FTSE falls as economic woes hit banks and commoditiesTHE LONDON REPORT August 18, 2010 Banks and commodity stocks pushed Britain’s top shares lower yesterday, with worries over the global economic recovery knocking sentiment and weak volumes exacerbating stock moves as the FTSE 100 remained range-bound. The FTSE 100 closed down 47.68 points, or 0.9 per cent, at 5,302.87 after ending 1.4 per cent higher on Tuesday at 5,350.55 for [...]
Base metals can still shine in an uncertain environment August 8, 2010 THE global economy is at an important crossroads; economic data from the US has been patchy and signs of a slowdown in China are causing bouts of volatility in risky assets. However, base metal prices have held up well. The question is, will they continue to do so? The recent surge in base metal prices [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 3, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES BARCLAYS OFFLOADS LOANS IN STRUGGLING CONNAUGHT Lenders to Connaught have started selling their loans to the company, in a sign of their concern about the state of the embattled social housing maintenance group. Barclays, one of Connaught’s syndicate of banks, which is led by Royal Bank of Scotland, on Monday night sold its [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR XSTRATA? August 3, 2010 DAVID BUIK | BGC PARTNERS “These results are up 300 per cent on last year. It is a staggering achievement to deliver figures this robust. It shows how much demand for coal has increased in China. This is leading the firm’s push and will continue to be a strong driver for growth into the future. [...]
Glencore eyes sale or IPO of its gold mines June 7, 2010 COMMODITIES trader and miner Glencore is thought to be considering putting its gold mines on the market as gold prices remain robust while other metals prices tumble. One option is understood to be for the Glencore, the world’s biggest commodity trader, to list the assets which mainly consist of the largest gold mine in Kazakhstan, [...]
Glencore sees Xstrata tie-up May 3, 2010 SWISS mining and commodities trading powerhouse Glencore is working on a £55bn merger with Xstrata, the London and Geneva-listed metal extraction giant. Advisers to Glencore are understood to be drawing up plans for the privately-held company to join the public arena through a reverse takeover of Xstrata. Glencore, which already owns 34.4 per cent of [...]
Shell stops selling oil to Iran March 10, 2010 Oil major Royal Dutch Shell has stopped gasoline sales to Iran, it said yesterday, the latest addition to a growing list of firms that have halted supplies under threat of future US sanctions. The Anglo-Dutch oil firm will join the likes of BP, Reliance Industries, and independent Swiss trader Glencore, among suppliers that have either [...]
Decline in prices hurts Glencore March 10, 2010 GLENCORE, the commodity trader, which recently took the first steps towards a possible stock market flotation, warned of a bumpy recovery yesterday after posting a 43 per cent fall in 2009 net profit on a slide in prices. The Swiss group said its net income, excluding exceptional items, fell to $2.72bn (£1.81bn) last year, down [...]
Glencore buys back mine from Xstrata March 5, 2010 SWISS-based commodity trader Glencore has bought back its Prodeco coal operations in Colombia from mining group Xstrata. The purchase price still has to be finalised as it is partly based on capital Xstrata spent on the mines and Prodeco’s earnings. Analysts estimate it will be around $2.5bn (£1.8bn). Xstrata chief executive Mick Davis said: “The [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 22, 2010 THE SUNDAYS THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH TORIES’ ENERGY PAPER MONTHS LATE The Conservatives’ flagship energy paper may not appear until April – six months after its original planned publication – leading to industry fears of policy disagreements in the run-up to the election. One senior figure who has seen a draft of the paper said that [...]