Sterling falls to six-month low on grim outlook for UK economy October 13, 2009 STERLING is once again the whipping boy of the forex markets. It fell to a six-month low against the euro on Monday after a report from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) suggesting that sterling could hit parity versus the single currency. And despite relatively healthy retail sales and house price data, inflation [...]
Banks drag down the FTSE as miners and energy drop October 13, 2009 BRITAIN’S top shares closed 1.1 per cent lower yesterday, as weakness in banks outweighed strength in defensive issues, while sentiment was dampened by falls on Wall Street after disappointing corporate earnings. The benchmark FTSE 100 closed 56.02 points lower at 5,154.15, slipping below the 5,200 level which it hit for the first time in more [...]
US stocks slump on gloomy J&J results October 13, 2009 US stocks weakened yesterday as disappointing sales from Johnson & Johnson stirred jitters about the strength of earnings, snapping the S&P 500’s six-day winning streak. With the last two earnings periods characterised by cost cutting, investors have been hopeful that companies may start to show revenue growth in third-quarter results or improved outlooks. Though investors [...]
There’s no need to be scared of US stocks October 12, 2009 GIVEN the global influence of American business, it would seem perhaps a little odd that we Brits feel we don’t know enough about the largest market in the world to invest in it. This was, essentially, the upshot of research published yesterday by the largest US discount broker Charles Schwab. Based on a survey of [...]
10,000 ON THE DOW IS NOT IMPOSSIBLE October 12, 2009 MARTIN SLANEYHEAD OF DERIVATIVES, GFT DO not underestimate just how important this week is for the markets. The next few days are likely to prove decisive in determining the near-term direction of global stock markets. And it’s all down to earnings. In the first quarter, the overriding concern was whether we were facing meltdown, and [...]
FTSEcloses at one-year high as energy and mining rally October 12, 2009 RALLYING energy stocks and miners, spurred by firmer commodity prices and growing optimism on the corporate outlook and global economy, helped the top share index to its highest close in over a year yesterday. Global equity markets were given a shot in the arm by forecast-beating results from Philips ahead of earnings from other major [...]
S&P 500 puts in its sixth rise in a row October 12, 2009 THE S&P 500 index of the biggest US companies managed a sixth consecutive day of gains to end at its closing high for the year as energy shares rose alongside the price of oil. But the market lost some strength in the afternoon and the Dow and Nasdaq ended little changed as investors opted to [...]
Attention turns to the pub as leisure sector steps out October 11, 2009 This week will give us a glimpse of how consumers are spending their time, with Whitbread, Punch Taverns and PartyGaming all reporting. But it will be opinion-polling firm YouGov that gets a reaction from investors today, as it reports its full-year results. The company said in July that it was beginning to see the benefits [...]
Labour are at an all-time low, but the prices could improve October 11, 2009 WHEN he walked off stage in Manchester last Thursday, having delivered his speech to the Conservative Party Conference, most people in the country were left believing that this time next year David Cameron will be prime minister. Indeed, Cameron is odds-on to be the next PM with most of the high street bookies, so you [...]
How to play the US third quarter earnings season October 11, 2009 THIS week is widely expected to be crunch time for the markets across the world as the third quarter earnings season kicks off in earnest in the US. With companies from across the board reporting – including big hitters like Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, IBM and General Electric – we will finally see whether the rally [...]
