Best of the Brokers for 10 April 2014 April 9, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com KINGFISHER UBS has boosted Kingfisher from a “neutral” to a “buy” rating with its target price rising from 440p to 470p. The broker believes the home improvement retailer’s proposed deal to buy the French hardware firm Monsieur Bricolage could boost earnings per share by [...]
London Report: Housebuilders help FTSE to a modest bounce April 9, 2014 BRITAIN’S blue-chip stock index staged a technical bounce yesterday, helped by a rally in housebuilders as analysts flagged buying opportunities in shares that have underperformed recently. The FTSE 100 had shed 1.6 per cent over the previous two days. However, charts showed the trend for the index remained up and investors were still prepared to [...]
New York Report: Dovish Federal Reserve tone boosts shares April 9, 2014 US STOCKS rallied yesterday after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting showed a more supportive stance than investors had previously expected. All three major US stock indexes ended up more than one per cent, with eight of the 10 S&P 500 sector indexes closing higher. Internet and biotech stocks were among the day’s [...]
Atom Bank shows how Metro changed the industry April 9, 2014 When Metro Bank launched in 2010 it was a shock. Not just to the eye, with its bold, bright colours, but to the high street, its competitors – and the regulator. It was the first time a new bank had been given a licence in more than 100 years and the authorities were not prepared. [...]
Tobacco set to suffer as ecigarette revolution takes hold April 9, 2014 Japanese banking giant Nomura is forecasting a steady decline in cigarette volumes as the ecigarette revolution gathers pace. Nomura believes cigarette volumes will fall by 3.8 per cent (five-year compound annual growth rate), while ecigarettes are set to rise to 15 per cent of equivalent units in the US by 2023. Ecigarettes are changing the [...]
HS2 deluged by 11,000 complaints on postcards April 9, 2014 Spare a thought for the post room at Golder Associates, the company hired by the Department for Transport to assess the environmental effects of High Speed 2. The consultancy recently received some 7,500 postcards entitled “Don’t miss your chance to tell David Cameron the only AONB [area of outstanding natural beauty] on the route of [...]
Why one analyst is so bearish on BT April 9, 2014 BT’s shares have been cooling for the past month, falling around 10 per cent, and now broker Bernstein has downgraded BT to “market-perform” on fears it may overspend on upcoming Premier League auction. “BT's ambition in TV is clear, what is not is how far they are willing to push Sky in the next round [...]
What you need to know before the US open April 9, 2014 US markets are expected flat today, as investors await minutes from the Federal Reserve. The notes from its last meeting will be released later, with investors hoping they’ll provide further indication of how quickly the bank will raise interest rates. Earlier, data showed mortgage applications fell for the third week in a row last week. [...]
Greece may start issuing bonds again, but its economy is still shattered April 9, 2014 The Greek government looks set to return to bond markets this week, after a four-year absence – its last issue for seven-year bonds was in the first quarter of 2010, a couple of months ahead of the bailout that locked it out of markets. But earlier this year, finance minister Yannis Stournaras laid out a [...]
Why one analyst loves construction firm Carillion April 9, 2014 Construction services firm Carillion’s share price has soared over five per cent today, after an upgrade from Cantor Fitzgerald. The research note put a “buy” recommendation on the FTSE 250 firm and increased its target price to 420p from 350p, in part due to a strengthened order book and downsizing of the struggling UK construction [...]