US stocks slide as investors cash in May 3, 2011 US stocks fell yesterday as investors questioned the sustainability of the rally in light of fresh worries about earnings growth in the coming quarters. Investors targeted recent top performers, particularly energy shares, which were also hit by a fall in oil prices. The S&P energy index dropped 2.4 per cent, while oil futures lost more [...]
In the long run the Aussie is a wager against entrepreneurs May 3, 2011 ON 2 May, the Australian dollar climbed to a high of $1.1011, not reached since its 1983 float. Despite a small retreat, this upward trend is largely expected to resume on the back of continued demand for commodities and a hawkish Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). Yet over the long-term, trouble in China and technological [...]
Protests, earthquakes, wars and bailouts. But no love for the dollar May 3, 2011 THROUGHOUT 2011, we have had sustained periods of uncertainty in the money markets. In the past, uncertainty and turmoil have given rise to rallies for the greenback as a result of investor flight into the safety and liquidity of this safe haven currency. Continued turmoil in the Middle East, concerns over the ongoing European sovereign [...]
China may be larger than US by 2016 April 25, 2011 IF the International Monetary Fund is right, whoever is elected President of the United States next year will be the last American to preside over the world’s largest economy. By 2016, the IMF believes, China will have overtaken the US as the biggest economy – the first time it actually pins a year on this [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING April 25, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES MPS PRESSURE VICKERS TO DEFINE BANK BONUS RULES Sir John Vickers is facing pressure from senior MPs to widen his work on making banks safer by defining new bonus transparency rules, to provide an early warning of the build-up of risk. Members of the Commons treasury committee will next month urge Sir John [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING April 20, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES CHINA TO ALTER TAXES IN ATTEMPT TO CUT WEALTH GAP China is to lift the exemption threshold for personal income tax payments in an effort to redistribute the spoils of rapid growth and reduce a widening wealth gap. The level at which Chinese citizens must pay income tax will be raised from Rmb2,000 [...]
A string of strong earnings reports sends FTSE jumping April 20, 2011 COMMODITY stocks helped power the FTSE 100 index sharply higher yesterday, while earnings from Reckitt Benckiser and Home Retail, following US tech bellwether Intel, boosted risk appetite. The FTSE 100 closed up 125.39 points, or 2.1 per cent, at 6,022.26 following a 0.5 per cent gain on Tuesday. This wiped out Monday’s 2.1 per cent [...]
Burberry sales jump April 19, 2011 Luxury group Burberry said a strong finish to the year delivered a 33 per cent rise in underlying fourth-quarter sales and would result in full-year profit at the top end of expectations. The 155-year-old maker of raincoats and handbags said on Tuesday it made £390m of revenues in the three months ended March, excluding its [...]
Philips seals China TV deal as profit slips April 18, 2011 PHILIPS is offloading part of its TV arm in the first step by new chief executive Frans van Houten to boost flagging profit at Europe’s biggest consumer electronics maker. Philips is moving its loss-making TV business into a joint venture with Hong-Kong based monitor maker TPV and has the option to sell out. The deal [...]
Nestle in deal for stake in China food firm April 18, 2011 Nestle, the world’s biggest food company, agreed to take a 60 per cent stake in China’s Yinlu Foods Group for an undisclosed price, becoming the latest multinational to target China’s fast-growing food and beverage sector. Family-owned Yinlu had sales of about 750 million Swiss francs (£515.9m ) in 2010, Nestle said in a statement on [...]