Outrage starting to ease in oil spill situation June 15, 2010 IN the last two weeks of this saga we have seen tensions in US-UK relations rise at the highest levels, with Obama accused of anti-British sentiment and Cameron called on to intervene, while BP chief executive officer Tony Hayward has been widely accused of callousness in the face of the environmental disaster. BrandIndex tracks the [...]
Fading Eurozone fears push banks up while bid activity sends BSkyB higher June 15, 2010 A RALLY by banks, fuelled by demand in European bond auctions on easing debt concerns, helped Britain’s top share index higher yesterday, with BSkyB up after an approach by News Corp. The FTSE 100 closed up 15.69 points or 0.3 per cent at 5,217.82, the highest closing level since 15 May, and taking its winning [...]
Posen: ECB is on right track June 14, 2010 CENTRAL banks have enhanced their future credibility and independence as a result of their policy decisions, including large-scale bond purchases, Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member Adam Posen said yesterday. Speaking at the Barclays Capital annual Global Inflation-Linked Conference in New York, he said: “Always refusing to intervene in debt markets for appearance’s [...]
FTSE rises for fourth day in a row as miners offset a sharp decline for BP June 14, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index closed higher yesterday for a fourth straight day, led by miners buoyed by firmer metals prices and offsetting a sharp fall in BP. The FTSE 100 index closed up 38.45 points, or 0.7 per cent, at 5,202.13, its highest close since 3 June. Mining stocks added the most points to the [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS June 14, 2010 LLOYDS BANKING GROUP Morgan Stanley has given Lloyds Banking Group an “underweight” rating and cut its price target by 23 per cent to 50p. Analysts said it faces a big risk of missing consensus beyond 2010, given pressure on net interest margin, tepid GDP growth and industry funding strains. Barclays is Morgan Stanley’s top pick. [...]
City Moves | who’s switching jobs Edited June 14, 2010 Future Capital Partners The investment boutique has hired Tim West as its new deputy chief executive. West joins from Babcock and Brown, where he was head of the London office and chief operating officer for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. Prior to that, he held the position of European chief operating officer for [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 13, 2010 THE SUNDAYS The Sunday Telegraph $2.6M BUFFETT LUNCH WON BY ANONYMOUS BIDDER A mystery benefactor has paid $2.6m (£1.8m) to meet with billionaire investor Warren Buffett for a business lunch. The Sage of Omaha auctioned his time in aid of a San Francisco charity. This year’s auction brought in 25 per cent more than any [...]
Joint effort vital for better banking access June 13, 2010 BANKS must work together with policymakers, technology providers and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to improve global access to financial services and boost economic growth in the wake of the financial crisis, a new report has found. According to the “Banking for Billions” report, launched today by Barclays and the Economist Intelligence Unit, 2.5bn people across the [...]
Inflation forecast to stay stubbornly high June 13, 2010 INFLATION data out this week is likely to cause a further headache for the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) after data on Friday showed the public’s expectations of long-term inflation had shot up sharply. The MPC has long argued it would look through what it sees as a temporary spike in inflation. But, [...]
SHOULD THE MPC BE WORRIED ABOUT THE RISE IN INFLATION EXPECTATIONS? June 13, 2010 MICHAEL SAUNDERS | CITIGROUP “Signs that high CPI and RPI figures are lifting inflation expectations are bound to worry the MPC. The MPC takes the inflation target seriously and it cannot stand by if it loses credibility. So far, longer-term inflation expectations remain fairly stable, combined with early fiscal tightening will keep the MPC on [...]