the end of March, 10 of Europe’s biggest banks had parked a total of nearly $1.2 trillion of cash at central banks around the world, according to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal of bank disclosures. The total is $128 billion higher, or a 12% jump, since December and up 66% from the end of 2010. After a three-month thaw earlier this year, bank-funding markets are showing signs of another freeze. European banks http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304020104577386462981039998.html?mod=WSJEUROPE_hpp_LEFTTopWhatNews

Marketwatch.com
After years of gloom and doom, the outlook for the U.S. trade deficit has suddenly turned sunny.  After sharply narrowing in the prior month, economists polled by MarketWatch expect the trade gap to widen in March to $49.5 billion, near the high end of its range over the past year, due to higher oil prices. But economists are looking past the monthly data. It is the big picture that is looking up. Global trade imbalances — the fact that the U.S. has been importing too many goods while other countries like Germany, Japan, and China export too much — have been a sore point in the global economic outlook since the turn of the century.  Some economists say these imbalances contributed to the financial crisis. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sunnier-outlook-for-us-trade-sector-2012-05-06

Reuters.com
Blind Chinese rights activist Chen Guangcheng said on Monday he expected Beijing to let him and his family travel to the United States without fresh troubles, but he remained unsure of how long it would take for his travel arrangements to be made. In a brief telephone interview with Reuters, Chen said he was still in a Beijing hospital undergoing checks, which identified an intestinal problem as enteritis or chronic inflammation from an apparent infection. Some of his supporters had voiced fears that he was suffering from cancer. “I can’t move around much but I’m feeling better,” he said, sounding more relaxed than last week, when he was the center of a diplomatic crisis between the two superpowers just as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was visiting Beijing.http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/07/us-china-dissident-idUSBRE84503E20120507

Gold edged lower on Monday, pressured by a stronger dollar after elections in France and Greece cast doubts on whether the euro zone will be able to battle the debt crisis. Spot gold inched down 0.2 percent to $1,638.45 an ounce by 11:28 p.m. (0328 GMT), off the low of $1,626.50 hit on Friday. U.S. gold lost 0.4 percent to $1,639.30. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/07/us-markets-precious-idUSBRE8390RW20120507

Brent crude lost $1.38 to $111.80 a barrel by 10:28 p.m. EDT (0228 GMT), after touching a low of $110.34, its lowest since late January. The benchmark contract fell 2.5 percent on Friday. U.S. crude was down $2.02 at $96.47 a barrel, after dropping to as low as $95.34, its weakest since December 20, 2011. U.S. oil fell around 4 percent on Friday, its biggest drop since December, to hit below $100 for the first time since February. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/07/us-markets-oil-crude-idUSBRE84602W20120507

Bloomberg.com
Voters in Greece and France challenged austerity as Europe’s sole prescription for the financial crisis, adding pressure on German Chancellor Angela Merkel to broaden her focus from debt reduction to save the 17-nation bloc. Greek elections left the two biggest parties short of the clear majority to keep bailout efforts there on track. In France, Socialist Francois Hollande defeated President Nicolas Sarkozy, Merkel’s preferred partner for enforcing fiscal rigor. Germany and France, whose leadership in fighting the crisis that began in Greece in 2009 gave rise to the partnership known as “Merkozy,” don’t have much time to patch up rifts between Merkel and Hollande. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-06/end-of-merkozy-forces-germany-to-deal-with-hollande-on-crisis.html

Facebook Inc. (FB) is betting its growth prospects will persuade investors to pay 99 times earnings for its initial public offering, a higher multiple than 99 percent of companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. The world’s most popular social-networking site will seek a market value of as much as $96 billion, offering shares at $28 to $35 each, a regulatory filing showed yesterday. TheMenlo Park, California-based company will begin meeting investors next week and is scheduled to price the offering on May 17, data compiled by Bloomberg show.http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-04/facebook-at-99-times-profit-exceeds-99-of-s-p-500-index-tech.html

Cnbc.com
With the United States struggling through a soft patch and Europe battling recession, China may come to the rescue by demonstrating a resilience that would provide comfort in a sea of economic uncertainty. China, the world’s second largest economy, is looking ever more vital to maintaining global economic momentum, and a raft of data to be released this week is expected to provide fresh evidence that its economy bottomed in the first quarter and is starting a gradual turn upwards. China posted its weakest growth in nearly three years in the first quarter, with gross domestic product expanding 8.1 percent. The slowdown in growth coincided with deteriorating economies in the euro zone and the United States, China’s two largest trading partners. http://www.cnbc.com/id/47316447

USAtoday.com
Mortgage loan rates are touching new 60-year lows, but many consumers won’t be able to take advantage of them. The lower rates will likely spur some homeowners to refinance, economists say. But mortgage standards remain so tight that many people won’t qualify for a loan if they want to buy a house. Disappointing economic growth helped drive fixed 30-year mortgages down to an average of 3.84% this week, says mortgage giant Freddie Mac. That bested the previous record low of 3.87% in February. Low rates are traditionally good for housing demand, but this time may be different. Rates are dropping on signs of slowing economic growth, which isn’t good for consumer confidence or housing demand. http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/story/2012-05-03/mortgage-rates-new-record-lows/54720362/1

Washingtonpost.com
Indonesia’s economy grew more than 6 percent as domestic consumption and rising investment helped to counter a global slowdown that has damped exports, reducing the need for further cuts in interest rates. Gross domestic product increased 6.3 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, compared with a 6.49 percent pace reported earlier for the previous three months, the statistics bureau said today. The median of 20 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey was for 6.31 percent growth. Bank Indonesia has paused rate cuts after lowering borrowing costs in February to support Southeast Asia’s largest economy as Europe’s protracted sovereign-debt crisis threatened demand for Asian exports. Investment in the country increased 32.9 percent in the first quarter and inflation pressure has climbed as costlier oil forces the government to consider ways to reduce its subsidy bill that may push up local fuel prices. http://washpost.bloomberg.com/story?docId=1376-M3MWUL6TTDSK01-50HMP5MJ71OVMI0CEQCMBCC6T4

BBC.co.uk
The eurozone’s private sector contracted sharply in April and by more than initially thought, a survey says. The Markit eurozone composite purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell to 46.7 in April from March’s 49.2. Any figure below 50 suggests contraction. This is the sharpest fall since October last year, and one of the steepest contractions in almost three years.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17952847

Telegraph.co.uk
David Cameron has warned that the Coalition risks being seen as a “bunch of accountants” unless it “focuses on what matters” in the wake of last week’s dismal local election results. In a tacit admission that the government has alienated middle-class voters, the Prime Minister says his party cannot blame “familiar excuses” such as the low turnout and economic downturn. In an article for The Daily Telegraph, he writes that the Coalition must focus on developing policies which encourage the “strivers, the battlers, the people with aspiration” and stop their lives becoming a “daily grind”. The Prime Minister also confronts his Liberal Democrat colleagues for obstructing his attempts to reform the economy and says he is “sceptical” of the “loud ideology” of the Right wing of his own party. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/david-cameron/9249707/The-Coalition-risks-being-seen-as-a-bunch-of-accountants-warns-David-Cameron.html

Smh.com.au
Retail sales have posted their biggest jump in nearly a year, an encouraging end to the quarter amid industry hopes for a sustained pick-up after a surprisingly large interest rate cut last week. Today’s data showed retail sales rose 0.9 per cent to $21.2 billion in March, handily beating forecasts for a rise of 0.2 percent as households spend more on eating out and shopping for clothing and footwear. Sales for the first quarter were up 1.8 per cent when adjusted for inflation, snapping a run of soft outcomes and well above forecasts for a 0.5 per cent rise. The report offset figures from ANZ Bank showing a 3.1 per cent fall in job advertisements in April, although this decline followed three months of gains. http://www.smh.com.au/business/signs-of-life-in-the-retail-sector-20120507-1y8ds.html#ixzz1u9oopmHH

Now the RBA is pointing to housing remaining subdued until lower purchase prices, higher rental yields and population growth get us building again. The weak housing construction industry has been one of the factors holding back economic growth this financial year and it received considerable attention in Friday’s quarterly statement on monetary policy. Much of the reporting, though, missed that angle, preferring instead to bemoan the central bank missing its earlier growth forecasts. http://www.smh.com.au/business/rba-forecast-rents-to-rise-house-prices-not-20120507-1y8e4.html#ixzz1u9oyw2dg

Thehindu.com
The pressure of US sanctions on Iran is evident with Indian refiners shifting attention to other crude oil producing nations. Though India has been maintaining that it is not reducing imports from Iran, the import numbers for 2011-12 tell a different story. Supplies from Iraq and Kuwait have seen a significant increase, even as Saudi Arabia maintained its position as the largest supplier. Till now, Iran was India’s second-biggest crude oil supplier after Saudi Arabia, meeting about 12 per cent of the country’s needs, but the position has been taken over by Iraq. Domestic refiners such as Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd and Essar Oil are expected to cut sourcing from Iran by at least 10 per cent. Bharat Petroleum Corporation has already stopped sourcing. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/article3391003.ece?homepage=true

Most Indian households think theRBI isn’t doing enough to tackle inflation. This is suggested by the 27th Round of the Inflation Expectations of Households survey conducted by the central bank for the January-March, 2011-12, quarter. The survey found that only 60.6 per cent of the 4,000 respondents spread across 12 cities in India were aware that the RBI takes action to control inflation. Among these, only 27.3 per cent felt the RBI is taking the necessary action to tackle the high rate of price. However, out of this small segment, only 49.9 per cent thought the action had an impact on controlling inflation. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/article3390981.ece

Yonhapnews.co.kr
The bad debt ratio of South Korean lenders rose in the first quarter from the three months earlier as new non-performing loans were reported in shipbuilding and real estate areas, the financial watchdog said Monday. Non-performing loans at 18 local banks totaled 20.9 trillion won (US$18.3 billion), or 1.51 percent of their total lending, at the end of March, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). The figure marks a 0.15-percentage point gain from the previous quarter. Compared with a year earlier, the ratio fell 0.49 percentage point as banks took steps to wipe out some bad debts. http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2012/05/07/73/0503000000AEN20120507002100320F.HTML
Tehrantimes.com
An Iranian trade delegation is to pay a six-day visit to India from Sunday in a return visit after Indian businessmen came to the Islamic republic earlier in the year. The trip by Indian businessmen less than two months ago was aimed at exploring export opportunities created by U.S.-led sanctions against Iran over its civil nuclear program of uranium enrichment. The Iranians will visit New Delhi and Mumbai in a trip aimed at expanding trade relations and exploring “new avenues of mutual cooperation,” the media reports said. http://www.tehrantimes.com/economy-and-business/97583-iranian-trade-delegation-visits-india

Iran has explored new destinations to export its petrochemical products, said the managing director of the National Petrochemical Company (NPC). Abdolhossein Bayat told the Mehr News Agency that the NPC has been identifying new export targets since two years ago. “Currently, exporting petrochemical products to Europe is regularly underway,” he said, adding that boosting exports of polymer products is on the agenda.  On April 18, Bayat said that Iran exported some $14 billion worth of petrochemical products to 60 countries last calendar year, which ended on March 19.http://www.tehrantimes.com/economy-and-business/97582-iran-explores-new-petrochemical-export-targets-