Turquoise set to trade US equities in European time April 14, 2010 THE London Stock Exchange yesterday unveiled ambitious plans to turn its Turquoise platform into the first European multilateral trading facility (MTF) to trade US equities during the European working day. Turquoise, which is 51 per cent owned by the exchange and the rest by twelve investment banks, will offer dollar trading in 175 of the [...]
Citigroup sheds more assets as it plans to sell hedge fund unit to SkyBridge April 14, 2010 CITIGROUP plans to sell a hedge fund business with $4.2bn (£2.7bn) worth of assets to US investment firm SkyBridge Capital. The deal marks another step in Citi’s plan to shed assets. The unit had been languishing in Citi Holdings, the bank’s repository for businesses that it is trying to sell or wind down. The unit [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS April 14, 2010 DEBENHAMS Numis reiterates its “buy” recommendation on Debenhams citing the retailer’s solid interim results, which place it comfortably ahead of Numis’ expectations. Numis raises August forecasts to £147m from £137m and sees scope for a rise in like-for-like sales. Despite a strong run, Numis believes the stock continues to offer value. BHP BILLITON A “buy” [...]
Volunteering is good for business April 14, 2010 The City of London Corporation will today urge businesses to remain active in local London communities despite the potential cost in the middle of the longest and deepest recession since the war. According to Nick Anstee, the Lord Mayor of London, corporate volunteering can boost a firm’s reputation while helping to create a highly-skilled, well [...]
UK infrastructure needs £500bn April 14, 2010 At least £500bn will need to be spent on the UK’s energy, transport, water and ICT infrastructure between now and 2020 in order that the UK can maintain its economic competitiveness, according to the Institute of Directors (IoD). The body says public spending on infrastructure is now so important that it should be ring-fenced, despite [...]
FTSE 100 hits 22-month high as solid US results boost investor sentiment April 14, 2010 BRITAIN’s top share index hit a 22-month closing high yesterday, as solid results from JP Morgan and Intel and strong US retail sales lifted hopes that a recovery in the world’s biggest economy is gaining momentum. The FTSE 100 closed up 34.59 points, or 0.6 per cent, at 5,796.25 — its highest close since June [...]
S&P soars through 1,200 as JPMorgan results cheer April 14, 2010 US stocks notched a fifth straight day of gains as stronger corporate results and March retail sales pushed the S&P 500 past 1,200 for the first time in 18 months. Dow components Intel and JPMorgan Chase paced the market after both posted strong results. JP Morgan was up four per cent on the Dow to [...]
A bright future for 10-year-old European ETFs April 14, 2010 IT WAS 10 years ago this week that Merrill Lynch unveiled the first exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in Europe and listed them on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Britain was not far behind – iShares launched its first FTSE 100 ETF on the London Stock Exchange on 28 April 2000. A decade later, the European ETF industry [...]
LISTED PRODUCT NEWS April 14, 2010 SOUTH AFRICA STORY Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has recently launched a new accelerated tracker that gives exposure to South Africa’s stock index, the FTSE/JSE Top 40 index. This is the second South African product it has launched in recent weeks. It recently launched covered warrants on the same index. Ben Board from RBS says [...]
City insider entertains again with a tale of international skulduggery April 14, 2010 THE TWAIN MAXIM BY CLEM CHAMBERS No Exit, £6.99 by Zoe Strimpel “A MINE is a hole in the ground with a fool at the bottom and a crook at the top,” says a character called Samuel Clemens at the beginning of this thriller. It’s 1900 when Clemens (pen name Mark Twain) uttered this “maxim” [...]
