US DATA KEY TO CONTEST AMONG BULLS AND BEARS April 2, 2012 FX 360 ONE of the more astounding aspects about the recent price action in the currency market is the absolute lack of direction in euro-dollar. Over the past week the pair has traded in a miniscule 150 point range – its narrowest swing in more than four years. With the Greek saga now behind us [...]
BEST of the BROKERS April 1, 2012 GDF SUEZ UBS rates the energy group “buy” and has a 12-month price target of €23. The broker thinks GDF’s bid for the remainder of London-listed peer International Power has come earlier than expected, although the offer itself is hardly surprising. UBS reckons the offer price of 390p per share is likely to rise, and [...]
Give your finances a spring clean: A guide to tidying up all the mess April 1, 2012 SAVINGS Tom Stevenson, investment director, Fidelity WITH a new tax year approaching, the sun shining and a string of bank holidays ahead, spring is certainly in the air. Now is the perfect time for you to take control of your savings. The first step of any spring clean should be ensuring that your money is [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 22, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES SPAIN’S BORROWING COSTS SOAR Spain’s borrowing costs rose above 5.5 per cent for the first time since January as investors fretted about another escalation of the eurozone crisis amid signs of further economic weakening even in Germany. Investors pushed Spain’s benchmark 10-year bond yields up 14 basis points to as high as 5.53 [...]
Shake-up for ENRC’s board as profit dips March 21, 2012 MINER ENRC yesterday signalled that it would be making more boardroom changes as it reported profits which fell short of City forecasts. The FTSE 100 company said pre-tax profits fell 7.5 per cent to $2.8bn (£1.7bn) after hits due to the rising cost of labour and energy. Revenues rose 17 per cent to $7.7bn last [...]
3Legs Resources is hit by rise in administration bill March 21, 2012 OIL and gas group 3Legs Resources – whose non executive chairman is former energy minister Tim Eggars – posted pre-tax losses of £2.3m for the year to the end of December. For the same period the year before it reported a £2.5m profit. The company said the loss was triggered by rising administrative expenses associated with [...]
Bank worried by oil prices March 21, 2012 RISING oil prices are worrying senior Bank of England officials, it emerged yesterday, as the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) published the minutes of its March meeting. The Bank voted 7-2 to keep monetary policy on hold, with only a pair of doves – Adam Posen and David Miles – calling for even more quantitative easing. [...]
Chancellor moves to boost North Sea investment March 21, 2012 Chancellor George Osborne unveiled in his budget plans to boost investment in the North Sea, giving oil firms certainty on the level of tax relief they will receive when they dismantle pipelines and platforms and introducing new tax breaks for some projects. Chancellor George Osborne said in his annual budget on Wednesday Britain will agree [...]
Ted Baker sales soar March 21, 2012 British designer clothing brand Ted Baker reported a surge in retail sales and said it planned more international store openings in North America and Asia in 2012 to tap into growing consumer demand. Ted Baker, which started as a menswear brand in Glasgow in 1987, reported a 14 per cent rise in retail sales, with [...]
Euro jobs at risk if crude hits $150 March 18, 2012 SURGING OIL PRICES have the potential to knock the Eurozone further into recession and cost hundreds of thousands of jobs, according to analysis by Ernst & Young. If the price of crude hits $150 (£95) a barrel this year, the consultancy expects to see contraction of one per cent in the Eurozone’s GDP, compared to [...]