Equity markets are still hoping for a miracle November 28, 2011 Stock markets worldwide shot up yesterday, defying gloomy forecasts. The FTSE jumped 2.87 per cent; the DAX soared by 4.6 per cent; the CAC stormed up 5.46 per cent; and the Dow Jones rose 2.59 per cent, as hopes built that finance ministers or the IMF would somehow save the euro.
ICAP braces for euro fail November 28, 2011 ICAP, the world’s top broker for foreign exchange and government bonds, said yesterday that it had been testing its trading systems in the event of a possible break-up of the euro. ICAP has been prepping its spot foreign exchange platform, EBS, over the past six months to ensure it could handle trading the Greek drachma [...]
Stagnation looms for Western world November 28, 2011 PRODUCING detailed, quantitative economic forecasts is the closest thing the modern world does to sorcery. It’s a fool’s game; the results will only be right by chance. There are too many variables. What economists and commentators can more successfully achieve, however, are broad pattern predictions – and it is clear that the UK, US and [...]
No pleas from Italy: IMF November 28, 2011 ITALY and Spain have not asked the International Monetary Fund for any funding despite fears they will need help beyond a European rescue scheme, its boss Christine Lagarde said last night. She called for a swift solution to the crisis and said the IMF can make loans only when governments ask for them, as happened [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 28, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES LLOYDS SET TO EASE PRESSURE ON CHIEF Lloyds Banking Group is exploring ways to reduce the workload on António Horta-Osório, its chief executive, as it attempts to convince investors he will be able to make a successful comeback from a period of medical leave. The state-backed bank is considering fortifying the support around [...]
Greek banks hit by debt haircuts November 28, 2011 Greek lenders Alpha and Eurobank yesterday reported nine-month losses due to impairments from a bond swap agreed in July and said they would adjust their capital raising plans after a new debt exchange plan is finalised. The two lenders have agreed to merge to form one of the largest banks in southeast Europe. Greek banks [...]
Lehman Europe claims $1.4bn November 28, 2011 The European arm of Lehman Brothers yesterday sued a unit of bond insurer Assured Guaranty, claiming more than $1bn for a series of credit derivative transactions. In a lawsuit filed in the US, Lehman Brothers International (Europe) said the unit, AG Financial Products, miscalculated termination payments under the deals, using an incorrect and approach to [...]
Soaring yields push ECB debt over €200bn November 28, 2011 ITALY and Belgium saw their debt costs rocket to new records in bond auctions yesterday in an ominous precursor to Rome’s much larger long-dated debt sale this morning. Despite an early market rally due to reports of a bailout plan for Italy, Rome was forced to pay over 7.3 per cent plus inflation to borrow [...]
Fitch Ratings revises US credit outlook to negative November 28, 2011 FITCH Ratings has cut its outlook on US sovereign debt to negative, after the congressional super-committee failed last week to agree on at least $1.2 trillion in spending cuts. Fitch said yesterday that it will keep its rating for long-term US debt at the top AAA level, but said the negative watch reflected its “declining [...]
Capital flight from periphery accelerating November 28, 2011 MONEY is flooding out of peripheral Eurozone countries and into the core in a worrying sign for the region’s economies, Henderson’s Simon Ward warned yesterday. Examining official statistics released by European authorities, Ward highlighted “a widening core/periphery divergence”, with capital fleeing Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Spain and Italy. “M1” money supply – meaning cash in circulation [...]
