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Investors continue to dump commodity ETPs in May: BlackRock

LONDON (Reuters) - A stronger dollar and weaker inflation expectations prompted further redemptions from commodity exchange traded products (ETPs) by investors in May, although the pace slowed from April's record outflows. ETPs, whose value is linked to moves in their underlying assets, are seen as an easy route into commodities.

Toronto spent at least $370k in debate on downtown casino bid council later sunk

TORONTO - Toronto paid out more than $300,000 in consultants' fees as it studied the pros and cons of a downtown casino project ultimately sunk by city council. A public letter by the city's top bureaucrat says $57,100 was spent in-house as staff penned a dozen reports on the casino bid, while another $313,000 went to three consulting firms. Joe Pennachetti's letter says internal spending in the year-long debate included some $36,000 in advertising, $12,200 for translation services and $2,800 on room rentals.

Low-budget 'The Purge' scares up $36 mn in tickets

Low-budget horror film "The Purge" jumped to the top of the North American box office in its opening weekend with $34.1 million in ticket sales, figures showed Monday. With a budget of only $3 million, Universal's feature stars Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey as parents fighting off a home invasion during a night when all crime is legal in an America of the near-future. It raced straight into the lead ahead of "Fast & Furious 6," the action sequel starring Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez that scored $19.6 million for a total of $203 million over three weeks in theaters.

Made for just $3 million, 'The Purge' scares up $34.1 million at the box office

NEW YORK, N.Y. - Made for just $3 million, the suspense thriller "The Purge" scared up more than 10 times that in its opening weekend at the box office. The Universal horror film took in $2 million less than the studio estimated Sunday, but its actual weekend haul of $34.1 million still blew away industry forecasts. The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theatres Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theatre locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com, are:

Most actively traded companies on the TSX, TSX Venture Exchange markets

TORONTO - Some of the most active companies traded Monday on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the TSX Venture Exchange: Toronto Stock Exchange (12,382.67 up 9.37 points): Bombardier Inc. (TSX:BBD.B). Plane and train maker. Down 13 cents, or 2.64 per cent, at $4.79 on 4.93 million shares. The industrials sector led the losers on the main index, dropping 1.05 per cent to 137.58 points. BlackBerry (TSX:BB). Wireless technology. Up 14 cents, or 0.99 per cent, at $14.24 on 3.94 million shares.

Oil remains above $96 a barrel after encouraging U.S. jobs report

BANGKOK - The price of oil rose slightly Monday, extending gains posted late last week on the heels of a positive U.S. employment report. Benchmark oil for July delivery rose 5 cents to US$96.08 per barrel at midday Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract for benchmark crude rose $1.27 to close at $96.03 a barrel on the Nymex on Friday.

Low-budget 'The Purge' scares up $36 mn in tickets

Low-budget horror film "The Purge" jumped to the top of the North American box office in its opening weekend with $36.4 million in ticket sales, estimates showed Sunday. Universal's $3 million feature stars Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey as parents fighting off a home invasion during a night when all crime is legal in an America of the near-future. It came ahead of "Fast & Furious 6," the action sequel starring Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez that scored $19.8 million for a total of $203 million over three weeks in theaters.

Textura shares jump in first day of trading after software maker's IPO raises $75 million

NEW YORK, N.Y. - Textura Corp. shares rose in their trading debut after the software company raised $75 million in its initial public offering of stock. Textura sold 5 million shares for $15 each, the high end of its expected price range of $13 to $15. The banks managing the deal may buy another 750,000 shares, increasing the proceeds from the IPO. The Deerfield, Ill., company provides project management software for the construction industry. The shares, which trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "TXTR," rose 40 per cent to close at $20.94 Friday.

Royalty Pharma raises offer for drugmaker Elan to $13 per share plus possible future payments

Shares of Elan Corp. PLC jumped Friday after Royalty Pharma once again raised its offer to buy the Irish drugmaker in an increasingly bitter takeover fight. Royalty said it will now pay $13 in cash for each Elan share, and it will give stockholders the right to receive up to an additional $2.50 per share in milestone-based payments. That's up from a previous bid of $12.50 per share. Elan had nearly 597 million shares outstanding at the end of March, so the latest offer totals about $7.76 billion, not counting the milestone-based payments.

US consumers increased borrowing by $11.1 billion in April, led by student and auto loans

WASHINGTON - Americans borrowed more in April to attend college and buy cars and were a little less cautious with their credit cards than the previous month. The Federal Reserve said Friday that consumer borrowing rose $11.1 billion in April from March to a seasonally adjusted $2.82 trillion. That's the 20th straight monthly gain and another record level.
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