Strong Barclays results help FTSE to chalk up solid gains February 16, 2010 BRITAIN’S top shares closed sharply higher yesterday as Barclays led a banking sector rally after its 2009 forecast-beating results, and oils and miners were buoyed by firmer commodity prices. The FTSE 100 ended up 76.59 points, or 1.5 per cent, at 5,244.06, extending gains into a second consecutive session after closing 0.5 per cent higher [...]
DIAMOND TAKES HARD LINE ON BONUS ROW February 16, 2010 AS AN investment banking doyen continually under the cosh these days with regard to bonus payments, it must be tough to keep a calm and unruffled façade at all times. Bob Diamond, the president of Barclays and head of its money-spinning investment bank Barclays Capital – yesterday kept mostly schtum at the group’s annual results [...]
US stocks boosted by Merck earnings February 16, 2010 US stocks posted their biggest daily percentage gain in three months yesterday after strong revenue from drugmaker Merck and regional manufacturing data instilled confidence in the economic outlook. Resource related shares were among the strongest gainers as a weaker US dollar sparked buying in oil and other commodities. The CRB commodities index marked its largest [...]
Technical signs point to dollar domination over the euro February 16, 2010 THE latest revelation in the Greek debt saga is that investment banks on Wall Street helped Greece and other southern European economies to move some of their debt off of their balance sheets through the use of securitisation and swaps over the past 15 years. This allowed them to reduce their official budget deficit figures [...]
RISK TRADE IS HEADING DOWN UNDER February 16, 2010 TURN on financial television these days and you see nothing but a procession of analysts offering their eulogies for the Eurozone. In fact, the worries about the fragmentation of the EU have become so uniform and the chorus of euro bears has become so loud that the euro may be due a bounce as short-term [...]
Play the Asian growth story using the baht February 16, 2010 LAST week the Vietnamese authorities devalued the dong by 3.4 per cent against the US dollar, the second adjustment to the currency in three months. But, its Asian neighbours are not going to follow its lead, and some currencies could actually appreciate in the coming months. The Bank of Thailand specifically ruled out a devaluation, [...]
The Tipster February 16, 2010 EURO-dollar has had an aggressive move lower from the November high of $1.5411 to a low of $1.3531 last week. Looking at the longer-term charts the $1.35 – $1.37 region is fairly significant. We would expect to see a short to medium term bounce from these levels, driven primarily by investors taking their profits. Although [...]
FOREX FLASH February 16, 2010 SWISSIE TO RALLY FURTHER DESPITE SNB Currency forecasters said that currency speculators are betting that the recent slide in the euro will hinder the Swiss National Bank’s (SNB) campaign to slow the rallying Swiss franc. Swiss central bank president Philippe Hildebrand has found it difficult to bring the Swissie’s appreciation under control as investors seeking [...]
Investors go back to fundamentals as they lose their taste for carry February 16, 2010 IN THE second half of 2009, the dollar-funded carry trade was the primary strategy used to play the foreign exchange markets. The low interest rates set by the Federal Reserve combined with the weakening of the greenback meant that traders were happy to sell low-yielding dollars in search of higher-yielding currencies such as the Australian [...]
Volatile foreign exchange markets are back on the agenda for 2010 February 16, 2010 SIX months ago, it seemed that the worst of the global crisis was over. The markets had calmed down, the economic recovery appeared to be firmly on track and traders seemed to have regained their risk appetite. But just as we thought things were on the mend, a sovereign debt crisis in the Eurozone coupled [...]
