Private sector recovery still on track November 1, 2010 WHAT a day for the global economy. In Britain, China and America, manufacturing surveys surged ahead, in every case beating consensus estimates and suggesting strong private sector growth over the next few months. Yesterday’s jump in the global purchasing managers indices were undoubtedly the most bullish indicator I have seen in a long time. The [...]
FED DECISION DOES NOT END UNCERTAINTY November 1, 2010 CFD MARKET STRATEGIST, GFT THE two-day US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting ends tomorrow. This should end months of speculation over the size and scope of additional monetary stimulus. Last week, the Federal Reserve sent out a number of conflicting signals concerning its next move. Rather than narrowing the range of possible outcomes, the [...]
Commodities and banks lift FTSE but gains are tempered by Fed QE decision November 1, 2010 Miners led Britain’s top shares higher yesterday, boosted by strong data from China, but gains were tempered as investors looked ahead to the outcome of the US Federal Reserve’s meeting tomorrow. Miners rose after data showing demand in China, the world’s biggest consumer of metals, was holding up. The world’s biggest integrated zinc producer Xstrata [...]
US is where it all happens this week October 31, 2010 IT used to be the case that the most important market-moving news for the FTSE 100, sterling and the UK fixed income markets often came from the US. While that remains largely true – London traders become fixated with Wall Street the moment it opens – Chinese statistics have now become almost as important for [...]
ECONOMIST VIEWS: WILL THE MPC MOVE TO INCREASE QE THIS WEEK? October 31, 2010 SIMON HAYES | BARCLAYS CAPITAL “In the context of a policy stance that is already exceptionally loose… a further loosening would seem odd. I expect no change in policy… and continue to believe a three-way split is likely to persist for several months to come.” PETER DIXON | COMMERZBANK “The chances of a near-term expansion [...]
Sideways trading forecast ahead of expected QE2 October 31, 2010 THE call this morning is for stock markets to open unchanged, with markets likely to trade in a narrow band as caution prevails ahead of a potentially monumental week for economic events. GFT is quoting the FTSE 100 index to open unchanged from Friday’s close, at a level of 5,675. The German DAX 40 is [...]
WALL STREET WEEK AHEAD October 31, 2010 THE wait is almost over. After a two-month rally in the stock market, some investors are about to see if they get what they wished for: more Republicans in Congress and lots of cheap money. The US stock market has priced in the Republicans gaining ground in tomorrow’s midterm elections, an outcome widely seen as [...]
SPREAD BET GURU October 31, 2010 MARKET STRATEGIST josh@cityindex.com Q. Dear Josh, what is the market expecting from the Fed this week? A. The market is expecting the Federal Reserve to announce a second round of quantitative easing (QE2), designed to bolster the US economic recovery. Indeed, many of the recent gains in equity markets have been caused by this belief [...]
US economy in slim GDP rise October 29, 2010 US economic growth edged up as expected in the third quarter but not enough to chip away at high unemployment or change perceptions of more monetary easing from the Federal Reserve next week. Gross domestic product expanded at a two per cent annual rate as consumer spending rose at its fastest pace since 2006, the [...]
Advances from BG Group and Shell help lift the FTSE 100 October 28, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index pushed higher yesterday, helped by a rally in heavyweight commodity issues, notably oil major Royal Dutch Shell, whose third-quarter results beat market expectations. The FTSE 100 ended up 31.87 points, or 0.6 per cent, at 5,677.89, recovering after it reached its lowest closing level since 5 October on Wednesday. Energy issues [...]