BEST OF THE BROKERS August 2, 2010 NESTLE UBS Investment Research has maintained its “buy” rating on Nestle following anticipation of first half sales of SwFr 55.2bn (£33.4bn) to be announced next Wednesday, including organic sales growth of 5.8 per cent. Despite its warning top-line growth will be slower in the second half, UBS believes good margins will underpin solid full-year results. [...]
Camelot woos regulator August 2, 2010 Lottery operator Camelot said yesterday it had tweaked a plan to let consumers pay bills on its lottery terminals in an effort to win over regulators. The National Lottery Commission, which last month provisionally rejected the proposal on the grounds that it might breach European Union or competition law, has responded by extending a public [...]
Metro hails retail recovery August 2, 2010 Metro, the world’s fourth largest retailer, yesterday lifted its investment budget amid growing confidence about economic recovery, as cost cutting helped it to meet quarterly earnings forecasts despite sluggish sales. The German group, which runs cash and carries, supermarkets, electrical goods and department stores, said it was increasing its capital spending budget for this year [...]
CITY SAILORS ARE BUSY BOBBING AROUND DOWN AT COWES WEEK August 2, 2010 ALL aboard, folks – Cowes Week is here again, which means days of sailing and schmoozing in the Isle of Wight for the water babies of the City. And with a few days already elapsed, I hear there’s only one subject on people’s lips: the smart array of boats in the “super zero” class and [...]
Banks and miners propel the FTSE after July’s record gain August 2, 2010 BANKS and commodity stocks powered a sharp rise in Britain’s top share index yesterday, as HSBC’s results beat forecasts and metal and energy prices rose. The FTSE 100 closed up 139.09 points, or 2.7 per cent, at 5,397.11. For the month of July the index rose 6.9 per cent, its biggest monthly increase for exactly [...]
Dollar boosts Wall Street to new high August 2, 2010 US stocks closed at their highest level in 10 weeks yesterday and the S&P 500 pierced key technical levels as a weaker US dollar lifted the energy and raw materials sectors. Strong results in Europe from BNP Paribas and HSBC added to the upbeat tone and lifted US bank stocks. JPMorgan Chase & Co rose [...]
Pharma no antidote to stock market turmoil August 2, 2010 AS WEAK US data continues to throw a shadow over the global recovery, investors might be drawn to adding traditional defensive stocks like pharmaceuticals to their portfolios. But contracts for difference (CFD) traders should pause before using pharma as a bearish hedge. While the big two UK firms, AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline, offer attractive dividends, their [...]
FRAGILE US IS STILL RELIANT ON STIMULUS August 2, 2010 CFD MARKET STRATEGIST, GFT THE tension in the tug-of-war between equity bulls and bears cranked up a few notches last week. Initially, results from the second quarter earnings season boosted stocks since the majority of firms that have so far reported released better-than-expected numbers. But as the week drew to a close, doubts appeared to [...]
Solid earnings are only the beginning for banking stocks August 2, 2010 AFTER what has been a difficult few months, the European banking sector couldn’t have asked for a better start to a week that is jam-packed with their first-half earnings announcements. Both London-listed HSBC and Paris-quoted BNP Paribas posted better than expected profits and revealed that their bad debts have fallen sharply to pre-crisis levels. Traders [...]
THE TIPSTER August 2, 2010 HIGH street retail giant Next releases its latest trading statement tomorrow and the statement should give some insight into whether the company feels that the man on the street is more optimistic than he was six months ago or if concern about government cuts is still curbing our spending at the tills. Next had a [...]
