CHINA IS KEY TO A FURTHER RALLY IN RISK October 11, 2011 AS global markets stabilised last week in the wake of better than expected US employment data, the bulls breathed a sigh of relief that the broad sell-off in risk assets may be finally over. Last week’s better than expected economic data may have quelled concerns that the world is headed for a double dip recession, [...]
THE TIPSTER October 11, 2011 THE Aussie dollar has scrimmaged its way back to parity in the last week as the US dollar rally receded and risk appetite picked up again. Once again though, it is finding it hard to get over the line and yesterday almost fell back to $0.990. Look for the $1.000 level to hold as firm [...]
FOREX ANALYST PICKS October 11, 2011 FOREX STRATEGIST JOHN KICKLIGHTER My pick: Short euro-sterling and Canadian dollar. Long sterling-dollar. Expertise: Fundamental analysis with risk management Average time frame of trades: 1 day to 1 week With France and Germany promising a “no holds barred” solution to Europe’s deepening crisis, my euro-dollar short is under extraordinary pressure. So while we haven’t closed [...]
A sound pound is nowhere to be found October 11, 2011 ALPARI JAMES HUGHES The pound has come back into focus at the start of the week after last week’s surprise announcement of further asset purchases by the Bank of England. Monday’s fall in sterling was in part due to MPC policymakers suggesting that the extra £75bn of QE announced last week could well be the [...]
FTSE hits a five-week high on optimism over debt talks October 10, 2011 BANK and commodity stocks hoisted Britain’s top shares to a five-week closing high yesterday, on mounting optimism over the prospects for a solution to Europe’s debt crisis after a weekend meeting of French and German leaders. The FTSE 100 ended up 95.60 points, or 1.8 per cent, at 5,399.00, after Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel [...]
Banks lead US stock hike October 10, 2011 US stocks jumped per cent yesterday, extending gains into a second week as a pledge by German and French leaders boosted hopes that the Eurozone debt crisis may be resolved. Financials led the rally. The KBW bank index jumped 5.3 per cent, with JPMorgan Chase & Co up 5.2 per cent and Bank of America [...]
Barnier leak may hang the Big Four out to dry October 10, 2011 RECENTLY a leaked document from the European Commission’s (EC) Michel Barnier made front pages, including that of City PM. The details of what could come to be concrete proposals threaten the Big Four accountancy firms – PwC, KPMG, Deloitte and Ernst & Young. The stakes are high: one of London’s, and the UK’s, most successful [...]
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES NEED AN EYE ON RISK October 10, 2011 HEAD OF CORPORATE, ZURICH INSURANCE THE UK is a world leader in professional services and the sector has grown rapidly on the back of corporate and property deals as well as private and public sector businesses outsourcing work. According to the Professional and Business Services Group, professional service firms such as accountants, actuaries, engineers, surveyors, [...]
UK labouring over any growth in employment October 10, 2011 BRITAIN’S Office of National Statistics (ONS) will tomorrow release its UK employment statistics for September. There are some who forecast an improvement, but a surprise isn’t altogether out of the question. After all, trading wouldn’t be any fun if you didn’t get the occasional shock result. While the UK labour statistics do not carry with [...]
DESPITE THE RHETORIC, EU DEBT WEIGHS October 10, 2011 AT the beginning of last week, equities were heading lower. On Tuesday, major US stock indices such as the Dow 30, Russell 2000, and S&P 500 traded below levels last seen at the beginning of August, although all three subsequently snapped higher on the same day. The S&P is now up over 8 per cent [...]