The business case for a referendum on EU membership January 9, 2013 IN ALL likelihood, David Cameron will soon commit to holding an in-out referendum on Britain’s EU membership. Unsurprisingly, this has provoked a campaign against giving people a say on who ultimately governs us. There are two arguments. First, that “now is not the right time”, because speculation about the possibility of a referendum would create [...]
FTSE 100 up on US earnings optimism January 9, 2013 Engineers and financial stocks led the blue chip index up in early trading, as a solid start to the US earnings season boosted investors’ appetite for stocks. Miners also advanced as investors welcomed news that Alcoa, the US’s biggest aluminium producer, forecasted a positive outlook for 2013. The FTSE 100 – trading around 0.4 per [...]
FTSE slips over bearish expectation for Chinese data and US corporates January 8, 2013 BRITAIN’S blue chip shares slipped yesterday, hampered by profit taking on mining stocks ahead of economic data from China, and as the US corporate earnings season came into focus. Miners shed 0.7 per cent as investors, gearing up for data out of top metals consumer China in the next two weeks, including fourth-quarter GDP, moved [...]
FTSE 100 edges up as Anglo American names new chief executive January 8, 2013 Markets made a hesitant start to the day, and the FTSE 100 edged up slightly in early trading. News that Mark Cutifani has been appointed to the top job at global miner Anglo American stole the headlines this morning. He starts the role on 3 April and takes over from current head Cynthia Carroll. As [...]
PPI mis-selling bankers to face banking commission grilling January 7, 2013 REPRESENTATIVES from the UK’s big four will face a grilling over the payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling scandal from a sub-panel of the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards (PCBS). The commission, headed by Conservative MP Andrew Tyrie, who also chairs the Treasury Select Committee, is looking for top executives involved in the retail side of the banking [...]
Markets lap up easing of bank liquidity rules January 7, 2013 BANK shares jumped yesterday after regulators eased incoming liquidity rules, giving banks more time to build up their buffers as well as letting lenders use a wider range of instruments. The aim of the rules is to make sure banks have a buffer of liquid assets big enough to match outflows of cash in a [...]
FTSE mettle is tested by slump in commodities January 7, 2013 AS THE markets settled into the first full week of trading of the year, the FTSE had its 2013 bull run checked, dropping 17 points yesterday. The commodity and miner-heavy benchmark index had been pushed to multi-year highs by the effects of a global risk-off sentiment, with the FTSE breaking the psychologically significant 6,000 level [...]
Banks steal spotlight despite weakness in FTSE 100 January 7, 2013 The FTSE 100 stalled this morning after closing at its highest level since February on Friday, with miners dragging down the index. In early deals, it was down around 0.25 per cent. A relaxation in bank liquidity rules dominated the headlines this morning, as regulators said last night that banks will have longer to build [...]
Jobs crisis as City hiring falls to record low January 7, 2013 CITY job vacancies plunged to new lows last year as incoming regulations took their toll on financial services firms, making 2012 a worse year for job seekers than even the height of the credit crunch, recruiters Astbury Marsden revealed today. Just 35,115 new jobs were advertised last year, down 35 per cent on the 54,025 [...]
January Bank rates are likely to stay steady January 7, 2013 THE European Central Bank (ECB) is likely to keep interest rates on hold when it meets for its first policy meeting this year, analysts predict. “We believe the continued improvement in the forward-looking survey data will have been sufficient to stay the hand of those on the council who last month were willing to wait [...]