Executives see euro weakening as public debt woes rumble on June 28, 2010 TWO thirds of business leaders and finance directors expect the euro to slide in the coming year as concerns over sovereign debt refuse to dissipate, according to a survey. More than 66 per cent of company executives interviewed by the Economist Intelligence Unit for investment bank RBC Capital Markets thought the single currency would continue [...]
City’s competitive edge blunted by bank levy June 27, 2010 THERE can be no doubt that Asia holds the key to the future growth of the global financial services industry, providing a whole host of new opportunities for the international business community, including many UK firms. And it is in all of our interests to help these rapidly emerging markets succeed and grow. That is [...]
Manage your risk when trading the markets June 24, 2010 For many years, trading the financial markets and spread betting in particular, was felt to be the reserve of City professionals. But advances in technology over the last decade or so and an increased awareness of the impact that the gyrations of financial markets can have on our everyday lives have meant that financial trading [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 22, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES GUINEA THREAT OVER RIO DISPUTE The government of Guinea has raised the stakes in a dispute with Rio Tinto by threatening to strip the mining group of more of its rights to one of the world’s biggest undeveloped iron ore deposits. Officials in Guinea have been angered by what they see as Rio’s [...]
SLOW SHIFT IN YUAN WILL HELP RISK FX June 22, 2010 BORIS SCHLOSSBERG DIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT LAST weekend Chinese monetary authorities announced that they were ending the yuan peg to the dollar that was adopted during the credit crisis to protect the country’s exporters. The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) noted: “In a continuation of the foreign exchange reforms launched in 2005, the yuan [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 21, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES LEHMAN CREDITORS GET A LIFT AFTER $620M OF ASIAN ASSETS ARE SOLD The Hong Kong-based liquidators of Lehman Brothers’ Asian operations have sold $620m (£420m) of the failed investment bank’s portfolio of loans, bonds and equity positions in the region. The transactions, which achieved an average recovery rate of 100 per cent, mark [...]
China’s FX shift won’t spark a sustained rally June 21, 2010 IT WAS a decision that had been long awaited by the financial markets, analysts and policymakers alike. But the announcement by the Chinese central bank to gradually return the Chinese currency to a managed floating exchange rate was issued with little ceremony on Saturday evening Beijing-time. Despite its vagueness, the statement was leapt upon yesterday [...]
Yuan un-pegging to lift markets before Budget June 20, 2010 News at the weekend that China is to ease the yuan’s peg to the US dollar will be a boost to stock markets everywhere this morning, in the expectation that the move would prove a major lift to exporters. FTSE SET TO OPEN HIGHER GFT is forecasting the UK’s FTSE 100 to open up 35 [...]
StanChart set to be investor in AgBank IPO June 17, 2010 AGRICULTURAL Bank (AgBank) of China, gearing up for a likely record $23bn (£15.5bn) IPO, looks set to tap Britain’s Standard Chartered as a cornerstone investor. AgBank signed a strategic deal with emerging markets-focused Standard Chartered yesterday to collaborate on banking products and services, both in China and internationally. “It’s very likely StanChart will take a [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS June 17, 2010 BHP BILLITON Citigroup maintains a “buy” recommendation on BHP Billiton saying the group’s share price has been overly impacted by issues such as the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, Chinese slow down and OECD debt issues. According to Citi, the market has already discounted $55bn in value destruction for BHP, which it believes is overdone. [...]