New York Report: Wall St surges on Fed move December 18, 2013 US stocks staged an explosive rally yesterday, driving the Dow and the S&P 500 to all-time closing highs after the Federal Reserve announced it would start to unwind its historic stimulus. While the Fed’s move came as a surprise to many in the market, it confirmed that the US economy was on firmer footing and [...]
Storm delays United victory December 18, 2013 A HAILSTORM stopped Manchester United’s Capital One Cup quarter-final at Stoke last night before goals from Ashley Young and Patrice Evra set up a last-four clash against Sunderland. Players were called off for 10 minutes when the downpour prompted referee Mark Clattenburg to halt play half an hour into the match, with the score 0-0. [...]
What you need to know before the open – 18/12 December 18, 2013 Today is the day the Fed's Open Market Committee makes a decision on whether to trim back its quantitative easing programme. The tapering debate has rattled on for almost eight months now, with uncertainty persistently subduing the markets. Robust economic data has left many questioning the likelihood of a December (as opposed to a March [...]
London Report: Supermarket slump sees FTSE fall again after Monday’s lift December 17, 2013 BRITAIN’S main equity index fell yesterday, with big supermarket groups hit by fresh signs of a loss of market share, while uncertainty over future US monetary policy also weighed on the market. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed down by 0.6 per cent, or 36.01 points, at 6,486.19 points, retreating after a 1.3 per cent [...]
New York Report: US markets dip amid Fed meet December 17, 2013 US STOCKS closed slightly lower yesterday, with investors reluctant to make big bets before the results of a Federal Reserve meeting that could give some clarity as to when its policy-setting committee will begin trimming its stimulus. The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 9.31 points, or 0.06 per cent, to close at 15,875.26. The Standard [...]
Are things getting uglier for gold? December 17, 2013 It's a tough time for gold prices at the moment. The $15 per ounce rise seen yesterday has been wiped out UK and Asian trading today, as the US dollar climbed and stock markets stayed cautious, in anticipation of tapering action from the Fed tomorrow. HSBC have said in a note: "The bullion market is [...]
Markets are hooked on one big event December 17, 2013 Markets are still fixated on one big event – The Federal Reserve announcement at 7.00pm tomorrow. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) may decide to start slowing the pace of its asset purchases, as the US economy recovers and the Fed doesn't deem QE as necessary. Investors expect the withdrawal of that support to make [...]
US records productivity boost ahead of crucial Fed meeting December 16, 2013 US BUSINESS productivity increased at the fastest pace in four years during the third quarter, according to official figures released ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monthly policy meeting. A Bureau of Labor Statistics release showed that productivity rose three per cent in three months to September, the best result since the fourth quarter of 2009. [...]
New York Report: US stocks gain after big deals December 16, 2013 US STOCKS gained yesterday, rebounding from their worst week in months as large deals boosted optimism but investors remained cautious ahead of an upcoming Federal Reserve policy meeting. Equities are coming off their biggest weekly decline in nearly four months, a pullback that came on concerns the Fed may begin to wind down the bond-buying [...]
Letters to the Editor – 17/12 – Scrap Davies, Alternative finance, Best of Twitter December 16, 2013 Scrap Davies If you believe that the importance of hub capacity is overstated there is clearly no need to expand Heathrow. If you believe, as I do, that London and the UK needs an internationally-competitive hub airport, we should be clear what that means. It means an airport with four runways and the capacity to [...]