FTSE gains after commodity rally and flurry of M&A bids June 21, 2011 BRITAIN’S leading shares pushed higher yesterday, led by rallying commodity stocks and banks as investors awaited a vote of confidence in the Greek Parliament. The vote, due after the London market close, is seen as a key step towards the passage of more spending cuts in exchange for foreign emergency loans. “What equity markets need [...]
THE TIPSTER June 21, 2011 STERLING-yen continues to come under pressure as it hit a low yesterday not seen since the earthquake related slide in mid-March of ¥129.73. Heavy pressure on dollar-yen and a similarly weak cable helped to push it lower. It looks intent on testing the support areas around ¥129.15-¥128.70, so anyone tempted to buy this pair should [...]
HKEx: a global IPO hot-spot June 21, 2011 THE Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEx) is Asia’s third largest exchange in terms of market capitalisation, after Tokyo and Shanghai. It was first established in 1891, although informal exchanges were taking place in Hong Kong for some thirty years previous to that date. Nowadays, the exchange has become well-known for attracting big international companies – [...]
A HAVEN OF FREE TRADE SHOWS THE WAY TO CHINA’S OPENING MARKETS June 21, 2011 HEAD OF PRODUCT, BARCLAYS STOCKBROKERS THIS week takes us to Asia-Pacific; to Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore. All three offer investors access to China but none more so than Hong Kong. FRAGRANT HARBOUR Hong Kong is Asia’s second largest exchange by market capitalisation and was formed in 1980 by a merger between the Far East [...]
Vallares defies gravity in new issues market June 20, 2011 SEBASTIAN Grigg looked even more ebullient than usual when I bumpedinto him at the weekend. The Credit Suisse investment banker was as pleased as could be about the manner in which Nat Rothschild’s new acquisition vehicle Vallares had managed to raise £1.3bn in funds, with Grigg’s bank as the lead adviser. Grigg is not the [...]
Pandora sees stock surge on its debut June 15, 2011 PANDORA yesterday became the latest technology IPO to set the markets on fire, climbing over 60 per cent during the day after pricing well above the top of its range. The music streaming service floated at $16 (£9.86) a share after naming a range of between $10-12, a price that had already been increased from [...]
Oil companies and banks help to push the FTSE 100 higher June 14, 2011 Britain’s top share index rose yesterday, with oil majors and banks gaining as above-forecast data from the United States and signs that the Chinese economy could avoid a hard landing boosted appetite for riskier assets. Britain’s FTSE 100 ended 29.67 points higher, or 0.5 per cent at 5,803.13 points, after inching up 0.1 per cent [...]
China’s inflation hits 34-month high June 14, 2011 China’s central bank has raised bank reserve ratios for the ninth time since last October after inflation rose to 5.5 per cent in May, its highest level in almost three years. The central bank increased the ratio for China’s biggest banks to 21.5 per cent, a record high, locking up funds that could otherwise be [...]
China Everbright Bank plans $6bn HK IPO June 14, 2011 China Everbright Bank plans to raise about $6bn (£3.7bn) in a Hong Kong initial public offering, Asia’s biggest so far this year. China’s mid-sized banks are in need of funds to replenish their balance sheets after strong lending growth over the past year has thinned their core capital ratios. China Everbright, which raised $3.2bn through [...]
Facebook is worth $100bn but users slip June 13, 2011 FACEBOOK last month shed users across a number of its mature markets, sparking fears its meteoric growth is beginning to peak. Last month it lost 6m users in the US to fall below 150m and lost a further 100,000 in the UK. Canada, Russia and Norway also registered a similar fall, according to data gathered [...]