U.S. stocks fall amid mergers, home sales
NEW YORK, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- U.S. stock indexes were down Tuesday amid banking merger activity and a weak U.S. home-sales report.
The Dow Jones industrial average lost 41.78 or 0.3 percent to 14,045.77 shortly after noon. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 3.27 or 0.21 percent to 1,543.77.
The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 1.73 or 0.6 percent to 2,739.26.
Japan's Nikkei 225 stock index finished the day up 200.82 points, or 1.19 percent, at 17,046.78.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was up 4/32, yielding 4.51 percent, while the 30-year bond was up 4/32, yielding 4.779 percent.
The U.S. dollar rose to 115.9 yen from 115.69 yen in New York late Monday. The euro fell to $1.4162 from $1.4238.
Canada's TD Bank to buy Commerce Bancorp
CHERRY HILL, N.J., Oct. 2 (UPI) -- Canada’s Toronto-Dominion Bank said Tuesday it would buy New Jersey’s Commerce Bancorp Inc. for $8.5 billion in stock and cash.
The 75 percent stock, 25 percent cash deal for the Cherry Hill, N.J., bank doubles Toronto-Dominion’s U.S. banking business “and accelerates our transformation to a leading North American financial institution,” President and Chief Executive Officer Ed Clark said.
“Commerce brings an impressive geographic footprint and market share in a contiguous region and a complementary North American retail banking business model,” he said.
Commerce Bank has about 450 branches, mostly in Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states, giving Toronto-Dominion more than 2,000 branches in North America and approximately $250 billion in deposits, the bank said.
The bank, which operates under the TD Bank Financial Group corporate brand, will become the seventh largest bank in North America as measured by branch locations, it said.
Under the agreement, expected to close in March or April, Commerce shareholders will receive 0.4142 share of Toronto-Dominion and $10.50 in cash for each Commerce share.
The deal values Commerce at $42 a share. Commerce shares closed at $39.74 Monday.
Toronto-Dominion already owns TD Banknorth, which has nearly 600 branches in eight Northeastern U.S. states.
Citigroup to buy rest of Nikko Cordial
TOKYO, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- Citigroup Inc. said Tuesday it would buy the one-third of Japanese brokerage Nikko Cordial Corp. it doesn't already own for about $4.6 billion.
The all-stock deal, in which Nikko minority shareholders get Citigroup shares worth $14.67 a share, gives New York’s Citigroup control of Japan’s third-largest securities firm – a firm it bought more than half of in April and has been steadily raising its stake in.
Citigroup has been interested in Nikko since an accounting scandal prompted the Tokyo Stock Exchange in December to put the Japanese company’s shares on watch for potential delisting.
After Citigroup and Nikko swap shares in January, the Japanese brokerage will be delisted from the Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya stock exchanges, Citigroup said.
Citigroup has filed an application to list Citigroup Inc. shares on the Tokyo exchange before the share exchange, it said.
Nikko said it would hold an extraordinary shareholders meeting to vote on the deal Dec. 19.
Citigroup said it planned to broaden product offerings between Nikko’s retail brokerage business and Citigroup’s Japanese retail banking and credit cards businesses.
It also planned to “achieve scale and efficiencies in technology and administrative support by combining support platforms.”
Citigroup didn't say if any jobs would be lost in the takeover.
Japan Post vows to keep rural mail service
TOKYO, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- The new holding company running Japan's postal service promised it would continue serving unprofitable rural areas.
Japan Post Holdings Co., beginning a 10-year privatization of some 24,000 post offices, said it would create a fund to maintain the old Postal Services Agency's nationwide "universal service," even as it pursues profitability amid growing competition.
Some 240,000 postal workers, who lost their status as public workers, began wearing new uniforms Monday.
A company spokesman said no system troubles had been reported with the changeover.
With the privatization, the company, which also controls insurance and banking, became the world's biggest commercial bank, with more than $3.1 trillion in assets, eclipsing Citigroup Inc.'s $2.22 trillion.
Despite banking-industry opposition, the company's Japan Post Bank subsidiary plans to start mortgage and credit-card businesses, the Kyodo News service reported.
It also seeks alliances with banking rivals with consumer, business and financial-products investment experience, the news agency said.
It is in talks with Shizuoka, Japan's Suruga Bank Ltd. to collaborate on home loans, the agency said.
Within three years, the holding company plans to spin off Japan Post Bank and Japan Post Insurance Co. and list them on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, leaving the company to focus on mail delivery and counter service, Kyodo News said.
