Markets buzz on Chinese liquidity shot January 21, 2014 Yesterday, Chinese GDP numbers showed that economic growth slowed in 2013 from 7.8 per cent to 7.7 per cent. In response, the Chinese government last night administered a short-term liquidity injection to commercial banks, showing its willingness to act in the face of dwindling growth. Market strategist Ishaq Siddiqi of ETX Capital comments that markets [...]
SocGen cuts Apple to “hold” on iPhone 5s sales fears January 21, 2014 France's second biggest bank is falling out of love with tech giant Apple. Societe Generale have cut their rating for the company's shares from "buy" to "hold" – their preferred stock in the communications equipment sector is Ericsson. While the worldwide handset had a good 2014 – equity analyst Andy Perkins said it remained strong [...]
Pictures: Petra Diamonds unearths “exceptional” 29.6 carat blue diamond January 21, 2014 Miner Petra Diamonds has announced this morning that it’s recovered one of those most highly coveted kinds of diamonds – a blue diamond. The precious stone is 29.6 carats, and was found at its Cullinan mine in South Africa. The company says the stone is "one of the most exceptional" it’s ever recovered at the mine, [...]
Carphone Warehouse sticks to full-year guidance despite falling sales January 21, 2014 Carphone Warehouse announced today a 3.1 per cent like-for-like revenue increase in the third quarter. Europe's biggest independent mobile phone retailer suffered further losses in the pre-pay phone market but managed to achieve a sixth quarter of like-for-like revenue growth. The London-listed group's Virgin Mobile France saw revenue decline year-on-year by 15.6 per cent, reflecting [...]
Unilever dogged by currency headwinds and competitive markets January 21, 2014 "Good progress in tough markets" is the phrase Unilever has chosen to describe its performance in 2013. The Anglo-Dutch products giant said its determined to improve by “driving out complexity and cost”. In its full year results for 2013, Unilever reported underlying sales growth of 4.3 per cent (4.1 per cent in the fourth quarter) [...]
Emerging markets drive sales increase for SABMiller January 21, 2014 SABMiller, the world's second-largest brewer, has announced an increase in worldwide sales with domestic volumes in the UK up nine per cent led by Peroni Nastro Azzurro. Net producer revenue of four per cent for the third quarter. Total beverage volumes grew by two per cent for the third quarter on an organic basis, with [...]
What you need to know before the open – 21/01 January 21, 2014 With German and European ZEW surveys for January out this morning, Europe is set to open up. A positive number will most likely push markets higher. The International Monetary Fund is expected to revise up its growth forecasts for the UK. #FTSE100 called +20pts at 6855 as 2014 optimism gets fillip from PBOC interventing to [...]
CNBC Comment: Davos cynics miss its true relevance January 20, 2014 IT’S EASY to be hysterical or snarky about the annual gathering of chief executives, politicians, economists and “thought leaders” at the World Economic Forum in Davos (which begins this week) – particularly if you’re not going. Plenty of conspiracy theorists suspect that the world’s elite is gathering in this small Swiss town to plan the [...]
DailyFX Tips & Picks: Understanding the nature of the London forex session January 20, 2014 Trading the London forex session can be an eye-opening experience; the movements are hefty and trend-following traders tend to perform best during these hours. The reason for this is that the market’s bias will be quite consistent until New York joins in the afternoon. This means that, if the day starts out with a stronger [...]
DailyFX Tips & Picks: Analyst picks January 20, 2014 CHIEF STRATEGIST JOHN KICKLIGHTER My pick: Short sterling-dollar, long Aussie-yen and euro-sterling Expertise: Fundamental and technical analysis Average time frame of trades: 1 day to 1 week Full-scale risk aversion is a scenario that constantly circles the borders of the financial markets, but positioning for catastrophe is a game fraught with false starts. Until we [...]