Chinese may invest in euro bailout funds February 2, 2012 MARKETS rose yesterday as Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao suggested the country will invest in the Eurozone bailout fund – but fell later when Eurogroup leader Jean Claude Juncker cast doubt on the success of Greek debt talks. Wen (pictured) said the country supports efforts to stabilise the currency, and could invest some of its huge [...]
Facebook unveils float of the year February 1, 2012 FACEBOOK has taken the first official step to becoming a publicly traded company, filing papers yesterday that outline plans to raise $5bn in what could be the biggest float this year. Silicon Valley’s most anticipated flotation will see Facebook represented by ticker symbol FB, although the company did not specify whether it would list on [...]
ADVISERS: MORGAN STANLEY, JP MORGAN, GOLDMAN SACHS ET AL February 1, 2012 MICHAEL GRIMES MORGAN STANLEY Morgan Stanley has landed the coveted lead left spot in Facebook’s long-awaited initial public offering and the deal is likely to be managed by its co-head of global technology investment banking, Michael Grimes. The lucky banker has been on good terms with Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer and former Google [...]
Barclays’ Absa sees earnings rise up to 22pc February 1, 2012 ABSA Group, the South African lender majority owned by Barclays, said yesterday its full-year earnings likely rose by as much as 22 per cent. Absa, which is due to report results on 10 February, said in a statement it expected to report an increase of between 18 and 22 per cent in diluted headline earnings [...]
Strong earnings and Greek hopes cause FTSE to jump February 1, 2012 BULLISH company earnings reports and the prospect of Greece nearing a debt deal helped lift Britain’s FTSE 100 higher yesterday, while robust manufacturing data from China, the US and Europe boosted appetite for the mining sector. London’s blue chip index rose 109.11 points, or 1.9 per cent to 5,790.72. The index closed below 5,800, where [...]
FTSE gains as manufacturing bounces back February 1, 2012 The FTSE rose this morning as better-than-expected UK and Chinese manufacturing data gave investor sentiment a boost and fuelled gains in mining and banking. Britain’s manufacturing sector unexpectedly returned to growth in January as orders rose for the first time in six months, indicating the UK could avoid recession if the sector continues to recover [...]
Joblessness at record high for Eurozone January 31, 2012 UNEMPLOYMENT in the Eurozone remained at a euro-era high in December, figures from Eurostat showed yesterday, reflecting the weak economic outlook. Joblessness stayed at the 10.4 per cent reached in November, up from 10 per cent in December 2010. The unemployment rate for the 27 EU nations stayed at 9.9 per cent, up from 9.5 [...]
Hester’s focus must be banking, not bonuses January 30, 2012 AS THE debate over Stephen Hester’s RBS bonus continues, it is easy to forget the increasingly powerless chief executive has a business to run. One of the most crucial items on the agenda is the restructuring of the investment bank, which chancellor George Osborne effectively called for in December when he said there would be [...]
Banks and miners hit by Greek jitters January 30, 2012 WEAKNESS in banks and commodity stocks dragged Britain’s leading share index lower yesterday as the protracted search for a Greek bond deal and concerns about economic growth kept investors nervous. The FTSE 100 index closed down 62.36 points, or 1.1 per cent, at 5,671.09, extending Friday’s falls and retreating further from Thursday’s six-month closing high. [...]
Banks pull FTSE back as Greece crisis festers January 30, 2012 The FTSE 100 tracked losses across Europe in early trading as the negotiations in Athens over Greece’s disastrous finances showed few signs of success. Greece and its private creditors have so far failed to come up with an agreement on debt swap talks, needed to avoid a default. Meanwhile a European summit focused on growth [...]