Funding pressure as China pulls out of Eurozone forex September 20, 2011 MONEY market strains worsened yesterday after Standard & Poor’s cut Italy’s credit rating and the Bank of China halted foreign exchange swaps with several European banks. Eurozone bank borrowing at the European Central Bank’s weekly tender surged to €201bn, the highest in seven months in a sign of growing stress in the sector. Three-month dollar [...]
RALLIES TURN TO DECLINES AHEAD OF FED September 19, 2011 GLOBAL equity markets rallied sharply last week. The initial catalyst came from rumours that China stood ready to purchase Italian debt. Then stocks shrugged off worries about the credit-worthiness of the largest French banks, after German Chancellor Merkel and French President Sarkozy insisted that Greece will remain a member of the Eurozone. Greek Prime Minister [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 16, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES BTG PACTUAL LOOKS AT IPO AS IT EYES EXPANSION BTG Pactual, Brazil’s largest independent investment bank, is looking to hold an initial public offering as early as next year as one option to fund an ambitious expansion in Latin America. The move comes as the bank is also strengthening its foothold in Asia [...]
China lies at the heart of euro survival September 14, 2011 THE effects of speculation that China would be buying up Italian sovereign debt displayed just how much sway the Chinese government holds over the world currency markets. China has been accumulating foreign currency reserves at a rapid rate – its forex reserves increased by $750bn between June 2010 and June 2011. It is reported that [...]
Euro chaos as markets reel over rumours September 13, 2011 NERVOUS investors jumped at every rumour yesterday, as politicians failed to calm the spiralling Eurozone crisis and choppy markets. The euro gained against the dollar on reports of an impending “Merkozy” statement between Germany’s chancellor and France’s president. But the single currency slumped back as President Sarkozy’s office denied that any joint statement would be [...]
EU ministers fail to address euro’s flaws September 13, 2011 SUCH is the precariousness of the Eurozone project that every bit of hearsay sends the currency markets scrambling. Yesterday afternoon, the word was that we would see a reappearance of Merkozy – the Euro-Frankenstein merger of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French premier Nicholas Sarkozy that first had life breathed into it at an emergency [...]
Colfax weighs in with £1.5bn Charter offer September 12, 2011 US industrial giant Colfax raised the stakes in the battle for Charter International yesterday, tabling a formal bid valuing the company at £1.5bn and gaining the backing of Charter’s board. Colfax, which makes industrial pumps and valves, tabled a 910p per offer with 80 per cent in cash and the rest in its shares, trumping [...]
Hope of help for Italy lifts stocks September 12, 2011 US stocks rose yesterday, bouncing back in late trading, as hopes that Italy could get financial support from China tempered investors’ worst fears over the Eurozone’s sovereign debt crisis. Traders started the day braced for a possible downgrade of France’s top banks by Moody’s rating agency, but sentiment improved as various European officials succeeded in [...]
Osborne agrees deal for UK as renminbi hub September 8, 2011 CHANCELLOR George Osborne agreed to develop London into an offshore trading centre for China’s renminbi currency after meeting Chinese vice-president Wang Qishan yesterday. The move gave official Treasury support for the City’s push to trade the renminbi, a market expected to grow rapidly for trade, foreign exchange and bond issuance. The step reflects efforts by [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 7, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES LIBOR ENQUIRY EYES CRIMINAL ANGLE The US investigation into alleged manipulation of interbank lending rates is focusing on possible violations of a commodities law that has previously been used to send financial executives to prison. According to people familiar with the probe into the setting of London and Tokyo interbank offered rates, US [...]