World shares lift despite dip in Asia January 16, 2012 EUROPEAN shares and the euro gradually recovered yesterday from early losses triggered by the mass downgrade of Euro zone sovereign ratings last week, but they still looked vulnerable amid rising fears of a disorderly Greek debt default. Markets had already reacted to the downgrades on Friday, and European assets steadied by yesterday afternoon, but activity [...]
GOLD REMAINS A PRECIOUS COMPONENT OF A PORTFOLIO January 16, 2012 Ionce heard an analyst say that gold should be viewed as an insurance policy, not as an investment. That’s good advice for anyone who is contemplating a position in the yellow metal in 2012. Gold has very little industrial use and yields no return, so its investment credentials are dubious. However, throughout history gold has [...]
Banks welcome China-UK talks on forex trade January 15, 2012 TWO OF Britain’s biggest banks have welcomed government efforts to establish the City as the world’s biggest centre for trading China’s currency outside Hong Kong. Standard Chartered chief executive Peter Sands and his counterpart at HSBC, Stuart Gulliver, have both committed to send senior representatives to bi-annual lobbying meetings with the Bank of China, Barclays [...]
BAA traffic up as Heathrow has record December January 11, 2012 Traffic at airports operated by BAA rose last month with Heathrow enjoying its busiest December ever in terms of both passenger numbers and cargo which grew for the first time since February 2011 on an underlying basis. BAA, which is Britain’s main airport operator and majority owned by Spanish infrastructure group Ferrovial, said on Wednesday [...]
Weak exports boost looser policy hopes January 10, 2012 CHINESE trade grew at its slowest pace for two years last month, official figures revealed yesterday. However, markets rose in the hope that such weak figures would prompt the authorities to cut interest rates in an effort to stimulate demand. China’s exports expanded by 13.4 per cent in the year to December, the slowest growth [...]
Wall Street rises on earnings relief January 10, 2012 STOCKS climbed to a five-month high yesterday, led by materials companies after an upbeat forecast by aluminum company Alcoa and strong gains in bank shares. Alcoa posted revenue that topped expectations late Monday and gave a bullish outlook for the aluminium industry. The stock gave up early gains to end at $9.44, up 1 cent. [...]
A slippery time ahead for oil prices January 9, 2012 CONTINUED geopolitical issues in Iran and its stand-off in the Strait of Hormuz has pushed up oil prices over fears of a threat to supply, but will global economic weakness be enough to take the edge off these rises in the long term? SHORT TERM FEARS “Crude traders were of course spooked by the escalating [...]
Art market is a real winner January 8, 2012 THE art market proved beautiful for investors last year, with a 10.2 per cent growth in prices shown by the Mei Moses World All Art Index. The index, which measures returns on art mainly by tracking repeat sale prices in New York and London, was boosted by growing Chinese demand and estimate-beating auctions. They included [...]
Chinese dragons fly into the UK’s mobile warzone January 8, 2012 ASK someone to name the first smartphone that comes into their head and most people will say “iPhone”. Some might name a Samsung or even an HTC. Not many will mention Huawei or ZTE. But 2012 could be the year of the dragon, with the Chinese giants preparing to blitz the UK with a massive [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING January 5, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES NEW CLASHES BREW OVER TOBIN TAX Britain and France are set for another European clash as Paris attempts to frame a new Eurozone financial transaction tax in a way that is likely to have a significant impact on the City of London. President Nicolas Sarkozy of France wants to include the so-called Tobin [...]