UK firms hit three year low for overseas M&A October 9, 2012 BRITAIN is close to losing its crown as the second largest buyer of foreign companies in the world amid plunging overseas volumes for UK firms, figures out yesterday show. Mergers and acquisition deals involving a British firm buying an overseas company fell 35 per cent to 63 in the first three quarters of this year [...]
Rio Tinto gives a wary outlook on China future October 9, 2012 GLOBAL miner Rio Tinto yesterday cut its growth forecast for China and said it was stepping up efforts to cut costs, having already slashed $500m (£312m), faced with an uncertain global outlook. Rio Tinto, the world’s second-largest iron ore miner with more than 80 per cent of its earnings in 2012 expected to come from [...]
EU holds fire on Huawei and ZTE October 9, 2012 The European Commission has delayed a trade case against Huawei and ZTE, two Chinese telecom equipment makers also under scrutiny in the US, easing tensions between the European Union and its second-biggest trading partner. A US congressional report said on Monday that the two firms were potential security risks and should be shut out of [...]
IMF growth gloom and poor data in manufacturing send FTSE lower October 9, 2012 UK shares fell for a second session yesterday, dented by a wary view of Europe’s debt troubles and concerns that gloomy global economic data bodes ill for the upcoming corporate earnings season. Data showed manufacturing output shrank more than expected in August and exports fell steeply, pointing to deterioration both in the domestic and the [...]
The unravelling of China’s exceptionalism October 9, 2012 MARKETS across the world were given a boost yesterday when the Chinese central bank pumped tonnes of liquidity into the country’s banking system for the second time in a fortnight. The People’s Bank of China injected 265bn yuan (£26bn) into the money market via reverse purchase agreements, adding to the 2.418 trillion yuan offered since [...]
Pessimism will engulf US corporate earnings October 8, 2012 EARNINGS season is underway. This week, investors will learn about the health of some of the biggest US companies. There is an air of pessimism. According to analyst surveys, earnings last quarter are expected to drop 2.4 per cent, and we may see more losses reported than profits for the first time in four years. But [...]
After reporting its first fall in profits since 1994, is Tesco now facing serious decline? October 3, 2012 YES Neil Saunders Those looking for a quick turnaround from Tesco will be disappointed by the latest results, which underline deep-rooted problems. UK like-for-like sales growth has improved since the last update. However, this has been driven by more discounting; a short-term solution that treats the symptoms of Tesco’s illness, but does very little in [...]
Battle of the hot new e-readers October 3, 2012 Kindle Paperwhite, $119 (US price) Amazon says this is the Kindle it has always wanted to build. The Paperwhite is similar to the Kindle Touch but with one important difference – it comes with a built-in light that “evenly illuminates the screen”, allowing you to read in the dark. The only problem is, if you live [...]
FTSE 100 down on poor Chinese data October 3, 2012 The leading share index slipped back under the 5,800 mark this morning, as weak Chinese services sector data weighed on investor sentiment. Mining stocks were hit, as the poor outlook from Asia raised concerns about raw demand. Leading the fallers in early trade was Lamprell, down more than 32 per cent, as it issued its [...]
Aussie outlook spinning around October 2, 2012 THE Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) yesterday called the end of the country’s commodities boom, citing the effects of the Chinese slowdown on the mining sector. At the same time, it announced that the official cash rate will be cut by a quarter of a point – down to 3.25 per cent. This latest drop [...]