The grave crises facing Putin’s Russia lay bare its fundamental weaknesses January 28, 2014 CHAOS in Kiev must feel uncomfortably close to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Ukrainian parliament yesterday annulled laws that sought to clear the streets of protesters against Ukraine’s increasingly authoritarian pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych. Ukraine’s prime minister and government have quit, and the country stands perilously on the edge of deeper conflict – prompted initially [...]
Sharp emerging market sell-off creates pockets of value for discerning investors January 28, 2014 The recent chaos in emerging markets has brought back uneasy memories of last summer’s sell-off. The MSCI emerging markets index fell from around 1,003 at the beginning of January to less than 932 on Monday, before stabilising in anticipation of the Federal Reserve meeting taking place today and tomorrow. But should investors be put off [...]
Ruffled Remy Cointreau names new cognac chief January 27, 2014 More shakeup for unsettled Remy Cointraeu. The French alcohol company has today announced a top executive from luxury conglomerate LVMH, Eric Vallat, as the new head of its cognac division, Remy Martin. Remy is facing uncertainties when it comes the future, as it struggling with falling sales, due to waning demand in China. Vallat, who [...]
Investor access to UK boosted by wealth visas January 26, 2014 THE NUMBER of UK visas issued for foreign investors swelled by a quarter in 2012-13, with high-net worth Chinese visitors making up the largest share of applications. International law firm Pinsent Masons reveals today that 530 investor visas were issued in 2012-13, up from 423 in 2011-12. The number of visas issues has nearly doubled [...]
What you need to know before the open – 24/01 January 24, 2014 Yesterday, with disappointing economic data from China and a raft of lacklustre earnings reports over the week, markets finally made a marked move downwards. earnings concerns & Chinese data takes Street of Dreams lower – DOW -1%, S&p 500 -0.86%, NASDAQ -0.57% – DOW has lost 2% this month & S&P 1% — David [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 24 January 2014 January 23, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES China is top gold consumer for 2013 China has overtaken India as the world’s largest gold consumer thanks to soaring purchases of jewellery, minted Panda coins and small gold bars. According to the Thomson Reuters GFMS gold survey, Chinese demand reached 1,189.8 tonnes last year, a 32 per cent year-on-year jump and a [...]
New York Report: China’s factory data sees stock fall on Wall St January 23, 2014 US STOCKS fell yesterday, with the Dow Jones industrial average recording its third consecutive day of losses, as risky assets sold off in wake of disappointing manufacturing data in China. Financials and materials stocks were the day’s biggest losers while telecom services was the only positive sector as investors sold growth-oriented stocks and bought defensive [...]
China’s factory sector contracts for the first time in six months January 23, 2014 Asian stocks dipped in Thursday trading, after an unexpected contraction in China’s factory activity in January. HSBC’s flash manufacturing purchasing managers’ index came in overnight at 49.6 from 50.5 in November and below expectations of 50.6. The number hails the first contraction in six months, as new orders declined and exports stayed soft. On [...]
Huge growth in new buyers leads Christie’s to record year January 22, 2014 HISTORIC auction house Christie’s sold more than £4.54bn worth of art and antiques during 2013 as booming numbers of first-time buyers led the firm to a record year of sales. Christie’s, founded in London in 1766, saw the number of new buyers increase 30 per cent last year. In total, these newcomers accounted for 22 [...]
Chinese central bank injection to avert crunch January 21, 2014 THE PEOPLE’S Bank of China (PBOC) intervened to boost liquidity yesterday, acting to head off a further credit crunch in the country’s squeezed and secretive monetary system China’s central bank announced in social media that it will ensure stability in markets, and is reported to have injected about 255bn yuan (£25.59bn) into the country’s interbank [...]