Good earnings help US shares bounce back April 11, 2012 AN encouraging start to earnings season helped US stocks rebound yesterday five days of losses that pushed the S&P 500 below a key technical level. Equities cut gains late in the session after the Federal Reserve said rising energy costs were a concern for economic growth. Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said the economy would [...]
Apple sweet as it hits $600bn market value April 10, 2012 THE STELLAR performance of Apple shares reached a new milestone yesterday as the firm’s market value hit $600bn (£378bn) for the first time in its history. The stock achieved a new record high of $644 in early trading, re-inforcing the technology giant’s position as America’s most valuable company. Microsoft is the only other firm to [...]
FED OFFICIAL: BUSINESSES FEAR INFLATION RISK April 10, 2012 THE BOSSES of America’s top firms have begged the Fed to stop printing money, because they fear inflation will soar, the central bank’s Richard Fisher said yesterday. Although not a voter in interest rate decisions this year, Fisher has made it clear he opposes any further monetary easing, and instead favours more clarity on taxes [...]
FTSE loses almost all its 2012 gains on renewed fears for the Eurozone April 10, 2012 BRITAIN’S top share index plunged yesterday to surrender almost all its remaining 2012 gains, led by falls in risk-sensitive miners, oils, and banking stocks after last Friday’s weak US jobs data undermined global economic expectations. The FTSE 100 index closed down 128.12 points, or 2.2 per cent, at 5,595.55, its second biggest percentage fall of [...]
Looking out for a sign of further quantitative easing April 10, 2012 VOLATILITY has returned to the forex market on the back of last week’s US macroeconomic news, adding to uncertainty about the US recovery. The Federal Reserve says it does not see the need for further quantitative easing (QE3) at this time, with the Fed’s shift to a more hawkish bias due to a string of [...]
THE TIPSTER | Vedanta hoping for a silver lining April 9, 2012 Last year was not a good one for Vedanta shareholders, as their company’s share price dropped from an opening level of around £24 per share to a low of around £9 before recovering a little. PR worries, and a rather opaque corporate structure, meant that this company was nevertheless a poor performer. The next update [...]
Analyst picks for 10 April 2012 April 9, 2012 CURRENCY STRATEGIST JOEL KRUGER My pick: Looking to Buy euro-Swiss franc Expertise: Fundamental and Technical Analysis Average time frame of trades: 1 month to 3 months We don’t usually incorporate fundamentals into our trade ideas, but it’s hard to ignore the Swiss National Bank SFr1.2000 floor. Still, the market is technically in the process of [...]
Fed’s caution hits Wall Street April 4, 2012 US stocks fell for a second day yesterday as investors contemplated a world without monetary stimulus and a poorly received bond auction in Spain suggested the effects of Europe’s funding operations were waning. Selling was broad as indexes tracking nine of the 10 S&P 500 sectors ended lower, with financial, materials and technology shares the [...]
Fed pours cold water on hopes of new easing April 4, 2012 FEDERAL Reserve policymakers have backed away from the need for another round of monetary stimulus as the US economy gradually improves, denting stock markets and pushing the dollar up against several currencies. Minutes of the central bank’s meeting published last night showed only two of the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee’s 10 voting members saw [...]
Canopius eyes Omega takeover April 4, 2012 LLOYD’S of London insurer Omega yesterday announced that is has received a potential offer for the firm – from a rival that made a far more generous bid at the end of last year. Fellow Lloyd’s firm Canopius has made an offer of 65p per share in cash for the company, well below the 83p per [...]