BP starts production at Valhall January 28, 2013 BP has kicked off output at its Valhall field in the Norwegian North Sea, which is expected to ramp up to producer around 65,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day in the second half of 2013. “It is one of BP’s most complex field expansion developments and gives Valhall a further 40-year design life with [...]
Thermal coal prices fall at NWR January 28, 2013 Central European coal producer New World Resources yesterday said prices for thermal coal had plunged 19 per cent this year to €60 (£51) a tonne, due to oversupply in the market, which sent its shares tumbling on the market yesterday. Elsewhere, the average sale price of coking coal in the first quarter this year was [...]
Watchdogs baffled by 787 fault January 28, 2013 Aviation authorities have admitted they still do not know what caused a fault that led to the emergency landing of a 787 Dreamliner plane earlier in the month. The US National Transportation Safety Board said it has found “no obvious anomalies” in the batteries thought to have been at the root of the problems that [...]
City Moves for 29 January 2013 | Who’s switching jobs January 28, 2013 Arbuthnot Latham The private bank has appointed Dan Saxby as director, private banking. He joins from Coutts & Co, where he was an executive director and wealth manager. Saxby has 24 years’ experience in the industry. BDO The accountancy firm has appointed Kevin Cummings as a tax partner. He joins from Berwin Leighton Paisner, where [...]
Best of the Brokers January 28, 2013 CAPITA Canaccord Genuity has downgraded the stock from “hold” to “sell”, with a target price of 650p. While Capita remains a “well-managed business”, says Canaccord, “its investment case has diminished”. The broker warned that medium-term growth rates could be slow due to changing government initiatives. Investors reacted negatively to the downgrade yesterday as the stock [...]
FTSE breaches the 6,300 mark but loses steam January 28, 2013 BRITAIN’S top share index breached the 6,300 level for the first time since May 2008 yesterday, driven by strength in banking and energy stocks, although that heady height failed to hold for the close. Global giant HSBC added the most points to the FTSE 100 index, with its 1.0 per cent advance alone, accounting for [...]
S&P 500 dips after its long winning streak January 28, 2013 THE S&P 500 eased slightly yesterday after an eight-day run of gains, while the Nasdaq edged higher as Apple shares rebounded. The index remained above 1,500, however, after closing above that level on Friday for the first time in more than five years. The S&P 500’s eight sessions of gains was its longest winning streak [...]
Austerity can’t have hurt UK growth because austerity hasn’t yet begun January 28, 2013 IN ORDINARY parlance, “austerity” means a period of cutbacks, spending reductions, and debt being paid down. So when voters hear talk of government austerity, most of them assume that’s what the government is doing. When they hear (a few) economists saying that weak growth has resulted from “austerity”, voters think cuts to public sector pay [...]
The failure of QE isn’t an excuse for further Bank of England experiments January 28, 2013 QUANTITATIVE easing (QE) is like macroeconomic doping. America is like Lance Armstrong.” Or so a British journalist overheard at Davos. Relative to the size of the economy, of course, the UK is a more likely Armstrong than the US. Central bank asset purchases here have been about 25 per cent of GDP, compared to less [...]
HS2 cost-benefit is a worrying mix of naive projections January 28, 2013 BACK in the 1840s, almost the entire rail network we use today was built over just one decade. Yesterday, the government set out the route that its proposed new high speed rail line – known as HS2 – will take to Leeds and Manchester. It wants to build this new line in two decades. Is [...]
