Sterling hits seven month high against the US dollar June 1, 2009 STERLING gained against a broadly falling US dollar yesterday, as share prices rose on expectations for the global economy to stabilise, prompting investors to cautiously shift towards riskier assets. The pound rose to a seven-month high against the dollar, while it also gained against the euro and the yen. The dollar fell broadly, hitting its [...]
Factory order books show signs of life June 1, 2009 THE British manufacturing sector contracted at its slowest pace in a year in May according to the monthly purchasing managers’ index (PMI) published yesterday, fuelling further optimism that an economic recovery could be on its way. The CIPS/Markit index rose for the third month in a row to 45.4 in May, above April’s figure of [...]
Markets lifted by Chinese manufacturing expansion June 1, 2009 NEWS that China’s manufacturing sector expanded in May for the third consecutive month boosted optimism and lifted world markets yesterday. China’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell to 53.1 from 53.5 in April, but remained above the critical 50 level, which separates expansion from contraction. Investors were relieved that the pace of contraction was slowing [...]
Blanchflower: jobless to rise 100k a month June 1, 2009 BRITISH unemployment will continue to rise this year and next, adding some 100,000 more to jobless numbers a month, former Bank of England monetary policy committee (MPC) member David Blanchflower said yesterday. Blanchflower, who stepped down from the MPC at the end of last month, said the current recession made the economic outlook particularly difficult [...]
F&C adds two heavyweights to its board June 1, 2009 ASSET manager F&C has added a former PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) chairman and a former chief executive of rival Henderson to its board, in a bold reshuffle ahead of its shift to corporate independence. The group, currently being demerged from life insurer Friends Provident, named ex-Henderson chief executive Roger Yates as a non-executive director. He will be [...]
AnaCap vehicle to target financial services firms June 1, 2009 EUROPEAN private equity firm AnaCap has bucked the dim fundraising environment by gathering €575m (£496m) for a fund that will aim to snap up vulnerable UK financial services firms. The group, whose heavyweight investors include Goldman Sachs, Allianz and Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners, said the fund is twice the size of its other vehicle, [...]
Hardcore of fund bosses bank on falls June 1, 2009 A DWINDLING number of hardcore high-profile fund managers continue to hoard cash and shelter in defensive equities, in the belief that recent gains on the FTSE 100 are part of a bear market rally – not a recovery. As the FTSE 100 yesterday broke through the 4,500-point barrier, compared to lows around 3,500 just three [...]
B&B suffers on loan losses June 1, 2009 BRADFORD and Bingley will lose up to £700m on mortgage defaults this year and expects an increase in the rate of loan losses, its chief executive Richard Pym said yesterday. Pym said the number of borrowers more than three months behind on their mortgage had grown from the 4.6 per cent figure it announced in [...]
FSA extends regime forcing disclosure of short positions June 1, 2009 THE FINANCIAL Services Authority is proposing to extend the regime which requires the disclosure of short positions in financial stocks, it said yesterday. The City watchdog said an extension of the disclosure requirement, due to expire on 30 June, would “help reduce the potential for abusive behaviour and disorderly markets” and also hinted at longer-term [...]
ECONOMIST VIEWS: IS THIS A BEAR MARKET RALLY OR A PROPER BULL MARKET RUN? June 1, 2009 MAX KING INVESTEC ASSET MANAGEMENTIt has all the hallmarks of a bull market. We bought into the rally back in March and at the time our view was: “It’s going up so who cares whether it’s a bear rally or bull market?” Those people who are betting on a bear market rally may end up [...]