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As rivals falter, Lenovo has emerging market edge
24 May 2012 at 1:40am

HONG KONG (Reuters) - With home turf advantage in the world's biggest computer market and a foothold in major emerging economies, China's Lenovo Group is looking to turn market share into profit, heaping more pressure on U.S. rivals Hewlett-Packard Co and Dell Inc. Concern that global tech spending, particularly in the developed world, is weakening faster than expected has battered Dell shares and prompted HP to axe some 27,000 jobs. To counter weakness in consumer spending in major cities in the world's second-largest economy, Lenovo is Casting its net wider. ...

LONDON (Reuters) - The euro hovered above a 22-month low and European shares saw a fragile recovery, as investors braced for data that could reveal the damage wrought on the region's economy by prospects of a Greek exit and a lack of progress in tackling the debt crisis. A meeting of European Union leaders, who have been advised by senior officials to prepare contingency plans in case Greece decides to quit the single currency, shed no new light on what euro zone nations plan to do, leaving the threat of a Greek exit hanging over the markets. ...

Strong exports and consumer demand helped the German economy, Europe's biggest, steer clear of recession in the first three months of this year, official data showed on Thursday.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's factories took a hit in May as export orders fell sharply, a private sector survey showed on Thursday, suggesting surprise weakness in April's hard economic data persists even as policymakers seek to shore up growth. The HSBC Flash Purchasing Managers Index, the earliest indicator of China's industrial activity, retreated to 48.7 in May from a final reading of 49.3 in April. It marked the seventh consecutive month that the HSBC PMI has been below 50, indicating contraction. ...

Global mining giant Rio Tinto said it was not worried by talk of China's economy slowing and would press ahead with plans to expand its iron ore business, saying signs were robust on the ground.

Vietnamese inflation has eased to a single-digit figure for the first time in a year, according to official data, in the latest sign of an economic slowdown in the communist state.

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa is looking to source more oil from Nigeria, its deputy president said on Wednesday, suggesting Pretoria is moving to cut crude imports from Iran to avoid looming U.S. sanctions. Africa's biggest economy imports a quarter of its crude from Iran, but has come under Western pressure to cut the shipments as part of sanctions designed to halt Tehran's suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons. ...

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Rio Tinto is maintaining its plan to substantially increase iron ore production over the coming years, saying its global output capacity could almost double to 450 million metric tons (496.04 million tons) by 2016 from current levels. Rio, along with other big diversified miners including BHP Billiton , Vale and AngloAmerican , are beefing up iron ore divisions in anticipation of long-term demand for the steel-making ingredient, even as slowing economic growth in top consumer China casts doubt on near-term consumption. Rio, the world's No. ...

Asian stock markets faltered Thursday as the lack of a breakthrough in Europe's attempts to shake off its debt crisis kept sentiment gloomy.

New Zealand said it would contain spending to try to put the government's books back in the black within three years, while also fostering growth in the struggling economy.

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index advanced for the second straight day on Wednesday, rallying with gold and base-metal mining shares to dig itself out of an early hole as mounting fears about the euro zone economy and China rattled markets. The index surged nearly 300 points, or 2.6 percent, after nearly hitting a 2012 low at 11,260.04 early on Wednesday as worries about Greece's possible exit from the euro zone sparked a broad sell-off in equities. The rebound was led by the gold mining subgroup, which jumped more than 4. ...