China now a bigger player on financial stage September 12, 2010 China’s rapid ascent to become the world’s second largest economy provided confirmation – if any was needed – that the country is a key player on the global financial stage. And with China forecast to grow at around 10 per cent this year – down from recent pre-crisis highs but still far in advance of [...]
Record for foreigners in UK shopping bonanza September 6, 2010 LAST month was the busiest on record for international shoppers hitting UK stores, a new survey showed today. Sales were up 18 per cent with shoppers from China, Russia, Thailand and Malaysia leading the boom. The hike came despite Middle Eastern shoppers heading home for religious festival Ramadan during the month. The growth in Chinese [...]
DON’T BANK ON FURTHER S&P RALLIES September 6, 2010 CFD MARKET STRATEGIST, GFT SEPTEMBER kicked off with impressive rallies on global equities. It was certainly a “risk on” start to the month and echoed the market moves that we saw back at the beginning of August. In fact, the S&P has already made back all its August losses and more. But last month’s initial [...]
Chinese bid to block BHP Billiton tie-up September 5, 2010 CHINESE officials have ordered state companies to meet investment bankers to explore ways to block BHP Billiton’s $39bn (£25.3bn) bid for Potash. In response to the directive, sources say Sinochem is holding meetings with several banks, including Citigroup, HSBC and Morgan Stanley. The order from Beijing underscores the seriousness with which China is taking the [...]
asia’s moon to brighten wine orders September 2, 2010 MD & Founder of Fine Wine Merchant Bordeaux Index AS THE wine market reluctantly drags itself back to work after the long summer break we approach what has become one of the defining periods of the trading year, the run-up to Asia’s mid-autumn festival of the moon, which falls on 22 September this year. This [...]
The UK’s fate: Neither boom nor bust September 1, 2010 A PAINFUL, extended soft patch, not a disastrous hard landing: that was the message from yesterday’s batch of global economic indicators. The US manufacturing survey improved in August, spectacularly refuting widespread expectations of a collapse and fuelling a market rally; the UK’s factory sector is still growing, albeit at a slower rate. Hard-core bulls and [...]
China is set to probe BHP’s bid for Potash Corp September 1, 2010 CHINA plans to launch an antimonopoly probe into BHP Billiton’s $39bn (£25.2bn) bid for Canada’s Potash Corp. The probe is another indicator that China, as the world’s biggest importer of fertiliser, is wary of further concentration in the market, following BHP Billiton’s launch of a hostile bid for Potash Corp last month. But it was [...]
China considers probe into BHP Billiton’s bid for Potash Corp September 1, 2010 China may launch an antimonopoly probe into BHP Billiton’s $39bn (£25bn) bid for Canada’s Potash Corp, the China Business News has claimed. China will also review the merger of two Russian potash firms – Uralkali and Silvinit – given the major impact the two deals would have on China, the paper cited the unnamed source [...]
Indian elephant offers the investor steady success August 31, 2010 ANALYSTS comparing the prospects for the world’s two most populous countries often evoke an Asian version of Aesop’s famous fable of the tortoise and the hare – the elephant and the tiger. The elephant makes slow and steady progress to reach its goal while the tiger bounds forward more quickly and more powerfully, but risks [...]
Vodafone plans retreat from great call of China August 30, 2010 VODAFONE is on the brink of a £4bn sale of its Chinese assets. It will sound out strategic partners before deciding whether to place its stake in China Mobile on the open market in Hong Kong. A lock-up period preventing Vodafone from selling its stake recently ended and the value of the holding has more [...]