THE TIPSTER August 11, 2010 PRUDENTIAL shares have been trading in a range between 600p and 500p for the past six months. However, after languishing around the 500p mark, the stock has risen more than 15 per cent in the past three weeks to highs of 603.5p in anticipation of a positive first-half trading report today. Shares fell away slightly [...]
BarCap to cut hundreds of jobs in an effort to cut costs August 10, 2010 BARCLAYS Capital is expected to announce hundreds of redundancies as early as today, affecting back office staff across the firm’s global operations. It is understood the layoffs are intended to cut costs to compensate for a sharp fall in market activity in the second quarter. The investment banking arm was responsible for around 87 per [...]
Banks boost FTSE past the 5,400 mark after quiet day August 9, 2010 FINANCIAL stocks boosted the UK’s leading share index yesterday, rallying from falls in the previous session following weak US jobs data and supported by energy markers which gained in tandem with crude. The FTSE 100 was up 78.13 points, or 1.5 per cent, at 5,410.52, having closed 0.6 per cent lower on Friday, albeit in [...]
Panic over a new global food crisis is over-egged August 9, 2010 TRADERS have been watching wheat markets breathlessly over the past few days as the grain bounced up and then down. Having gained 8.08 per cent last Thursday – up 80 per cent on prices in the middle of June – the grain plummeted on Friday, wiping out much of Thursday’s gain to end the day [...]
ECONOMIST VIEWS: WILL THE BANK REVISE ITS FORECASTS THIS WEEK? August 8, 2010 JONATHAN LOYNES | CAPITAL ECONOMICS “I expect the growth forecast to be similar since the second quarter was strong, and it may even rise in the near term. The inflation forecast will have to rise, partly as a result of the VAT increase. Yet the Bank may see inflation at or below the target rate [...]
Bankers: further pay curbs will cripple the City August 8, 2010 BANKERS are warning politicians and regulators they risk an exodus of talent from London if they put further curbs on pay in response to rising bonus levels. New ONS figures show financial sector bonuses in the five-month period between December and April in the last financial year were £10bn, up from £8bn in 2008. The [...]
The late-night bank manager is planning a High Street revolution August 8, 2010 THE revolution in High Street banking has begun. That’s the bold claim of Craig Donaldson, chief executive of Metro Bank, the first addition to Britain’s retail banking scene in 100 years. And ground zero is the corner of High Holborn and Southampton Row, where its inaugural branch opened a couple of weeks ago. “The revolution has [...]
IHG eyes higher profit August 8, 2010 HOTEL group InterContinental Hotels (IHG) is expected to reveal a surge in profits tomorrow thanks to the return of the business traveller. Analysts expect the group, which owns the Holiday Inn chain, to unveil first half operating profits of $205m (£128m), a rise of 14.5 per cent. The sharp rise in profits is down to [...]
THE TIPSTER August 8, 2010 LAST week, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) released positive earnings, which followed upbeat performances from HSBC, Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group, indicating a recovery of the UK banking sector. An inverse head and shoulders bullish pattern is noted on daily charts of RBS and an important level of 49.7p has been broken, signalling further gains. [...]
Barclays set to leave UK if it’s broken-up August 5, 2010 BARCLAYS mounted a staunch defence of “big banking” yesterday as its first-half performance failed to impress analysts, who described the hefty profit boost as “low quality”. Chief executive John Varley used his results speech to warn the government against breaking up large institutions into separate investment and retail banks. Varley argued FTSE 100 companies needed [...]