WHAT DO YOU EXPECT FROM THE SERVICE SECTOR’S PURCHASING MANAGERS’ INDEX? May 31, 2010 JONATHAN LOYNES | CAPITAL ECONOMICS” “Service sector underperformance will probably continue for a few months yet. Service sector output fell less sharply than in these sectors during the recession, limiting the potential for a strong period of growth. The May survey is hard to predict, but it should edge up slightly.” PHILIP SHAW | INVESTEC [...]
Capital rules will not stifle banks: BIS May 31, 2010 NEW bank capital rules would likely not hit growth and banks are exaggerating their potential effects, an economist at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said. “The net impact of the Basel committee reforms on growth will be negligible,” said Stephen Cecchetti, chief economic adviser to the BIS. “Our preliminary assessment is that improvements to [...]
China delaying credit default swaps project May 31, 2010 CHINA has delayed a pilot project to trial credit default swaps (CDS) in its domestic bond market after the national banking regulator expressed concerns over their side-effects. CDS, derivatives that provide insurance against a bond defaulting, have been blamed for amplifying the financial crisis as their use spread from hedging credit portfolios to speculating. It [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS May 31, 2010 UNILEVER UBS has upgraded its rating for Unilever from “neutral” to “buy” and said that since the start of April, Unilever has underperformed its US peers. UBS suspects partly this reflects investors seeing Unilever as a proxy for the Eurozone, yet it estimates Unilever ’s exposure to the Eurozone to be only marginally higher than [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS May 31, 2010 Sainsbury’s Finance The supermarket personal finance business yesterday said interim chief executive David Fisher has been appointed as its new permanent chief. Fisher, who has been in the interim role for five months, joined the group in January from Lloyds Banking Group, where he was group HR director for HBOS. He spent a total of [...]
Europe shares in biggest monthly loss since Feb ‘09 May 31, 2010 EUROPEAN equities closed higher yesterday, led by shares of German exporters, but a downgrade of Spain’s credit rating weighed on Madrid-listed stocks, with Banco Santander and BBVA losing ground. The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares unofficially closed the holiday-thin session up 0.3 per cent, at 1,000.55 points, capping off its worst month since [...]
An ultra-bullish FTSE outlook is too optimistic in volatile times May 31, 2010 AFTER a week in which the FTSE 100 dropped from its mid-April peak of 5,834 back down through the 5,000 mark, Morgan Stanley has surprised the financial world by revising its 2010 FTSE target up from 5,000 to 5,800. The bank suggests that recent market turbulence is not the start of the dreaded double dip [...]
THE TIPSTER May 31, 2010 STERLING-US dollar has been well-supported of late on fears that Prudential’s planned purchase of AIA could collapse. A large currency hedge shorting cable was put in place some months ago when the deal was first agreed and if it falls over, the hedge will come off, sending sterling-US dollar higher. While highly speculative, traders should [...]
SPREAD BET GURU May 31, 2010 MARKET STRATEGIST josh@cityindex.com Q. Dear Josh, what does a hike in capital gains tax mean for spread betters? A. We don’t yet know what will be announced in the emergency budget on 22 June, but the good news is that even if there is a hike, this should make no difference to spread betters. Suggestions [...]
Going away in May is a short-sighted strategy May 31, 2010 YOU would think that old wives’ tales and the like have little place in the markets of the 21st century. But recent research by Standard & Poor’s Indices has shown there is more than a grain of truth in the old City trading floor adage of “sell in May and go away, stay away till [...]
