FTSE closes at two-month high despite light volumes April 26, 2011 aBRITAIN’S FTSE 100 closed at its highest level in over two months yesterday, albeit in light volumes, as earnings from the US and Europe supported gains ahead of results from UK companies such as ARM and BP. The blue-chip FTSE 100 closed up 0.9 per cent at 6,069.36, with volumes still thin after the four-day [...]
Corporate results boost US stocks April 26, 2011 A FRESH batch of corporate results pushed US stocks to their best levels since June 2008 yesterday, renewing optimism that profit growth will remain resilient enough to keep equities on the rise. The S&P 500 barreled through the 1,344 level, seen as a key resistance point the benchmark index needed to surpass in order to [...]
Federal Reserve chairman faces press scrutiny April 26, 2011 TODAY, for the first time in its 97-year history, the US Federal Reserve will start hosting quarterly press conferences in an attempt to better explain the decisions of its Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). Replicating the Bank of England (BoE) and the European Central Bank (ECB), these press conferences will help to make the chairman’s [...]
AN UNCERTAIN ENDGAME PUTS FOCUS ON FOMC April 26, 2011 WHAT’S good as gold these days? Absolutely nothing, except perhaps silver. As the holiday-shortened week opened for trade, gold continued to set new highs, climbing above the $1,500/oz. level while silver surged, coming to within a few points of breaking above the psychologically important $50/oz. barrier on the way to setting a new record high. [...]
THE TIPSTER April 26, 2011 THE pound is set to take centre stage today with first quarter GDP due out at 9:30am. A figure in excess of 0.7 per cent could well see further sterling-dollar gains towards $1.6800 on a break above the recent highs of $1.6600. A figure below 0.5 per cent could well see the pound slip back [...]
FOREX ANALYST PICKS April 26, 2011 FOREX STRATEGIST JOHN KICKLIGHTER My pick: Short euro-dollar, short euro-Canadian dollar, long dollar-yen Expertise: Fundamental and Technical Analysis with Risk Management Average time frame of trades: 1 day to 1 week The Kiwi dollar-dollar’s bearish reversal I was looking for didn’t play out from last week as fundamental support in the form of risk appetite [...]
US stocks fall over fears of commodity price rises April 25, 2011 IN the lightest volume session of the year, US stocks fell yesterday after a lowered outlook from Kimberly-Clark increased concerns about higher commodity costs squeezing profits in coming quarters. About 5.4bn shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, below the daily average of 7.74bn. Kimberly-Clark fell 2.7 per [...]
WALL STREET WEEK AHEAD April 25, 2011 LARGE blue chips, including some consumer-oriented companies, will have to show they can counter sluggish developed economies by leveraging growth in emerging markets and technology – if Wall Street is to maintain earnings momentum this week. Companies like Microsoft, PepsiCo, and Coca-Cola, unloved on Wall Street, could turn out to be good buys if they [...]
How UK CFD traders can gain from a falling dollar April 25, 2011 THIS year’s financial headlines have been dominated by uncertainty around the world. The turmoil in the Middle East and north Africa has led to long-term supply worries in this oil rich area, and the continuing fears over the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis have had investors seeking out safe havens. Combined with the weak greenback, these [...]
DOLLAR FEARS MAY KEEP OIL ON THE BOIL April 25, 2011 FINANCIAL markets initially reeled following last week’s announcement from Standard & Poor’s (S&P). The ratings agency downgraded its outlook for US sovereign debt to “negative” from “stable”, implying a 33 per cent chance that the US would lose its AAA credit rating within the next two years. The agency is concerned by the fiscal challenges [...]