First gains of the week as Alcoa boosts the markets July 9, 2009 THE FTSE 100 closed 0.5 per cent higher yesterday, ending a three-day losing streak on the back of gains in miners after reassuring earnings from Alcoa. The index closed 18.43 points firmer at 4,158.66, having fallen 1.1 per cent the previous session to its lowest closing level in more than two months. However trading was [...]
FTSE 100 slips below 4,200 but defensives stay afloat July 6, 2009 THE FTSE 100 fell one per cent yesterday to close 41.37 points down at 4,194.91, on concerns about the global economic outlook, with heavyweight oils, miners and banks leading the market lower, after it gained 0.1 per cent on Friday. The index fell through the 4,200 level for the first time since late April. It [...]
BLANK’S CHELSEA APPEARANCE SETS CITY TONGUES WAGGING ON HIS HEIR May 18, 2009 ANY idea that the downturn would affect corporate hospitality at the Chelsea Flower Show, traditionally one of the biggest, most important corporate schmooze-fests of the year, was smashed to smithereens at last night’s gala preview opening. Chelsea veterans including Marks & Spencer boss Sir Stuart Rose, WPP chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell, ICAP billionaire Michael [...]
BLANK’S CHELSEA APPEARANCE SETS CITY TONGUES WAGGING ON HIS HEIR May 18, 2009 ANY idea that the downturn would affect corporate hospitality at the Chelsea Flower Show, traditionally one of the biggest, most important corporate schmooze-fests of the year, was smashed to smithereens at last night’s gala preview opening. Chelsea veterans including Marks & Spencer boss Sir Stuart Rose, WPP chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell, ICAP billionaire Michael [...]
THE TIPSTER June 21, 2009 BUYERS have been snapping up banks with decimated share prices, but there are still some crisis-resilient picks in the financial sector, such as Standard Chartered. On Thursday the bank will be in the spotlight when it releases its trading update. It has managed to survive the credit crunch relatively unscathed and its share price has [...]
StanChart dials up deal June 1, 2009 STANDARD Chartered (StanChart) Bank could underwrite up to $5bn (£3bn) to back Bharti Airtel’s $23bn tie-up with South African telecom operator MTN, according to banking sources. The sources said the bank was expecting to underwrite the full amount of the financing for the proposed deal, or as much as $5bn. If the deal materialises, StanChart [...]
Oils and banks lift the large caps but defensives slide June 29, 2009 THE FTSE 100 gained 1.3 per cent yesterday, boosted by strength in oil majors and banks, and reflecting early gains on Wall Street. The index closed 53.02 points higher at 4,294.03, recovering most of last week’s 1.5 per cent decline. “What is most impressive about today’s rally is the breadth of the buying. Most sectors [...]
THE LONDON REPORT June 24, 2009 MINERS and banks were buoyed by better US durable goods data yesterday, offsetting weaker food retailers and producers and driving the FTSE 100 up by 1.2 per cent, or 49.96 points, to close at 4,279.98. The index has gained more than 23 per cent since hitting a six-year low in March, but is still down [...]
IDEALISM ISN’T LOST ON CITY ART CROWD June 23, 2009 IF THERE are any City types out there itching to use the dwindling financial job prospects as a catalyst for a change of career, they could do worse than to heed the advice of Thomas Ostenberg. Just before the recession of the early Nineties, Ostenberg decided to leave his career as an independent financial consultant, [...]
London markets sag in the heat but Diageo refreshes July 2, 2009 THE FTSE 100 closed 2.5 per cent lower yesterday, with market sentiment hit by data showing US employers cut more jobs than expected in June and unemployment in Europe hit a 10-year high. The index ended down 106.44 points at 4,234.27 after closing 2.2 per cent higher on Wednesday, the first day of the new [...]