Late rally sees FTSE 100 hit a five-year high February 13, 2013 THE FTSE 100 staged a late rally yesterday when shorts got squeezed by the continued resilience of the market on the back of rising investor confidence. Britain’s top share index closed up 20.73 points, or 0.3 per cent, at 6,359.11, and touched an intraday high of 6,384.70 – its highest in five years. The index, [...]
Caution keeps volumes low and Wall St flat February 13, 2013 US stocks drifted in light volume yesterday, ending little changed, as investors remained cautious after the S&P 500 index briefly hit its highest intraday level since November 2007. The S&P 500 was buoyed by General Electric after cable company Comcast said it will buy from GE the the part of NBCUniversal it didn’t already own [...]
Barclays leads FTSE to top day of month so far February 12, 2013 ASURGE in Barclays’ shares led the FTSE 100 past the psychologically important 6,300 level yesterday, as the blue chip bank’s planned overhaul raised hopes for the troubled sector’s revival. Barclays gained 8.4 per cent, leading FTSE 100 gainers and adding over 12 points to the index alone, after unveiling plans to slash annual costs by [...]
Dow heads to highs ahead of key speech February 12, 2013 US STOCKS closed modestly higher yesterday, putting the Dow within striking distance of an all-time high, as investors looked ahead to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address. Investors will be listening to Obama’s speech for any clues on a deal with Republicans to avert automatic spending cuts due to take effect on 1 [...]
How to gain emerging market exposure February 12, 2013 IT IS a well-known story. Emerging markets are playing a more significant role in global economic growth. Recent research from PwC has highlighted that emerging market GDP will exceed that of developed markets, in terms of purchasing power parity (which adjusts for differences in exchange rates), for the first time in 2013. Since 2002, the [...]
Gold’s surprising stability deserves some closer attention February 12, 2013 AFTER reaching a peak of $1,922 per troy ounce in September 2011, gold has struggled to break new ground, with every rally since then failing to match the previous. Indeed, after the price performances of 2003 to 2011, the last 18 months have been constrained. And for quite a few reasons this is surprising. One [...]
FTSE pauses for breath beneath the 6,300 mark February 11, 2013 BRITAIN’S FTSE 100 was lifted yesterday by strength in energy stocks and food retailers, but the index was still struggling to break through the four-and-a-half year highs hit at the start of February. London’s blue chip index gained 13.13 points, or 0.2 per cent at 6,277.06, holding within the 70-point range of the last five [...]
US markets are quiet after six weeks of gains February 11, 2013 US stocks ended a quiet session with slight moves yesterday as investors found few reasons to keep pushing shares higher following a six-week advance, though the longer-term trend was still viewed as positive. The benchmark index is up more 6.4 per cent in 2013, putting both the S&P 500 and Dow industrials near multi-year highs. [...]
Bank ringfences will solve little February 11, 2013 Chief Market Strategist, Cantor Index I AM enormously proud to have survived 50 years in the City of London. Over the last week, however, there has been little news involving banks to be remotely glad about. We heard some “mea-culpa” testimony to the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards from Lloyds Banking Group’s chief executive Antonio [...]
Oil prices ride a wave of recent global optimism February 11, 2013 FOR a long time, oil prices have been dominated by supply shocks, as one major oil producer after another has gone through a period of unrest. But while the Middle Eastern oil producers are still a long way from an oasis of calm, it is now expected demand-side improvements, rather than supply worries, that are [...]