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 [...]
A week full of stock results: what to watch October 10, 2011 TO say we live in interesting economic times would be an understatement. Confidence is low and money is tight. And retail stocks often show investor nerves more prominently than other markets. But it isn’t all bad news: volatility in the market can serve to make the life of the spread better more exciting. So with [...]
THE TIPSTER October 10, 2011 GOOGLE has been under some pressure recently from two other US powerhouses in the shape of Facebook and Apple. Facebook is becoming ever more competitive in the advertising sector, while Apple is still leading the way with its tablet and phone devices. However, the launch of its new social media venture, Google Plus, will be [...]
Markets focused on support for European banks October 9, 2011 DESPITE a positive surprise on the all-important non-farm payrolls number from the US on Friday, beating the vast majority of analysts’ estimates, American stock indices still closed with a negative bias on the day. The gains in hiring workers were still not enough to offset the unemployment rate, which remained high at 9.1 per cent. [...]
WALL STREET WEEK AHEAD October 9, 2011 INVESTORS tiring of the Eurozone’s debt crisis dragging the market all over the place are hoping to focus on something else this week – earnings. But will third-quarter results be enough to drive the S&P 500 higher? Or will Europe’s woes get in the way? The unofficial start of earnings season begins tomorrow, when Dow [...]
