£33bn rail scheme faces legal threat January 10, 2012 LOBBY groups said yesterday that legal challenges to a high speed rail link between London and Birmingham are already in the pipeline, after the controversial new route was given the green light by the government. Campaigners against the planned rail link, dubbed High Speed 2 (HS2), will attempt to place the Department for Transport’s approval [...]
Commodities spur FTSE 100 gains as banks bounce bank January 10, 2012 COMMODITY stocks led the FTSE 100 top share index higher yesterday, after Alcoa kicked off the US earnings season with an upbeat outlook and data from China lifted sentiment, while retailers rallied after some encouraging updates. London’s blue chip index rose 84.44 points, or 1.5 per cent to 5,696.70, making up for the 1.5 pe [...]
Cameron should follow Jesus on executive pay January 10, 2012 DAVID Cameron and Ed Miliband agree that corporate chief executives earn too much. If they earned less, the world would be a better place – or, more precisely, it would be a fairer place. The alleged victims of this injustice are those who earn far less. In an interview with the BBC on Sunday, Cameron [...]
Resource stocks stoke FTSE gains January 10, 2012 The FTSE 100 saw solid gains this morning as resource and energy stocks were boosted by upbeat forecasts from US aluminium giant Alcoa and figures showing growing demand from China. Alcoa, the largest US aluminium producer, reported fourth-quarter revenue that beat Wall Street expectations, even though it registered a loss. The earnings news had a [...]
There’s no let up in City’s race to consolidate January 9, 2012 IT seems there is going to be no slackening of the consolidation process taking place in the financial advisory sector. Evolution has already been swallowed up by Investec, with fairly unpleasant consequences for many of its employees; Collins Stewart Hawkpoint is busy sorting out the finer details of its deal with the Canadian group Canaccord, [...]
Germany may be in recession despite a wider trade surplus January 9, 2012 HIGHER exports have bolstered Germany’s trade balance, official data showed yesterday, widening the Eurozone heavyweight’s surplus. The positive economic news was short-lived, however, after separate data showed a decline in German industrial output — prompting some economists to state that the core Eurozone nation could already be in the midst of a double-dip recession. And [...]
London the only region to defy house price slump throughout rest of UK January 9, 2012 UK HOUSE prices continued to fall at the end of last year, a widely-regarded survey revealed this morning, yet prices in the capital are still bucking the trend. London was the only region to show a positive net balance (46 per cent) of surveyors reporting rising prices. Across the country as a whole, a balance [...]
Financials under pressure as Greek default fears rekindled January 9, 2012 BRITAIN’S FTSE 100 closed down yesterday with financials under pressure after a warning by German Chancellor Angela Merkel reignited fears of a Greek default, while GlaxoSmithKline fell on worries over its key lung drug Relovair. London’s blue chip index closed down 37.42 points or 0.7 per cent at 5,612.26, with volumes just 88 per cent [...]
FTSE dented by GSK January 9, 2012 The FTSE 100 was dented by pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline today after concerns over one of its new treatments. GSK shed 2.6 per cent after reported problems with tests on its lung medication Relovair. Traders and investors were eyeing events in Berlin where German leader Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are meeting today. The [...]
FTSE solid as banks edge up January 9, 2012 The FTSE 100 saw modest advances today ahead of talks between France and Germany on how to create the environment for a sustained recovery in the Eurozone. The bloc’s debt crisis will be top of the agenda when German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy meet in Berlin. Later this week the European [...]