FTSE treads water but miners drop after ominous statistics from China September 11, 2012 BRITAIN’S top share index pared early losses to end flat yesterday, with uncertainty regarding the outcome of a German court ruling on the Eurozone’s bailout fund and the US Federal Reserve’s likely stimulus plans prompting investors to avoid strong bets. However, analysts said sentiment was improving following some positive steps taken by policymakers in Europe [...]
Dow Jones hits five-year high in light trading September 11, 2012 THE DOW Jones Industrial Average closed at the highest level in nearly five years yesterday in a lightly traded session before key decisions in Germany and the United States that could give markets a further boost. Energy, industrial and financial firms led the advance. Contributing to gains by the Dow, shares of IBM rose 1.15 [...]
FTSE dwindles as defensive stocks drop ahead of Fed and euro news September 10, 2012 BRITISH blue chip shares dipped yesterday as weakness in defensive stocks outweighed strength in risk-sensitive cyclicals, such as miners, and investors positioned for more newsflow out of Europe and the United States. The FTSE 100 closed down 1.60 points, or 0.03 per cent, at 5,793.20, with the index yo-yoing in a tight range around the [...]
Markets dip on Wall Street as tech stock falls September 10, 2012 WALL Street stocks fell yesterday as investors locked in gains on a recent rally ahead of possible policy action from the Federal Reserve later this week, while weakness in Intel shares weighed on the Nasdaq. The benchmark S&P 500 index closed at highs last week not seen in nearly five years, motivating some investors to [...]
Stakes raised ahead of crunch day for Europe September 10, 2012 THE Eurozone waits with bated breath as its fate is, once again, in the hands of its divided politicians. After Mario Draghi, European Central Bank (ECB) president, last week announced Outright Monetary Transactions (or OMT) – another acronym to add to the burgeoning Eurozone lexicon – traders were elated, sending shares in European stocks to [...]
US data points to a burst of QE from Ben Bernanke September 10, 2012 FX360 GLOBAL equities rallied sharply last week, with most of the gains coming after the European Central Bank (ECB) president, Mario Draghi, spoke on Thursday. There was nothing in Draghi’s statement that had not been telegraphed to the markets in advance. Nevertheless, investors piled into “risk assets” as the ECB president backed-up his earlier promise [...]
The Tipster | Raise your glass to JD Wetherspoon September 10, 2012 TRADERS have been questioning JD Wetherspoon, after the company’s share price stumbled over the last few weeks. However, there is optimism about the full-year results, due this week, as the European football championships are expected to have helped the pub chain. Shares hit year-highs above 480p in August, and the firm is expected to report [...]
Oil trading on hopes of stimulus September 10, 2012 THOUGH oil is in the middle of a bullish trend, prices find themselves pushed and pulled between potential stimulus measures, that could drive price on the upside, and the threat of oversupply, dragging the price back down. STIMULUS HOPES With weak macro data coming out of China and markets on tenterhooks in anticipation of the [...]
Analyst picks for 11 September 2012 September 10, 2012 CURRENCY STRATEGIST CHRIS VECCHIO My pick: Short Aussie-dollar Expertise: Fundamental and technical analysis Average time frame of trades: 1 day to 1 week Despite the rebound, Aussie-dollar has pulled back to respect a former channel, reversing some of its gains from the Chinese stimulus measures announced last week. Accordingly, topside resistance comes in at Au$1.0350-55 [...]
Retailers report but all eyes on world economy September 9, 2012 THE GLOBAL economy will once again set the tone for the markets this week, with a crucial German ruling on the new bailout fund due on Wednesday and a potential move on QE3 by the US Federal Reserve on Thursday. Greek leaders will today meet with their creditors to outline further austerity measures. And UBS’s [...]