Eurasian leads the miners higher while Lloyds shines August 19, 2009 THE FTSE 100 share index inched higher yesterday, helped by oil producers, which gained on firmer crude prices as US demand recovered, but banks fell after HSBC traded ex-dividend. The index closed up by 3.89 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 4,689.67, after trading as low as 4,625.44 earlier in the day. Volumes on the [...]
Oil surprise staves off Wall Street lull August 19, 2009 US stocks rose yesterday, shaking off a slide in China’s equity market as investors responded well to a surprise drop in crude oil stockpiles that might suggest an improving demand outlook. Exxon Mobil and Chevron led the blue-chip Dow industrials index’s advance. Exxon Mobil was up 2.3 per cent at $68.00, and Chevron gained 1.8 [...]
Bleak outlook means that the yen is going to rise and rise August 18, 2009 JAPAN’S return to growth for the first time since the first quarter of 2008 ought to have been cause for celebration in the markets. Hot on France and Germany’s heels, Japan grew 0.9 per cent in the three months to June on the previous quarter, putting the annual rate at 3.7 per cent. But even [...]
AUSTRALIA WILL NOT RAISE RATES August 18, 2009 BORIS SCHLOSSBERGDIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT OVER the past several months, the Australian dollar has been the most appealing currency for the recovery trade. Unlike its G20 counterparts, the Australian economy barely felt the blows of the global recession, registering only one negative quarter of growth before rebounding in the second quarter to record a [...]
The beautiful game? It’s nothing without lawyers August 18, 2009 IT is hard to imagine the chant of “we love lawyers” rolling down the Kop, but as another season kicks off, football may be surprised to know that it owes the legal profession a considerable debt. It was a solicitor, Ebenezer Cobb Morley, who had the idea to form an organisation that became the Football [...]
THINK HARD BEFORE YOU GO INTO LAW August 18, 2009 SPEAKER’S CORNERDES HUDSONCHIEF EXECUTIVE, THE LAW SOCIETY NOBODY who reads the legal press can fail to have noticed recently that the legal profession is feeling the pain of the recession. Solicitors are facing tough times and there are fewer places for newly-qualified solicitors than there have been for years. Becoming a solicitor is still a [...]
Goldman Sachs backs banks and helps to lift the markets August 18, 2009 THE FTSE 100 closed 0.9 per cent higher yesterday, led by gains in banks and miners which recovered from losses in the previous session, while data showed inflation held steady in July. The large-cap index closed 40.77 points higher at 4,685.78, recovering from a 1.4 per cent drop on Monday, its biggest one-day percentage loss [...]
Wall St boosted by upbeat retail giants August 18, 2009 US stocks rose yesterday, rebounding after sharp losses in the previous session, as better-than-expected results from big retailers encouraged investors to get back into the market. Results at consumer giants Home Depot, Target and department store operator Saks were helped by cost-cutting as revenue growth remained slack. The trend has dominated earnings season, but investors [...]
Take a punt on the weather with grains and orange juice August 17, 2009 THE summer months might be a quiet time for most traders, but not all. For those who make their money watching the prices of assets such as wheat, corn and orange juice, this is when the market is at its peak. In many cases, the outlook for the harvest is becoming clearer, and industry analysts [...]
OUTLOOK FOR STERLING IS UNCERTAIN August 17, 2009 MARK OUTTENSENIOR DEALER, GFT THIS summer has promised many great comebacks. Tom Watson only narrowly failed to secure a sixth Open title at the age of 59, Lance Armstrong’s attempt at an implausible eighth Tour de France victory disappeared in the mountains and Michael Schumacher’s eagerly anticipated return to Formula One was thwarted. So what [...]
