FTSE tumbles to lowest close for a week as bank shares fall January 17, 2011 BRITAIN’S top share index fell yesterday, with declines from miners and banks offsetting a lift from merger and acquisition moves, as finance ministers were gathering to discuss changes to the Eurozone’s rescue fund. Smiths grabbed top spot on the blue-chip leaderboard, up 7.7 per cent, after the engineering firm rebuffed a £2.45bn bid for its [...]
Europe treads water ahead of EU summit January 17, 2011 EUROPEAN shares ended flat yesteday, with banks among the top fallers, as investors traded cautiously ahead of the outcome of a Eurozone finance ministers meeting aimed at discussing changes to the bloc’s rescue fund. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares provisionally closed flat at 1,156.59 points. Financials were lower, with the STOXX Europe [...]
Getting bigger slower January 17, 2011 THE Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Retail Price Index (CPI) figures are both out today. CPI is expected to hit around 3.5 per cent, while RPI could go as high as 4.8 per cent. That difference may seem fairly insubstantial, but a lot of people reaching retirement should take note. Why? Well because according to [...]
Pensions and Savings Bill effects: a breakdown January 17, 2011 1. THE “default retirement age” is to be scrapped. That means that employers will not be able to force retirement on workers who are older than 65. If workers wish to stay on, they will benefit from all of the employment protection available to younger workers, forcing employers to pay redundancy packages or else to [...]
Chinese torture is holding back the commodities rally January 16, 2011 CHINA was once famous for, among other things, an obscure torture method: reputedly a way to drive suspects insane by slowly dripping water onto their foreheads. Nowadays, however, many commodities traders must feel rather like victims of the technique. The Chinese government has been slowly drip-feeding the commodities markets with hints about monetary tightening. On [...]
UK stocks set to profit from strong US market January 16, 2011 AFTER a wobble on Friday brought on by concerns about China’s economy, UK stocks are set to bounce back this morning thanks to a strong close by US markets before the weekend. FTSE LIKELY TO OPEN STRONGER GFT is quoting the FTSE 100 index to open up 30 points from Friday’s close, at a level of 6,002. Elsewhere [...]
WALL STREET WEEK AHEAD January 16, 2011 US bank stocks are flying high, and this week’s earnings could give investors more reason to be optimistic about the sector. Strong results from JPMorgan Chase & Co on Friday bolstered expectations for top US banks, many of which are due to report in the coming week, including Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. Financials have been [...]
Snow losers for traders looking for volatility January 16, 2011 THE Christmas trading results branded companies as either winners or “snow losers” last week. Tesco shocked the market by offering figures that analysts felt paled in comparison to Sainsbury’s. Thanks to 12,000 tonnes of grit, the supermarket deserved to take the title of winner of the festive race. Toy, clothing and leisure retailers also offered [...]
THE WEEK AHEAD January 16, 2011 COMPANY NEWS ● Several large American technology companies will report their results after UK trading hours on Tuesday, including Apple, IBM and Western Digital. ● As will remaining British retailers, including the fashion group Burberry and Carphone Warehouse. ● The budget pub chain JD Wetherspoon will release a trading update on Wednesday, as will bookmaker William [...]
THE TIPSTER January 16, 2011 DISCOUNT pub group JD Wetherspoon has a trading update due out on Wednesday that should offer some insight as to the impact bad weather had on sales in the pre-Christmas period. A degree of this has presumably been priced in already although broker sentiment does seem to be building against the stock. IG Index is [...]