Spain’s borrowing costs climb after disappointing bond sale July 19, 2012 TEN-YEAR Spanish bond yields rose above the psychologically worrying seven per cent line yesterday, after the country paid euro-era record yields for five-year funding as investors remain concerned about its finances and growth prospects. Spain sold at the top of its €2bn to €3bn target range, but borrowing costs for two-, five- and seven- year [...]
Resounding victory for Merkel in vote over Spanish bailout July 19, 2012 ANGELA Merkel won yesterday’s key vote on an aid package for Spanish banks with a huge majority, suggesting that opposition in Germany to Eurozone bailouts is not as virulent as has been suggested. The vote in the Bundestag was carried with 473 voting in favour, compared to 97 voting against – though the dissenters included [...]
Deep discounts mitigate sharp retail sales fall July 19, 2012 RETAILERS were hit by bad weather in June, as consumers bought less food to barbecue and spent less than expected on the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, according to data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) yesterday. The ONS’s retail sales index inched up 0.1 per cent by volume in June, compared to May, but [...]
Slump in business borrowing is due to lack of demand says Bank July 19, 2012 LENDING to businesses slumped in May, despite decent credit conditions, according to Bank of England data released yesterday. Net lending was down £1.7bn in May, a fall that put net credit 3.1 per cent lower than the same month last year, and £10.6bn lower than at the end of 2008. Borrowing by small and medium [...]
Consumers hit by housing market woes July 19, 2012 MORTGAGE lending dived in June, while private rents climbed for the third month in a row, according to data released yesterday by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) and today by LSL property services. Gross mortgage lending was down five per cent at £11.9bn, compared to £12.5bn in May and £12.6bn in June last year, [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 19, 2012 Inflexion Private Equity The private equity house has announced the promotion of Richard Swann from the position of investment director to its partnership. He joined Inflexion in 2008, and has since led several of its investments. Swann’s promotion follows the firm’s recent appointments in Brazil, India and China. Coutts Johnny Heng has been appointed managing [...]
BEST of the BROKERS July 19, 2012 NEXT UBS has maintained its “buy” rating on the stock but upped its target price from 3,250p to 3,500p, saying it expects Next to have escaped the worst impact of the weather in its second quarter. The broker also says the popular Directory business may have benefited from the bad weather, and has nudged its [...]
London Stock Exchange surges as speculation over merger circulates July 19, 2012 BRITAIN’S top share index edged higher yesterday helped by a bounce in several heavyweight banking stocks. But the London Stock Echange gathered the most attention, with a late surge before the close sparked by speculation of a potential tie-up with its Singaporean counterpart. The talk follows the LSE’s recently announced joint venture with the Singapore [...]
Tech shares push S&P to 10-week high July 19, 2012 US stocks rose yesterday for a third straight day, with the S&P 500 at a 2-1/2 month high, as earnings from technology companies and expectations for more monetary stimulus outweighed weak economic data. So far in this earnings season a majority of companies have beaten analysts’ lowered expectations. In the latest boost, IBM raised its [...]
LONDON TIME July 19, 2012 FAST TIMES Usain Bolt’s winning watch P.24 11 pages of the best sports watches on Earth Bubba Watson: golf genius, watch nerd. Interview: P.29 Timing the Olympics: Omega’s big 2 weeks P.23
