Financial institutions and commodities help London’s top stocks to gain ground March 10, 2010 BRITAIN’S leading share index added 0.7 per cent yesterday, buoyed by strength in commodity issues, supported by trade data from China, and in banks and insurers as Wall Street put in an early advance. At the close, the FTSE 100 was 38.27 points higher at 5,640.57, a 20-month peak, at levels not seen since June [...]
Banking boost cheers up investors on Wall Street March 10, 2010 BANK and technology shares lifted Wall Street yesterday on hopes a revival in business demand will boost corporate profits. Banks’ shares rallied to their highest in 16 months, adding to recent momentum, amid bets an improving economy will stoke loan demand. “The natural conclusion investors are making is, if the economy is turning, financials are [...]
BA strike looms as negotiations crash March 10, 2010 STRIKE talks between British Airways (BA) and Unite have fallen apart after the airline rejected a package of proposals from the union. BA said the proposed 2.6 per cent staff pay cut, which Unite estimated would have saved BA £60m, “fell significantly short” of the £62.m savings they needed. As a result of the failed [...]
May election seems certain as Brown sets a budget date March 10, 2010 GORDON Brown yesterday said there will be a budget on 24 May, making a 6 May election a racing certainty. He yesterday set out his vision for guiding the UK through its tentative economic recovery. He vowed the UK would avoid the ignominy of losing its AAA credit rating and set out plans to cut [...]
US February deficit hits a record $221bn as it spends to aid recovery March 10, 2010 THE US posted a record $220.91bn (£147bn) budget deficit in February, Treasury Department data revealed yesterday. The February deficit was in line with analysts’ consensus forecast in a Reuters poll for a $222bn budget gap but well above the $193.86bn for the same period a year ago. The department said the budget gap for fiscal [...]
Shell stops selling oil to Iran March 10, 2010 Oil major Royal Dutch Shell has stopped gasoline sales to Iran, it said yesterday, the latest addition to a growing list of firms that have halted supplies under threat of future US sanctions. The Anglo-Dutch oil firm will join the likes of BP, Reliance Industries, and independent Swiss trader Glencore, among suppliers that have either [...]
Yule Catto boosts sales by 27pc March 10, 2010 British chemicals maker Yule Catto reported a 27 per cent rise in full-year pre-tax profit yesterday, helped by cost cuts and a weaker pound, and said it was comfortable with the 2010 market consensus view. For the year to the end of December, the company posted a pre-tax profit of £41.5m before special items, compared [...]
Chrysler names US Fiat boss March 10, 2010 Chrysler has hired a Volkswagen executive to lead the reintroduction of its Fiat brand in North America – a brand that represents the core of the automaker’s efforts to bring out fuel-efficient small cars. Laura Soave will oversee the North American debut of the Fiat 500 small car in late 2010 and hold responsibility for [...]
Geithner slams EU rules March 10, 2010 THE European Union is on course for a major “falling out” with the US if it goes ahead with new rules for the hedge fund and private equities industries. The Alternative Investment Fund Managers directive, which would impose tighter restrictions on US hedge funds, private equity and other alternative investment funds entering the EU, has [...]
Richest man is telecoms tycoon Slim March 10, 2010 MEXICAN telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim is the world’s richest person, knocking Microsoft founder Bill Gates into second spot, as the wealth of the world’s billionaires grew by 50 per cent over the last year, Forbes magazine said yesterday. It is only the second time since 1995 that Gates has lost the crown, the magazine said, [...]
