Collapse in commodities ends BHP’s record run August 12, 2009 BHP Billiton, the world’s largest miner, yesterday reported a 30 per cent slide in annual profit excluding writedowns, its first fall in seven years, pummelled by a slump in metals prices and demand. It said there were emerging signs of demand improving in North America, Europe and Japan, but said it was too early to [...]
Regulator adopts a measured Code for bonuses August 12, 2009 NEWS that the Financial Services Authority (FSA) wants to influence but not emasculate the bank bonus culture is welcome, but was the only sensible option. The City watchdog has clearly listened to industry concerns, particularly the worry that an excessive clampdown on remuneration would spark an exodus of workers overseas. Jocelyn Mitchell, employment partner at [...]
Insight sold to BNY Mellon August 12, 2009 LLOYDS Banking Group has confirmed that it is to sell its Insight Investment unit to Bank of New York Mellon in a £235m cash-plus-shares deal. The bank, which has been conducting a review of its asset management businesses with an eye to disposals, said it had reached an agreement in principle with BNY Mellon, ending [...]
International Power leading the way for defensive stocks August 11, 2009 THE LARGE cap index shed 1.1 per cent yesterday, knocked by weakness in heavyweight banks, miners, and oils, but defensive stocks were back in favour once again. The FTSE 100 was 50.86 points lower at 4,671.34 by the close of the session, weakening for a second day after hitting a 10-month closing high of 4,731.56 [...]
Bank’s forecast to be very downbeat August 11, 2009 THREADNEEDLE STREET’S latest growth and inflation forecasts published today are widely expected to be downbeat about the prospects for the UK economy, pointing to a weak recovery and the potential for further expansion of quantitative easing (QE). In light of last week’s monetary policy decision and worse-than-expected second quarter GDP data, economists expect the Bank [...]
Undervalued peso poised to benefit from US recovery August 11, 2009 GIVEN the poor state of Mexico’s economy, you might think that its currency, the peso, would be suffering. Hit hard by global recession and falling oil prices, the real economy is expected to shrink by 5.5 per cent in 2009 while the country’s industrial production is contracting month-on-month. And even the country’s growing tourist industry [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS August 11, 2009 Piper JaffrayThe boutique investment bank has hired Richard Kirkham, formerly a partner at Oriel Securities, as a principal of European equity sales. Kirkham was previously a director of UK small and mid-cap sales at Teather and Greenwood. He will be responsible for developing business relationships with assigned institutional accounts. BarclaycardBarclaycard has appointed David Daniel as [...]
Rally ends as weak miners nudge FTSE down slightly August 10, 2009 THE FTSE 100 edged down yesterday, with investors booking profits from hefty gains in miners and banks last week, while the market searched for direction as the earnings season tailed off. The index ended down 0.2 per cent, or 9.36 points at 4,722.20, not far from a 10-month closing high of 4,731.56 on Friday. A [...]
Investor optimism won’t last forever August 9, 2009 EVEN after a rally lasting 11 consecutive days, the FTSE 100 still managed to push higher last week, closing up 2.48 per cent on the week. And where the FTSE has gone, other indices have followed. The S&P 500 broke temporarily through the 1,000 mark at the end of last week while the Dow Jones [...]
Bank decision boosts market as the bankwagon rolls on August 6, 2009 THE LARGE-CAP index closed higher yesterday, driven by strength from banks after the Bank of England (BoE) surprised markets by expanding its quantitive easing plan to £175bn. The FTSE 100 closed 43.40 points higher, or 0.9 per cent, at 4,690.53, after hitting a fresh 2009 intraday high of 4,729.58 following the BoE announcement. The BoE [...]