Euro crisis drags down emerging manufacturers January 16, 2012 THE EUROZONE crisis dampened emerging markets’ economic recovery, with HSBC’s emerging markets index, out yesterday, recording lacklustre growth in 2011’s last quarter. The index edged slightly higher in the three-month period to 52.2, from 52.0 in the third quarter. Any figure above 50 indicates expansion. World trade declined through the year, dragging on sentiment, with [...]
OSBORNE LINES UP LONDON FOR TRADING January 16, 2012 Chancellor George Osborne got the City’s seal of approval yesterday when he spoke at the Asia Financial Forum in Hong Kong. Osborne has brokered a deal lining London up as a powerhouse for trading the Chinese currency, the renminbi. He is set to visit Beijing and Tokyo today and tomorrow in a bid to strengthen [...]
Fitch worried on Russian politics January 16, 2012 Ratings agency Fitch revised Russia’s outlook to “stable” from “positive” yesterday. Rising “political uncertainty” and the global economic outlook were both blamed. “Political risk, reflected by poor governance indicators, is a long-standing weakness compared with most other triple-B rated countries,” Fitch announced. Such political worries increase the risk of capital flight, the agency claimed, which [...]
Many graduates unfit for work January 16, 2012 One fifth of employers believe school leavers make better employees than university graduates according to research from Adecco Group, the UK’s largest recruiter. The research revealed employer concerns that universities are giving unrealistic expectations of work and are failing to equip graduates with critical interpersonal, IT and even basic literacy skills. Graduates agree, with nearly [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 16, 2012 Signia Wealth Signia Wealth has appointed Martin King as managing director to lead its new Birmingham office, which will serve ultra high net worth individuals in the West Midlands as part of CEO Nathalie Dauriac-Stoebe’s expansion plans for the business. King joins the wealth manager from UBS Wealth Management, where he founded the Midlands office [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS January 16, 2012 FEDERAL GRID COMPANY (GDR) Goldman Sachs transfers its coverage of Russia’s largest electricity transmission company grid from the local stock exchange to its global depositary receipt listing in London, rating it as a “buy” with a target price of $7.50. The broker says news flow on Russian power utilities reached its most negative in autumn [...]
ECB triples bond purchases January 16, 2012 The European Central Bank more than tripled its bond purchases last week to the highest level since late November, spending €3.77bn (£3.11bn) as a calm start to the New Year gave way to an intensification of the euro zone debt crisis. The ECB’s bond purchases face renewed scrutiny after Standard & Poor’s mass euro zone [...]
Greek PM promises no default January 16, 2012 Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos has promised that his government will secure an agreement on restructuring its debt in time to avoid the country going bankrupt in late March. Greece needs a deal with the private sector, the EU and the IMF to avoid a disorderly default when €14.5bn (£12bn) of bond redemptions are due [...]
Alliance Boots revenue up 14pc January 16, 2012 Alliance Boots has announced 14.1 per cent growth in revenue for the third quarter compared to last year, driven by expansion in the firm’s pharmaceutical wholesale division. The company’s high street Boots stores also enjoyed a strong end to the year with like for like revenue up 4.1 per cent in the five weeks to [...]
FTSE slips as Eurozone downgrades sap confidence January 16, 2012 The FTSE 100 edged down in early trading as the Eurozone crisis sapped confidence with France losing its Triple A rating and Greece teetering on the brink of a disastrous default. Markets are now worried the Eurozone’s bailout fund, EFSF, might lose its Triple A rating after France, the fund’s second-largest guarantor, was stripped of [...]