Plus Markets sells exchange platform for £1 June 15, 2012 Exchange operator Plus Markets has sold its technical trading platform to Forum Trading Solutions for an initial £1, with the potential for another £281,250 if Plus’s deal to sell it’s main exchange business to ICAP goes through. Hirander Misra, non executive chairman of Forum said: “We are delighted to provide managed trading services to Plus, [...]
Mirror’s Sly Bailey quits with immediate effect June 15, 2012 Sly Bailey will step down as chief executive of Trinity Mirror with immediate effect and not at the end of the year as originally planned, the newspaper group announced today. Bailey announced in May that she would step down from the publisher of the Daily Mirror tabloid after shareholders took issue with her large pay [...]
London Metal Exchange to be bought by HKEx for £1.4bn June 15, 2012 The London Metal Exchange is set to be sold to the Hong Kong stock exchange (HKEx) in a deal worth £1.4bn. The offer must now be approved by the LME board. If accepted it will give Asia’s largest bourse a much needed entry into a the booming commodity trading business, and brings LME members closer [...]
Britain’s trade deficit widens against expectations June 15, 2012 Britain’s goods trade deficit unexpectedly widened in April as exports to countries outside the EU fell sharply while imports dipped less, according to data released today by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The ONS said the goods trade deficit grew to £10.1bn – the second-largest gap since records began in January 1998. Economists had [...]
Britain’s goods trade deficit widens June 15, 2012 Britain’s goods trade deficit unexpectedly widened in April as exports to countries outside the European Union fell sharply while imports dipped less, official data showed. The Office for National Statistics said the goods trade deficit grew to £10.1bn – the second-largest gap since records began in January 1998. That compared to a deficit of £8.734bn [...]
Banks rally fuelled by emergency credit plan June 15, 2012 The FTSE 100 saw rises fuelled by a rally in banking shares as the Government and the Bank of England announced plans to pump in £100bn of credit into the economy. Emergency measures to breathe new life into the economy were unveiled by Chancellor George Osborne last night with the money printing presses to be [...]
H&M sales rise June 15, 2012 Hennes & Mauritz, the world’s second-largest fashion retailer, said on Friday sales at stores open a year or more rose three per cent in local currencies in May, beating a Reuters poll forecast for a one per cent drop. Total sales in May, the last month of the Swedish budget apparel firm’s fiscal second quarter, [...]
Moody’s downgrades five Dutch banks June 15, 2012 Moody’s Investors Service said it had downgraded five Dutch banks, four of them by two notches, and warned a Greek exit of the euro would see further cuts, kicking off a long-awaited round of downgrades for major European institutions. Moody’s set a stable outlook to the ratings for four of the groups but kept a [...]
£100bn gamble to save UK economy June 14, 2012 EMERGENCY measures to try to kick start an economic recovery were announced by Sir Mervyn King and George Osborne at Mansion House last night, aiming to pump cash into the financial system and boost lending to businesses. The printing presses are set to be switched back on at the Bank of England as King warned [...]
Central banks on standby if Greek vote hits markets June 14, 2012 CENTRAL banks have devised a plan to boost liquidity and prevent a credit crunch if Greeks fail to elect a pro-bailout government on Sunday. A senior US official cautioned that the Greek election will not provide “the definitive signal on what happens next”, stating that central bankers are on standby to ensure enough cash is [...]