FTSE ends in the red as hopes of intervention from Fed wane August 25, 2011 BRITAIN’S FTSE 100 fell yesterday, snapping three days of gains as investor hopes dwindled that Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke would signal more stimulus measures and a rumour about a German short-selling ban triggered profit taking. The blue chip index fell deep into the red on talk a short selling ban may be enacted in [...]
CLEAN-UP BORIS PUTS HIS HAND IN HIS POCKET August 24, 2011 CONFIDENCE is returning to the streets of London, says Mayor of London Boris Johnson, who yesterday launched the High Street Fund to help small businesses affected by the riots with “immediate cash flow assistance”. “In August, we have been reminded of some truths about London,” said the mayor as he launched the fund at City [...]
Tesco Bank’s director quits August 24, 2011 TESCO director Andrew Higginson is quitting the company in a year’s time – leaving a hole in its plans to expand its banking services. Higginson led the retailer’s move into banking and was at the heart of the company’s strategy under former chief executive Sir Terry Leahy. He was also seen as contender to succeed [...]
UK manufacturing stronger in August August 23, 2011 UK manufacturers are seeing industry conditions improve and new orders strengthen, new data shows. Total order books at manufacturing firms were above normal for a third of respondents to the Confederation of British Industry’s manufacturing survey in August. Manufacturers were also optimistic about the outlook, with almost a third expecting their production levels to rise [...]
UBS to cut 3,500 jobs worldwide August 23, 2011 Swiss bank UBS plans to slash around 3,500 jobs, almost half of them from its investment bank, as it seeks to shave some two billion Swiss francs from annual costs by the end of 2013. UBS had already said it would cut jobs when it posted a lower-than-expected second-quarter profit last month as its underperforming [...]
HP rallies after its share price collapse last week August 22, 2011 HEWLETT Packard shares rallied yesterday after a respected analyst upgraded the stock in the wake of a brutal restructuring mooted last week. Shares in the US computer giant, which is to buy Autonomy in an eye-watering $10.2bn (£6.2bn) deal, gained four per cent, recouping some of Friday’s 23 per cent drop. As well as announcing [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS August 22, 2011 Savills The property firm has strengthened its building and project consultancy team by hiring surveyors Edward Wilson and Tim Cole, who will be based at the Finsbury Circus office in the City of London. Wilson (pictured) joins Savills from Drivers Jonas Deloitte, where he worked in the building consultancy team for over three years. Cole [...]
FTSE 100 ends higher after defensives lead a relief rally August 22, 2011 BRITISH blue-chip stocks rose to buck a three-session slide as dividend-yield hunters ploughed back into beaten-down defensive stocks, albeit in low volume, volatile trade that could have further to run, traders said. Vodafone, Royal Dutch Shell and GlaxoSmithKline added most points to the FTSE 100 index yesterday as the recent fall, which took six per [...]
Bank shares weigh on Europe’s stock markets August 19, 2011 Europe’s banks have weighed on stock markets again today as fears over their solvency and funding sources remained heightened. Switzerland’s number one and two banks UBS and Credit Suisse have been forced to deny that they were the as yet unnamed bank that tapped the European Central Bank for a $500m dollar loan for the [...]
FTSE in tailspin as recession fears grip markets August 19, 2011 The FTSE 100 continued its downward spiral this morning as banking stocks plunged amid escalating fears that the global economic recovery was being derailed. Investors piled into gold to take it to yet another record price as equities took a hammering across the globe. A raft of grim economic data plus the ongoing eurozone debt [...]