FTSE’s six-day rally ends but pharmaceuticals get a boost September 21, 2009 THE FTSE 100 broke a six-day winning streak yesterday on the back of profit taking, especially in banks and commodity shares, leaving some investors wondering whether the recent rally is close to its conclusion. The index closed down 38.53 points, or 0.7 per cent, at 5134.36 points, after hitting a new 12-month high last week [...]
Low energy sends Wall Street down September 21, 2009 THE DOW industrials and the S&P 500 index fell yesterday as a drop in oil and other commodity prices hurt energy and materials stocks. But the Nasdaq rose, buoyed by a broker’s upgrade in the biotechnology sector. Light crude futures fell more than 3 per cent, hurt by concerns about demand despite hopes for economic [...]
Baltic Dry is signalling new pullback in the stock market September 21, 2009 GLOBAL trade volumes have dried up since the start of the financial crisis as Western demand for East Asian goods languished, depressing shipping activity as measured by the Baltic Dry Index. Although a well-known leading economic indicator, market strategists such as Societe Generale’s Albert Edwards and Gluskin Sheff’s David Rosenberg have recently been drawing their [...]
Fed’s inertia is good news for UK and Europe’s stock markets September 21, 2009 EVER since leading indicators such as purchasing managers’ indices started showing signs of a recovery in the global economy, market participants have been watching the actions and comments of central bank policymakers closely for signs that their extra-accommodative monetary will be tightened in due course. But while an acknowledgement that the recovery is entrenched enough [...]
TAKE A PUNT ON A SHOCK WITH THE VIX September 21, 2009 MARTIN SLANEYHEAD OF DERIVATIVES, GFT WHATEVER your trading style, one factor which is common ground is market volatility. It is inevitably a concept which features regularly in this column, due to the impact it can have on volumes and the life of a trade. The majority of CFD traders thrive on volatility, but just because [...]
TAKING AFTERNOON TEA WITH THE GRAND DAMES OF THE BUSINESS WORLD September 21, 2009 THE City’s most illustrious ladies flocked to the House of Commons yesterday for afternoon tea at the launch of “Women for Boards”, the new initiative from super-recruiter Anna Mann to get more women onto the boards of Britain’s biggest firms. The idea was hatched in the middle of last year, when Mann, a founder of [...]
Qantas chief’s pay nosedives as slump hits airline profits September 21, 2009 QANTAS’ chief executive Alan Joyce saw his earnings plummet by 28 per cent last year as the Australian flag-carrier’s low share price took its toll. Joyce, who took on the top job in November last year – just as the airline industry began to falter – was paid A$3.7m (£1.8m) for the year to June. [...]
EDFplays down talk of asset swap plans September 21, 2009 FRENCH energy firm EDF yesterday said it was not close to securing an asset swap deal with its German rival E.ON, and denied that it had plans to sell a further 20 per cent stake in British Energy. In May, EDF sold a 20 per cent stake in British Energy to Centrica for €2.5bn (£2.1bn), [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS September 21, 2009 MARKS & SPENCERSociete Generale raised its top-end-of-consensus current year pre-tax profit forecasts for Marks & Spencer by 10 per cent, to £654m. The broker increased its target price to 500p and has a “buy” rating on the stock, following the firm’s trading statement last week. WHITBREADGoldman Sachs removed Whitbread from its “conviction buy” list after [...]
Office rents will start to rise September 21, 2009 Rent for premium offices in the City and the West End will start to rise in 2010, following the correction seen in 2008 and much of 2009, according to Knight Frank. This reflects less than expected distress in the market in 2009, a significant recovery in demand recorded in the summer, the recent rally seen [...]
