BEST OF THE BROKERS September 9, 2010 SANTANDER Santander offers a reasonable degree of safety within a European sector that lacks clear direction, according to JP Morgan, which maintains an “over-weight” rating. However, JP Morgan cautions that the current valuation leaves little room for earnings disappointment, Spain remains a drag, and some post-deals capital hike cannot be totally discarded. RICHEMONT Nomura has [...]
Import surge widens UK trade deficit September 9, 2010 BRITAIN’S trade deficit exploded in the three months to July to a record £13.2bn, dashing hopes among policymakers and economists that net trade might help to drive economic growth higher. The gulf between imports and exports of goods widened to £8.7bn from £7.5bn in June, the biggest since the series started in January 1998 and [...]
MPC sticks to low interest rate policy September 9, 2010 THE Bank of England voted to keep monetary policy on hold this month with interest rates remaining at their historic low of 0.5 per cent and asset purchases at £200bn. The decision did not surprise City economists, who had widely expected the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to uphold the status quo for another month. Although [...]
CITY VIEWS: WHEN DO YOU THINK INTEREST RATES WILL GO BACK UP? September 9, 2010 ERIC TARTERET | SOCIETE GENERALE “Interest rates in the UK will go up within the next six to eight months, but they won’t rise by much, maybe a quarter of a point. The UK services sector, including financial services, is strong, while the export industry is reporting good figures.” SARAH WEBSTER | NORTON ROSE “Interest [...]
Finance minister says German new debt may be below €60bn September 9, 2010 German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble yesterday said Germany’s net new borrowing could be less than €60bn (£49.3bn) this year, putting it well below a previous target of around €65bn. Berlin has barely begun issuing new debt this year. It has said it plans to issue €338bn in total debt in 2010, including for refinancing. So [...]
NAB’s A$13bn bid for Axa is blocked again September 9, 2010 National Australia Bank’s A$13.3bn (£8bn) bid for AXA Asia Pacific has been blocked for a second time, dashing its efforts to cement its lead in the world’s fourth-largest wealth management market. The Australian competition regulator’s decision clears the way for Australia’s second-biggest fund manager AMP to take another tilt at AXA Asia Pacific, after its [...]
Sanofi sticks with $69 per share offer for rival drug firm Genzyme September 9, 2010 French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis yesterday poured cold water on reports it had raised its offer for Genzyme, saying it was sticking to its bid of $18.5bn (£11.9bn), or $69 per share. “There is one offer, at $69 a share,” said spokesman Jean-Marc Podvin. “No other offer has been made to or discussed with the Genzyme board, [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 9, 2010 Clifford Chance The law firm said yesterday that Michael Dakin, the chief legal officer at Dubai-based investment firm Future Group, is to rejoin its ranks on the European high-yield team. Dakin left Clifford Chance to join Future in August last year, having been a partner at the law firm for four years. Prior to that, [...]
IG eyes turbulence after revenues rise September 9, 2010 SPREADBETTING and derivatives specialist IG Group is eyeing an uptick in trading activity as the prospect of further government debt woe in the Eurozone looms. Chief executive Tim Howkins said he was “quite gloomy” about the outlook for global equity markets given the need to gradually withdraw fiscal props in the wake of 2008’s financial [...]
US slips in WEF’s competitiveness rankings for 2010 September 9, 2010 SWITZERLAND remains the world’s most competitive economy, while the United States has fallen from second to fourth after losing the top spot last year, according to the World Economic Forum’s (WEF’s) annual rankings. Sweden, in second spot, and Singapore in third leapfrogged the United States in the WEF’s Global Competitiveness Report 2010/2011. Last year the [...]