M&S and ITV brighten up dull day of trading for FTSE November 18, 2009 THE UK’s main market ticked down slightly yesterday, as an unexpected drop in US housing figures spooked investors and weakness in food retailers and tobacco firms outpaced gains in miners and energy companies. The FTSE100 closed 0.1 per cent lower at 5,342.13 with Cable & Wireless, Unilever, Vodafone and HSBC going ex-dividend. Marks & Spencer [...]
Poor building data halts Wall St gains November 18, 2009 US stocks broke three days of gains yesterday following worrisome outlooks from two major software makers and a surprising drop in home construction last month. But stocks sharply cut the session’s losses just before close as many investors pointed to a strong uptrend in equities that have pushed major indexes to 13-month highs in recent [...]
THIS IS NOT JUST ANY CHIEF EXEC… November 18, 2009 MARKS & Spencer yesterday stunned the City by naming WM Morrison’s successful boss Marc Bolland as its new chief executive. The shock move was widely welcomed by investors in M&S – but Morrisons’ shareholders suffered heavy losses. Sir Stuart Rose, who has been holding the position of executive chairman in defiance of corporate governance rules, [...]
Cadbury open to offer talks November 18, 2009 ITALIANchocolate maker Ferrero and US rival Hershey yesterday both confirmed that they were holding early talks about launching an offer for Cadbury. Cadbury, the target of a £9.8bn hostile bid from Kraft, said it would be open to a fair offer which delivers full value. Hershey told the City that it was “reviewing its options”, [...]
Fresh blow to BP over TNK November 18, 2009 TNK-BP is likely to stay under the effective control of Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman until 2011. The chief executive’s post at the joint venture between oil giant BP and four Russian tycoons will soon pass to Maxim Barsky, the candidate agreed by both sides several months ago. But Fridman will stay at the helm of [...]
A general election cannot come too soon November 18, 2009 IF only life were this easy. So the markets are saying that the budget deficit is far too high? Simple, you pass a law stating that it must be cut and then abolished over the next few years (when you are no longer in power) – and then make speeches extolling your own virtues and [...]
Trichet: regulate insurers November 18, 2009 JEAN-CLAUDE Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, has thrown his weight behind proposals to tighten the regulation of insurance companies. Trichet said large insurers should be considered “systemically relevant” because of their size and reach, despite the lack of solvency concerns in the industry. Calling on authorities to urgently agree a new European supervisory [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 18, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES LLOYDS OFFLOADS MALL FOR £300MHammerson, the UK real estate investment trust, has emerged as the preferred buyer of a £300m shopping mall near Glasgow being sold by Lloyds Banking Group after the original owner defaulted on the loan. The UK commercial property market has seen few sales by the larger lending banks, in [...]
Tata seeks new chairman November 18, 2009 Tata, the Indian conglomerate that owns Corus Steel and Jaguar Land Rover, is searching for a successor to its 71-year-old chairman Ratan Tata. It is understood the board is interviewing local and foreign candidates to head the group, which operates 98 subsidiaries and rakes in annual revenues of £42bn. Tata said he hoped to find [...]
Gold hits new high as dollar falls November 18, 2009 US gold futures passed the $1,153 mark for the first time yesterday as investors piled into precious metals as an alternative to holding weaker US dollars. Silver, platinum and palladium also reached their highest prices in at least 14 months. In London, bullion for immediate delivery reached a record $1,153 an ounce. Gold later slipped [...]
