Currency wars and rate hikes: another year in emerging FX December 21, 2010 CHEAP money and attractive returns have seen investors plough their money into emerging market currencies. Yet hot money inflows have forced currency appreciation despite authorities’ best efforts at capital controls and other methods of weakening their exchange rates. Thanks to highly accommodative monetary policy in the West and efforts to remain competitive among the emerging [...]
FOREX ANALYST PICKS December 21, 2010 FOREX STRATEGIST ILYA SPIVAK My pick: Stay long dollar-yen Expertise: Global macro Average time frame of trades: 1 week-6 months I bought dollar-yen at ¥83.08 in mid-November expecting the pair to rise along with US Treasury yields after the size of the Federal Reserve’s QE matched expectations and opened the door for profit-taking. Prices pulled [...]
the bullish argument for the euro December 21, 2010 DIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT AS WE approach 2011, no currency is less liked than the euro. Only yesterday, the euro was at all-time lows against the Swiss franc with the pair sliding towards the SFr1.2500 level. It appears as though all of Europe is trying to exchange the single currency in favour of the [...]
THE TIPSTER December 21, 2010 SIGNIFICANTLY worse-than-expected public sector borrowing levels from the UK have somewhat eclipsed the marginal undershoot in German consumer confidence. As a result, the common currency is pushing higher against the pound. But for as long as the ratings agencies remain supportive of British efforts at fiscal reform then there’s a good argument to suggest sterling [...]
FTSE surges to a 30-month high as risk appetite boosted by strong US earnings December 21, 2010 MINERS and banks drove Britain’s top share index to a 30-month closing high yesterday, as risk appetite rose due to easing tensions on the Korean peninsula and upbeat earnings from US software maker Adobe Systems. The FTSE 100 index ended up 60.19 points, or one per cent, at 5,951.80, its highest close since early June [...]
Investor optimism drives shares on Wall St higher December 21, 2010 US stocks rose yesterday as solid earnings and a flurry of merger activity underpinned a steady upward trend that reinforced investor optimism for the coming year. Financials led the way higher, continuing their December rally after underperforming the broader market for much of the year. The KBW bank index 1.9 per cent. Northern Trust, which [...]
Utility firms lift FTSE 100 as cold snap drives power sales December 20, 2010 UTILITY stocks helped push Britain’s top shares higher yesterday, as the UK’s near-Arctic conditions boosted demand for energy, but British Airways toiled as the big freeze disrupted airline services. The FTSE 100 closed up 19.86 points, or 0.3 per cent, at 5,891.61. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 closed up 6.33 points at 11,433.11. It touched a [...]
US cheer sees S&P hit a two-year high December 20, 2010 US stocks tacked on further gains to push the S&P 500 to a two-year high yesterday, continuing a steady upward march investors believe will continue in 2011. Volume was light, as is expected through the rest of 2010. Investors stayed with sectors that have led a sharp December rally, including financials, energy and materials stocks. [...]
Silicon valley is being flooded through by a torrent of cash December 20, 2010 CALIFORNIA itself may be on the brink of bankruptcy, but its most famous Silicon Valley firms very much are not. By one estimate, the top 15 most capitalised technology firms have $316bn (£203.6bn) of cash and short term investments racked up. Apple, now the world’s second largest company by market capitalisation, has about $50bn in [...]
Dangerous times ahead for grown up Google December 20, 2010 GOOGLE was the darling of the 2000s. From its humble beginnings in California’s Stanford University in the late 1990s, Google managed to become a verb in less than a decade. It is now already thought by many to be “the next Microsoft”. Over the last five years, its share price has increased by 450 per [...]