Kraft’s Cadbury bid sparks a flurry of FTSEmerger hopes September 7, 2009 THE leading share index notched back up towards the 5,000-points mark yesterday, after a proposed bid for Cadbury by Kraft raised hopes of a more general pick-up in merger activity and lifted banks and commodity shares. The FTSE 100 rose 1.7 per cent to a close of 4,933.18, up 81.48 points, as it came close [...]
How to profit by turning the FTSE changes on their heads September 7, 2009 TOMORROW evening after the market close the FTSE 100 will undergo its quarterly reshuffle, which sees the UK’s leading blue-chip index updated to reflect fully the changing market capitalisation and liquidity of Britain’s listed companies. While the process is deliberately as transparent as possible and well publicised in advance in order to minimise any dramatic [...]
Take a view on future interest rate rises with short sterling contracts September 7, 2009 WHILE THE Bank of England’s monetary policy decision on Thursday is almost certainly a done deal – everybody expects a hold – and is not expected to shock the market, there is no doubt that everybody in the City will be watching the Monetary Policy Committee’s (MPC) accompanying statement for indications of a more upbeat [...]
EXPECT MORE RISES IN THE GOLD PRICE September 7, 2009 MARTIN SLANEYHEAD OF DERIVATIVES, GFT DESPITE stock markets being jittery after a surging summer, investors and speculators didn’t have far to look before finding an alternative home for their trading buck. Gold is glittering once more, coming close to the $1,000 per ounce price tag, and trading levels on the spot gold CFD are soaring [...]
European stocks near 11-month high September 7, 2009 EUROPEAN shares closed higher yesterday, led by UKchocolate giant Cadbury which soared 38 per cent following a £10.2bn bid approach from US company Kraft Foods. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares rose 1.4 per cent to 975.90 points, just 0.3 per cent away from an 11-month closing high. The European benchmark index has [...]
Market to eye consumer purse while MPC mulls rates September 6, 2009 THIS week will be all about consumers’ purse-strings and just how tightly they are pulled. Results from across the retail and leisure sectors will go some way to answering that question, while the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee’s decision on interest rates and quantitative easing will tell us what the experts think about any [...]
ber bears go bullish on bonds as deflation threat looms September 6, 2009 DURING the summer months global stock markets have rallied beyond what even die-hard bulls would have thought possible six months ago. Yet this is perhaps not the most surprising trend to have emerged out of the typically quiet August period. Strategists on both sides of the Atlantic have been trying to get their brains around [...]
TAKE HEED OF CENTRAL BANK CAUTION September 6, 2009 JANE FOLEY RESEARCH DIRECTOR, FOREX.COMSeptember has begun under a cloud of apprehension, as investors worry that the rallies in the stock markets and also in commodities such as oil may have over-compensated for the improvement in global demand. It would be foolhardy to presume that risks to global economic growth have completely disappeared – they [...]
Banks are back in favour with hedgies and the spread betters September 6, 2009 WHILE many market analysts are decrying the current stock rally as being overblown and fundamentally unjustified, not everybody agrees. Data last week from Thomson Reuters revealed that at least 20 top hedge funds boosted their positions in financial institutions during the second quarter. The group of 30 hedge funds in the analysis increased their exposure [...]
Market short on inspiration September 6, 2009 IT’S A relatively quiet week for data, and although US equity markets are closed today for the Labor Day holiday, market activity often picks up after this date which traditionally signifies the end of summer vacations. The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee monthly meeting results are on Thursday, and although no change in interest [...]