G20 PUTS FX MARKETS IN SHARP FOCUS November 3, 2010 DIRECTOR OF THIRD PARTY DISTRIBUTION, ETF SECURITIES CURRENCIES are currently very much in focus. Bizarrely, however, many investors shun direct currency exposure because they view currencies as being more volatile compared to other asset classes. This leads investors to play currencies through their asset allocation decisions rather than trading the foreign exchange markets directly. Indeed [...]
FTSE lifted more than one per cent on the back of strong corporate earnings November 2, 2010 STRONG corporate earnings hoisted Britain’s top shares by more than one per cent on yesterday, led by energy stocks after BP and BG Group results and ahead of the outcome of the eagerly awaited US Federal Reserve policy meeting. At the two-day meet in Washington which started yesterday, the Fed will consider the prospect of [...]
BG Group’s new project could be revolutionary November 1, 2010 THE coverage of third quarter oil company earnings published today will mask a more interesting story for the energy sector. Natural gas giant BG Group announced on Saturday that it had been given the go ahead to become the first company to liquefy gas from coal deposits. The new venture will have the capacity to [...]
US is where it all happens this week October 31, 2010 IT used to be the case that the most important market-moving news for the FTSE 100, sterling and the UK fixed income markets often came from the US. While that remains largely true – London traders become fixated with Wall Street the moment it opens – Chinese statistics have now become almost as important for [...]
Chinese demand will keep the German engine roaring October 31, 2010 GERMANY certainly is the engine of Europe at the moment; it has powered its way out of the recession. Exports are booming, unemployment is expected to fall to levels last seen in the early 1990s and its current account is firmly in surplus. The blue-chip Dax index is the model of this good health, outperforming [...]
AIA float sees 17 per cent share surge October 29, 2010 AIA Group surged 17 per cent in its Hong Kong debut as investors, chasing exposure to Asia’s fast-growing life insurance business, piled into the record offering in the world’s hottest IPO market. The stronger-than-expected listing is a relief for bailed-out insurer American International Group Inc after a two-year effort to sell its Asian unit, including [...]
AIA float sees investors pile in October 29, 2010 AIA Group surged 17 per cent in its Hong Kong debut as investors, chasing exposure to Asia’s fast-growing life insurance business, piled into the record offering in the world’s hottest IPO market. The stronger-than-expected listing is a relief for bailed-out insurer American International Group Inc after a two-year effort to sell its Asian unit, including [...]
DEFLATING A MARKET FULL OF HOT AIR October 28, 2010 MD & FOUNDER OF FINE WINE MERCHANT BORDEAUX INDEX TUCKED away for half term with the family, I was tenderly unprepared for the storm in a teacup that clattered over the internet yesterday. In shock news, it seems that Chateau Lafite-Rothschild has decided to release the nascent 2008 vintage with a very small Chinese symbol [...]
ICBC earnings grow as bank buys insurer October 28, 2010 Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the world’s most valuable lender, joined rivals in posting robust earnings on strong loans growth, giving a boost to its planned multi-billion dollar fundraising. The Beijing-based lender also said it will pay $180m (£112.8m) to buy control of French insurer AXA’s Chinese joint venture, expanding into the country’s [...]
Kazakhmys boosted by China October 28, 2010 Kazakh miner Kazakhmys yesterday posted a 9.3-per cent fall in third-quarter copper production, in line with analysts’ expectations, and stuck to its full-year target as demand remained buoyant. “Kazakhmys has reported a steady quarter with copper production falling modestly… but tracking well in line to hit guidance,” JP Morgan analyst Amos Fletcher said in a [...]