SHARES SLUMP AS EURO FEARS GROW October 4, 2011 THE EUROZONE’S escalating financial crisis hammered European stocks yesterday, with markets also dampened by growing concerns over the fragility of the global recovery. The bad news was compounded after hours as Moody’s downgraded Italy by three notches, from Aa2 to A2. The prospect of a Greek default was heightened by an apparent delay in the [...]
Share price is undervalued, says Diamond October 4, 2011 THEY could not have timed it any better – or should that be any worse? Some of the biggest names in banking came together in London yesterday as industry shares fell over fears politicians are failing to tackle the Eurozone crisis. Bob Diamond, chief executive of Barclays, told the Bank of America Merrill Lynch conference [...]
Construction flat-lines on stagnant housing market October 4, 2011 FLAT activity in the construction sector in September was revealed yesterday by Markit’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI). A sharp fall from 52.6 in August to 50.1 in September was recorded, bringing the sector closer to the 50 threshold that separates growth from contraction. “UK construction companies continued to struggle in the face of growing concerns [...]
Another low for the FTSE as banks and miners take a hit October 4, 2011 BRITAIN’S top share index hit a 15-month closing low yesterday, with banks and commodity stocks leading a broad-based sell-off, as growing doubts over Greece’s ability to stave off a debt default triggered fears of financial turmoil. The UK benchmark ended down 131.06 points, or 2.6 per cent, at 4,944.44, its lowest close since 5 July [...]
FTSE falls below 5,000 as banks tumble October 4, 2011 The FTSE 100 plunged below 5,000 this morning as the banking sector took a hammering sparked by the economic chaos which continues to engulf Greece. While the Government unveiled initiatives to spark economic growth including ‘credit easing’ for small businesses, the state of the Eurozone’s finances continued to cast a shadow. European shares extended losses [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS October 3, 2011 Palamon Capital Partners The private equity firm has appointed Julian Carreras as a principal in its pan-European team, which comprises professionals from eight countries. The move marks a return to the company for Carreras, who previously worked at Palamon Capital Partners between 2003 and 2006, joining from Goldman Sachs. Between 2006 and 2011, Carreras held [...]
Greek crisis saps market confidence October 3, 2011 Banks were the biggest fallers across Europe on opening this morning after Greece admitted it will not meet 2011-2012 deficit targets imposed by international lenders as part of the country’s bailout. The sector was down 3.7 per cent on the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index, illustrating the problem for financial institutions saddled with burden of the [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING October 2, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES BTG GAINS TOP BANKER AS IT EYES EXPANSION Roger Jenkins, the high-profile former Barclays executive, has joined BTG Pactual as a managing partner as Brazil’s largest independent investment bank and asset manager gears up its ambitious expansion plans. Jenkins, a star banker best known for orchestrating a £7bn fundraising for Barclays from Middle [...]
Plotting the growth of the market October 2, 2011 WHEN spread betting started in 1974, it was set up to get around the strict price controls that were in place in the UK – at the time it was illegal for retail investors to speculate on gold. Unemployed stockbroker Stuart Wheeler hit upon the idea of creating an index giving investors a way of [...]
SIR PAUL JUDGE OPENS PENTHOUSE HOME FOR COFFEE AND CHAMPAGNE October 2, 2011 IT WAS hard to know who won the cake-making competition at Sir Paul Judge’s coffee morning on Friday – “they were all anonymous” – but with free champagne from Bollinger and chocolate from Green & Blacks on tap, no-one was counting. The Chartered Institute of Marketing president threw open his riverside penthouse for the Macmillan [...]