Drugmakers give FTSE a lift as investors bet on healthcare January 19, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index ended up 0.3 per cent yesterday, led by pharmaceuticals on hopes that US President Barack Obama’s healthcare reforms could be hampered, while banks fell after results from US bank Citigroup. The FTSE 100 index rose 18.75 points to 5,513.14, extending Monday’s gains when the market rose 0.7 per cent. Pharmaceuticals echoed [...]
Greece woes spoil continental party January 18, 2010 EUROPEAN shares rose in early trade yesterday, recovering some of Friday’s losses, with miners gaining on higher metals prices. In morning trading, the FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 0.6 per cent at 1,058.15 points. Miners were among early gainers, as copper rose on hope that strong Chinese demand could cut inventories. Precious metals were also [...]
Miners lend muscle to FTSE as banks shake off US blues January 18, 2010 BRITAIN’S leading share index took on 0.7 per cent yesterday, as heavyweight mining issues rallied with firmer metal prices, while banks moved higher awaiting further earnings news from US peers. At the close, the FTSE 100 index was 39.02 points higher at 5,494.39, albeit in subdued trade with US markets closed for Martin Luther King [...]
BROKER WILLS & CO OPENS FIRE ON FSA’S REGULATORY CRACKDOWN January 18, 2010 WHEREAS most City firms are content to whinge ineffectually about the Financial Services Authority’s new heavy-handed approach to regulation, it seems that others are starting to put their money where their mouth is. Rumours have been busy swirling in the Square Mile over the regulatory status of private client stockbroker Wills & Co, which can [...]
Osborne set to meet bankers January 18, 2010 BANKING bosses will meet with George Osborne and Boris Johnson this morning to discuss the Tories’ plans for their industry, City A.M. has learnt. City A.M. understands that those in attendance will include Barclays chairman Marcus Agius, president of Bank of America Merrill Lynch Europe Jonathan Moulds, and vice-chairman of Goldman Sachs Michael Sherwood. Executives from [...]
Standard Life unveils new board team January 18, 2010 STANDARD LIFE, Scotland’s biggest insurer, yesterday announced the first major appointments under its new chief executive. In a major re-shuffle, incoming boss David Nish appointed Christian Torkington and Sandy Begbie to the board of executives. Torkington joined the firm from RSA Insurance Group, where he was chief operating officer. Prior to this he held senior [...]
Merged and acquired firms do better than competitors January 18, 2010 FIRMS that carried out mergers and acquisitions last year outperformed the market by more than three percentage points, despite the commonly held view that buyouts often destroy value. According to professional-services firm Towers Watson and City University London’s Cass Business School, acquirers outperformed the MSCI World Index by an average 3.2 per cent in 2009, [...]
Time to reform our monetary policy January 17, 2010 THERE have now been dozens of books and thousands of research papers on the causes of the crisis yet we are no nearer to a consensus. But there is one factor on which virtually all US analysts agree, regardless of ideological differences: the Fed kept interest far too low for too long. This triggered the [...]
Travelport in pole position in float queue January 17, 2010 TRAVELPORT looks set to become the most expensive company to float on the stock exchange in two years. It will be amongst the first in a slew of companies seeking an IPO in the coming months. The airline and hotel reservations firm, which operates in 160 countries, has plans for flotation in London and hopes [...]
Top banks subpoenaed by regulator January 17, 2010 A LIST of top international banks has been subpoenaed by US regulators. Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, Citigroup, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, UBS, Morgan Stanley and Barclays Capital are all believed to have received subpoenas last month. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) wants to question them about the sale and marketing of synthetic collateralised debt obligations [...]