Downbeat outlook for tech hits Wall St July 29, 2010 US stocks sagged in volatile trading yesterday after weak outlooks from technology companies and downbeat comments from a Federal Reserve official gave investors little reason to buy. The market has struggled to make headway this week. The S&P 500 fell for a third straight day. Friday’s Commerce Department report on second-quarter gross domestic product will [...]
Profits surge at CME as chief executive rules out another wave of consolidation July 29, 2010 DERIVATIVES giant CME yesterday posted higher-than-expected quarterly profit as heightened volatility in debt and stock markets boosted trading in the exchange operator’s futures contracts. Chief executive Craig Donohue also said that a recent trading slump will not spur it into a buying spree. CME stands to benefit from sweeping US rule changes that will drive [...]
AstraZeneca in drug victory July 28, 2010 ON THE eve of its first half results, US pharma company AstraZeneca scored a vital regulatory victory. US advisers backed a potential blockbuster blood thinner from the firm which will help to offset expiring patents on some of its best-selling medicines. Members of a Food and Drug Administration panel voted 7-1 to recommend approval of [...]
Japanese banks face uncertainty July 28, 2010 JAPAN’S third-biggest bank stuck to its full-year forecast yesterday despite reporting robust first-quarter earnings, due to uncertainty about the economic outlook. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SFMG) said net profit soared nearly three-fold to 211.8bn yen (£1.55bn) in the three months to the end of June. Citigroup analyst Hironari Nozaki had forecast the bank would earn [...]
William Hill names new chair July 28, 2010 WILLIAM Hill has appointed Gareth Davis as its new chairman. Davis, who recently retired as chief executive of Imperial Tobacco Group after 14 years in the role, will take up his new job from 1 September. He joined Imperial Tobacco in 1972 as a management trainee and undertook various roles in the business, including managing [...]
Liberum profits buoyed after new client wins July 27, 2010 LIBERUM Capital saw revenues surge in the first half of the year as the boutique investment bank landed its first major mandates advising companies joining the full list of the London Stock Exchange. Earlier this month, Liberum acted as co-manager to Vallar, the cash shell set up by financier Nat Rothschild, on its admission to [...]
AstraZeneca rises on Brilinta July 26, 2010 US reviewers gave mixed views on AstraZeneca’s experimental blood thinner Brilinta but the company’s shares rose on investor optimism that an advisory panel will back the potential blockbuster drug. AstraZeneca is counting on Brilinta to help offset the looming loss of patent protection on key drugs such as heartburn treatment Nexium and antipsychotic Seroquel. AstraZeneca [...]
Wall St cheers bumper results July 22, 2010 WALL Street bellwethers cheered investors with a raft of good results last night, pushing up US indices and raising hopes of a sustained economic recovery. Corporate stalwarts UPS, Caterpillar and 3M all posted double-digit profit growth for the last quarter, while Microsoft surpassed Apple’s recent sales to report a record rise in revenue. The upbeat [...]
Morgan Stanley continues down the road to recovery July 21, 2010 WALL Street lapped up a solid set of second-quarter results from Morgan Stanley yesterday, buoying market sentiment after a disappointing performance over the same period from some of the bank’s peers, notably Goldman Sachs. Morgan Stanley beat analyst expectations with post-tax profit of $1.4bn (£921m) for the three months to June, swinging back into the [...]
Wall St rises as IBM and Texas results hit after bell July 19, 2010 US stocks rose yesterday, spurred by optimism ahead of earnings from key technology companies and after Dow component Boeing announced strong orders. Investors bet on solid reports from International Business Machines (IBM), the world’s largest technology services provider, and chip maker Texas Instruments, hoping both would show strength similar to Intel’s results last week. But [...]