BROKEN EURO TROUBLE FOR CHINA AND US May 25, 2010 BORIS SCHLOSSBERG DIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT WITH the yuan up nearly 15 per cent against the euro this year, there was some speculation in the market last week that the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) was a major buyer of the currency as Chinese monetary officials tried to slow the chaotic sell-off. A drop [...]
THE TIPSTER May 25, 2010 THE yen has been appreciating steadily against the greenback since the start of May. There have been some suggestions that the yen is seen as a safe haven but the fundamentals coming out of Japan still all too often make for difficult reading. For example, public debt is extremely high at 180 per cent of [...]
FOREX FLASH May 25, 2010 US-CHINA TALKS CENTRE ON YUAN PEG At the close of talks between the US and China this week, US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner voiced a growing hope that China might end its most recent yuan peg to the dollar, telling Bloomberg Television that he was “as confident as I’ve ever been” that Beijing would soon [...]
Bleak picture in UK markets as shares tumble on Eurozone and Korea fears May 25, 2010 BRITAIN’S leading shares tumbled yesterday, laid low by big falls from banks and commodity issues as ongoing euro zone debt contagion fears and rising tensions in Korea kept investors wary. By the close, the FTSE 100 index was down 128.93 points, or 2.5 per cent, at 4,940.68, having touched an eight-and-a-half month low of 4,898.49 [...]
US stocks stage late rally to counteract euro fears May 25, 2010 US stocks staged a furious late-day rally yesterday to push the S&P 500 into positive territory as the focus shifted from European debt woes to buying after shares hit six-month lows. Major US indexes had fallen more than three per cent early in the session. The morning’s action reflected the market’s nervousness as the S&P [...]
New FSA vetting regime changing life in the City May 25, 2010 LAST week, the FSA secured an undertaking from former senior RBS executive Johnny Cameron that he would not work full-time in the financial services industry again. This weekend it emerged that ex-Morgan Stanley executive John Hyman would not be going through with his planned move to Nomura because the regulator had asked that his FSA [...]
EU’s regulation land-grab harms funds sector May 25, 2010 THE Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive took a significant step towards becoming law last week after being approved by the European Council. While a lot of commentary has focused on the high profile hedge fund sector, the directive will regulate all European managers of private funds irrespective of the underlying asset class. In addition to [...]
The beginning of the age of austerity leaves markets cautiously optimistic May 24, 2010 THE markets’ wait to hear more details of exactly where the axe will fall on public spending has come to an end. Yesterday chancellor George Osborne kicked off the “age of austerity” with a list of £6.2bn in cuts for this fiscal year. But due to the extent of the shortfall in the UK’s public [...]
Miners and banks help FTSE overturn three days of losses May 24, 2010 BRITAIN’S top shares broke a three-day losing streak yesterday as miners spurred by upbeat comments from China, outpaced falls in oils led by BP as concerns lingered over the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster. The FTSE 100 ended 6.68 points or 0.1 per cent higher at 5,026.44, in choppy trade. The index is down more [...]
Dow slides on bank woes in Eurozone May 24, 2010 US stocks slid yesterday, driving the Dow to its lowest level since 10 February as fresh signs of Europe’s banking problems emerged. The Eurozone’s turbulence kept investors wary of taking on risk, after the S&P 500’s 4.2 per cent drop last week. Financial shares were among the day’s largest decliners, with the KBW Bank index [...]