CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS April 9, 2012 Oriel Securities The UK corporate and institutional stockbroker and advisory firm has announced the appointment of David Knox as head of equities. Knox joins in June from JP Morgan Cazenove, where he served as head of equity research and a member of the executive committee. GW Pharmaceuticals The AIM-listed pharmaceutical company has announced that David [...]
BEST of the BROKERS April 9, 2012 ASHMORE House broker UBS has upgraded the emerging markets fund manager from “neutral” to “buy” and upped its target price from 400p to 420p following recent share price underperformance and record inflows. The broker sees significant structural opportunities for growth in emerging market assets. BTG Deutsche Bank rates the specialist healthcare company as a “buy” [...]
Interest rates frozen April 5, 2012 The Bank of England has continued to keep UK interest rates at 0.5 per cent and announced no change to its quantitative easing(QE) programme. Rates have been at 0.5 per cent since March 2009.
New car sales up 1.8 per cent in March April 5, 2012 New car sales rose 1.8 percent on the year in the key month of March to 372,835 vehicles, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said on Thursday. March is typically the busiest month for registrations, accounting for 18 percent of the full year’s volume on average. “The important March new car market performed above [...]
Miners lift FTSE but UK factory figures cast shadow April 5, 2012 The FTSE 100 edged up this morning as miners were boosted by more positive data from China but a shadow was cast over the UK by bleak factory output figures. Investors were also eyeing the Bank of England’s interest rate decision at midday with rates expected to be frozen again with no more quantitative easing [...]
UK factory output in shock drop April 5, 2012 British factory output suffered its biggest monthly fall in almost a year in February, confounding upbeat private-sector surveys and casting doubt on the health of the country’s economic recovery. The economy shrank at the end of 2011, ensuring the Bank of England bolstered its quantitative easing gilt purchases in February, a decision it looks set [...]
China service sector in boost April 5, 2012 China’s services sector expanded solidly in March and business confidence hit an 11-month high, though overall activity remained below its long-term average, a private sector survey of purchasing managers showed. The seasonally adjusted HSBC Services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) stood at 53.3 in March, down slightly from February’s 53.9, but still signalling healthy growth with [...]
Halfords customers cut back on accessories April 5, 2012 Halfords said it expected to post 2012 pre-tax profit broadly in line with revised forecasts but well down on previous years as consumers cut back on non-essential services. It said it also expected the consumer environment to remain challenging in 2013, especially for the motorist. In the last 13 weeks, stores in Britain and Ireland [...]
Recruiter Robert Walters sees net fees rise April 5, 2012 Robert Walters (RWA.L) got off to a strong start in 2012, with the British recruitment firm posting a 12 percent increase in net fees in the first quarter, helped by growth across all regions in which it operates. However, the white-collar recruiter, which places people in accountancy, banking, IT and administration jobs, said clients and [...]
THE GREAT DIVIDE April 4, 2012 THE UK’S economic recovery is back on track after a raft of new figures released yesterday showed the economy growing in the first quarter of 2012. The figures contrast starkly with the deteriorating picture in the Eurozone. The country’s services sector output expanded at its fastest pace for almost two years in March, Markit’s purchasing [...]