London to lose out in £30bn mega-float December 16, 2010 THE Hong Kong Stock Exchange is mounting an aggressive bid to lure away part of a float that looked set to be the biggest in London’s history. Glencore International, the world’s biggest commodities trader and a mining giant valued at £30bn, is planning an initial public offering (IPO) that could generate fees of up to [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING December 15, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES SIENNA MILLER CLAIMS REIGNITE HACKING ROW Lawyers representing the actress Sienna Miller have alleged that a senior executive at the News of the World ordered a private detective to hack into her mobile phone voicemail account, reigniting a controversy over journalistic practices at the tabloid Sunday newspaper. GOLDMAN’S SZE TO LEAVE FOR HEDGE [...]
Look closer to home to play the emerging markets’ story December 15, 2010 EMERGING markets have been one of the most popular trades of 2010. If it wasn’t concerns about the outlook for developed markets and the desire for higher returns further afield, it was Fed-fuelled liquidity that was driving flows towards the developing economies. The case for investing in equities rather than bonds is becoming stronger by [...]
THE TIPSTER December 15, 2010 NOW that the Chinese inflation figures are out and the People’s Bank of China has once again refused to raise rates, fears that European commodity stocks might suffer on the back of slower Chinese growth have subsided slightly. This might offer an opportunity for the likes of gold miner Randgold Resources to bounce off the [...]
Fed’s doves will keep cash cheap December 14, 2010 INTEREST rates will stay “exceptionally low for an extended period”, the US Federal Reserve announced last night. And despite claims from home and abroad that it is fuelling a fresh bubble, the Fed will continue its lastest phase of quantitative easing (QE2), buying around $75bn (£47.5bn) of Treasury assets every month. Markets reacted to the [...]
Looking ahead to 2011: some likely winners and laggards December 14, 2010 FROM sovereign debt crises threatening the very future of the euro to currency wars and more quantitative easing, 2010 has been an eventful year in the foreign exchange markets. Currency traders will be pleased to hear that volatility, which has been so characteristic of the FX markets since the crisis, is unlikely to disappear any [...]
EURO’S RALLY IS DEPENDENT ON THE DATA December 14, 2010 DIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT With the euro bears still fixated on sovereign debt problems, Monday’s 200 point rally in euro-dollar caught many currency traders by surprise and created a massive short squeeze. As Ireland appeared to be on its way towards finalising the EU bailout, risk aversion flows abated and credit spreads stabilised, leaving [...]
All-round positive outlook for 2011 worrying December 12, 2010 This is it – the last meaningful trading week of the year. This is the final opportunity for anyone wanting to move around a decent amount of stock or trying to place an order without sending prices haywire. The week when the futures and options expire and we all settle in to the two-week lull [...]
Banks propel FTSE upwards after interest rates decision December 9, 2010 BANKS helped Britain’s top shares rise yesterday after the Bank of England kept interest rates and quantitative easing measures unchanged, while US jobs figures raised hopes that a recovery was under way. The FTSE 100 was up 13.43 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 5,807.96, eradicating Wednesday’s losses, though gains were muted, with some traders [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING December 8, 2010 FINANICAL TIMES FRESH WOES FOR DE LA RUE OVER FRENCH OFFER De La Rue first received an £820m takeover approach from François-Charles Oberthur Fiduciaire, a French banknote printing rival, as long as eight weeks ago, it emerged on Wednesday. The disclosure comes as the crisis-hit FTSE 250 company defends itself against criticism from some shareholders [...]