BBVA ups stake in China November 22, 2009 SPANISH bank BBVA is looking to plough a further €1.1bn (£991,000) into China’s Citic Bank, increasing its reputation for Chinese invesment. The bank, which would lift its stake from 10 to 15 per cent, is bucking the trend of Western banks such as UBS and Royal Bank of Scotland, who have been pulling out of [...]
Las Vegas Sands IPO disappoints in China November 22, 2009 CASINO group Las Vegas Sands has seen lower than expected interest in the stock market float of its Macau business. Sands China, an offshoot of Las Vegas Sands, raised $2.5bn (£1.51bn) through its initial public offering in Hong Kong, Chinese sources said. That was at the bottom of the range hoped for, but will ensure [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 19, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES VODAFONE?VEXED BY VERIZON STANCEThe chief executive of Vodafone yesterday said that the question of dividend payments from Verizon Wireless, its US joint venture, was one of the most pressing items on the company’s agenda. Speaking at a MorganStanley investor conference in Barcelona, Vittorio Colao said: “We need to solve the US situation.” EUROPEAN [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 18, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES LLOYDS OFFLOADS MALL FOR £300MHammerson, the UK real estate investment trust, has emerged as the preferred buyer of a £300m shopping mall near Glasgow being sold by Lloyds Banking Group after the original owner defaulted on the loan. The UK commercial property market has seen few sales by the larger lending banks, in [...]
REVALUATION OF YUAN WILL BE GLACIAL November 17, 2009 BORIS SCHLOSSBERGDIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT CURRENCY traders now widely assume that Asia will continue to lead the world economy to a recovery in 2010. Last weekend’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) meeting only reaffirmed that fact, with members pledging to maintain their fiscal stimulus programmes. Another rally in risk currencies should result as FX markets [...]
FOREX FLASH November 17, 2009 Bank fuels new high for the poundSterling hit its highest level in a year against the US dollar yesterday after Bank of England MPC member Andrew Sentance said in a speech on Monday night that he believed the UK had emerged from recession and that loose monetary policy cannot continue indefinitely. Mark O’Sullivan at Currencies [...]
US and China hit wall over yuan debate November 17, 2009 US PRESIDENT Barack Obama is due to visit The Great Wall of China today – but at the end of his tour of the region it seems the stumbling block of China’s currency is just as tough to surmount. Obama yesterday urged China to let its yuan currency rise in value at a summit where [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 16, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES MOBILE MAKERS ACT TO CURB FAKE PHONESThe global mobile phone industry is trying to rein in the rapid worldwide spread of illegitimate handsets by introducing a stricter regime for the allocation of handset identification numbers. The move comes as unlicensed Chinese handset manufacturers have started flooding the world market with exports in a [...]
Copper looks red hot for next year November 15, 2009 COPPER’S status as a widely used industrial metal meant it was always going to do well in 2009. Restocking, East Asian growth and growing confidence in the global economic recovery saw the price of the red metal on the London Metal Exchange (LME) rise to as high as $6,700 a tonne earlier in the year. [...]
US and China are set in spending and saving habits November 15, 2009 Alistair Darling has played host to the world’s most important money men (and women) a few times already this year, most recently in his native Scotland, but he might be forgiven for feeling a bit envious as the world looks to where the really important decisions are being made this week: at the Singapore meeting [...]