Icap launches jobs monitor July 3, 2012 ICAP, the world’s largest inter-dealer broker, has unveiled a jobs tracker, in the latest example of brokerages aiming to offset weak trading with new services. Icap said yesterday it had launched its UK Labour Market Indices, offering investors, traders and researchers guidance on employment, vacancies and salaries. The broker said the new service will be [...]
Police search Sarko’s home July 3, 2012 POLICE raided the home and offices of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy yesterday as part of a judicial inquiry into financial relations between his political camp and L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt. Sarkozy’s lawyer said the raids, a day after his client had left for Canada on holiday, would show nothing and that he had already [...]
KNIGHT VINKE TURNS UP HEAT ON GLENCORE July 3, 2012 Activist fund Knight Vinke, a top-20 shareholder in miner Xstrata, yesterday backed a surprise call from fellow investor Qatar for better terms in a takeover offer from commodities trader Glencore, led by Ivan Glasenberg (pictured).Knight Vinke yesterday said the deal does not represent fair value for Xstrata on current terms and also objected to the [...]
JP Morgan in US energy probe July 3, 2012 US energy regulators have subpoenaed JP Morgan Chase twice in the past three months as part of a probe into whether the bank manipulated power markets. Authorities have asked the firm to produce emails from 2010 and 2011 as part of a probe into JP Morgan bidding practices.
Kinetic boss returns to outdoor ads July 3, 2012 Former Kinetic boss Eric Newnham has returned to the out-of-home advertising business by investing in specialist agency Talon Outdoor. Newnham, who sold Kinetic to WPP in 2010 and left the firm a year later, said he was keen to work with Talon to use new technologies in outdoor ads.
Backing Bob backfires badly July 3, 2012 Heaven knows, we’ve all been there before, but imagine Ian Gordon’s reaction at breakfast time yesterday morning as he digested the news that Bob Diamond had resigned. Not 24 hours earlier, Investec analyst Gordon had published a research note entitled: Back Bob! “We urge investors to back Bob, and take full advantage of Barclays’ recent [...]
Recession blow as construction activity drops July 3, 2012 CONSTRUCTION sector output fell in June, influential survey data showed yesterday, raising further fears that the UK economy will remain in recession for another quarter. Markit’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell to 48.2 in June from 54.4 in May – below the crucial “no change” mark of 50. That represents the fastest contraction in output [...]
Businesses lose out as bank lending slumps even further July 3, 2012 LENDING to businesses dropped in May, according to banking industry data published by the Bank of England yesterday. Equity fund-raising also dipped, as did commercial paper issuance. Consumers were also hit – although credit rose slightly overall, mortgage approvals remained low and the overall market is sluggish. Net business lending fell £1.7bn in May, reversing [...]
Price pressures ease as food inflation slows July 3, 2012 THE SQUEEZE on consumer finances eased again in June, retail industry figures showed today, with shop price inflation falling to its lowest level in two and a half years. Inflation dropped to 1.1 per cent in the year to June from 1.4 per cent in May, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) – a [...]
Eurozone hikes taxes to fill big budget holes July 3, 2012 TAX rises may be on the way in Spain and France, say government ministers, who are under pressure to make budget targets. The French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault yesterday promised a 75 per cent tax band on earnings above €1m, but confirmed that the government would reverse a sales tax increase due to begin in [...]
