Oil and mining shares drag FTSE lower as commodity price falls take their toll April 13, 2010 BRITAIN’S leading shares shed 0.3 per cent yesterday as oils and miners fell back on lower commodity prices, while banks moved lower on investor caution ahead of first-quarter results in the United States. At the close, the FTSE 100 was down 15.99 points at 5,761.66, having been stuck in a tight 37 point trading range [...]
US stocks rise as investors buy ahead of bank results April 13, 2010 US stocks eked out a gain yesterday as investors looked ahead to earnings from big banks and tech bellwethers, even as disappointing revenue from Alcoa acted as a headwind. With the Standard & Poor’s index up about 40 per cent over the past year, some analysts say stock gains during earnings season could be minimal [...]
Hedging your dividends April 13, 2010 FOR the first time since 2007 institutional investors are ranking higher dividends as a top priority for investing in equities. According to the latest BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research Report fund manager survey, released yesterday, 27 per cent of fund managers would rather see firms distribute their cash as dividends to shareholders, compared with 23 [...]
Opportunities for growth in green Asia April 13, 2010 TAKE a trip around emerging Asia these days and you won’t just see skyscrapers and coal-fired power plants growing out of places where there were once nothing but fields. Wind turbines, solar energy plants, incinerator manufacturers, water treatment plants and microirrigation developments are just as likely to spring up before your eyes. There is now [...]
SHAGGAN AND OTHER TALES OF INTEREST April 13, 2010 DICK TURPIN MANAGING DIRECTOR, ARTEMIS THE Arabic word “shaggan” has no equivalent in English. It means the power some singers, such as Edith Piaf, have to imbue the lyrics of a song with an inexpressible melancholy; a yearning for better times. The shaggan has worked, it seems. As I write, the UK market is well [...]
FUND MANAGEMENT NEWS April 13, 2010 FUND MANAGERS MOVE OVERSEAS The prospect of tighter regulation and higher taxes has led to an 80 per cent increase in fund managers’ enquiries about relocation from the UK, according to Laven Partners, the consulting group. The prospect that the fund management industry will be exposed to new rules from the Alternative Investment Fund Management [...]
Position yourself now for a yuan revaluation April 13, 2010 CHINA’S premier Hu Jintao might have upheld his steely resistance to any pressure from the US to revalue the yuan yesterday, but there is little doubt that it is a question of when Beijing will revalue, not if. Although Chinese officials have always been very clear that any move would be gradual, an appreciation of [...]
CONSUMER IS KEY FOR THE US DOLLAR April 13, 2010 BORIS SCHLOSSBERG DIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT WITH the EU rescue package for Greece in place, some of the more immediate concerns that plagued the euro have been addressed, but the currency markets are still sceptical as to whether the Greek bail-out solution will be enough to quell sovereign debt worries. Until and unless the [...]
FOREX FLASH April 13, 2010 REAL STRENGTH The strength of Brazil’s economy should be the envy of Europe. Domestic demand has surged in recent months and central bank president Henrique Meirelles fuelled speculation that he will raise interest rates in two weeks time when he said on Monday that his job was to stop the economy from overheating. Currently interest [...]
THE TIPSTER April 13, 2010 THERE has been speculation in the markets that the Turkish central bank (TCMB) will begin tightening monetary policy in the coming months thanks to strong fourth quarter GDP growth of 6 per cent and inflation of 9.6 per cent in March. Currency traders should be looking out for any hawkish signs from the TCMB for [...]