Steady income and performance to boost investment trusts’ popularity November 16, 2010 AFTER a decade in the financial wilderness, investment trusts are emerging, blinking, back into the mainstream. Tainted by the split-cap scandal at the end of the Nineties, investors have favoured their open-ended cousins for the past decade. Yet investment trusts have, on the whole, outperformed the FTSE All Share and the FTSE World ex UK [...]
UK shares surge as global deal boosts banks and China data cheers investors September 13, 2010 THE UK’s top share index ended higher yesterday after banks rose sharply in response to a new deal over global banking rules while mining shares gained on the back of bullish China industrial data. The FTSE 100 closed up 63.89 points, or 1.2 per cent, at 5,565.53 points, a fresh four-month closing high. “It has [...]
M&G’s bond fund taps inflation fear September 6, 2010 Prudential’s fund management arm, M&G, is tapping into fears of resurgent inflation and appetite for bonds with an inflation-linked corporate bond fund, which it says is the first of its kind. M&G Investments said yesterday its UK Inflation Linked Corporate Bond Fund, aimed at the retail sector, will invest in fixed interest securities “that should [...]
Balfour Beatty sees profit lift August 11, 2010 CONSTRUCTION group Balfour Beatty said it was well-placed to withstand public sector spending cuts as it announced an increased order book and an earnings boost from its US acquisition. The construction firm said yesterday half-year pre-tax profit rose by 32 per cent to £141m, compared with £107m in 2009. “Our strategy has been to build [...]
Balfour Beatty sees profit lift August 11, 2010 CONSTRUCTION group Balfour Beatty said it was well-placed to withstand public sector spending cuts as it announced an increased order book and an earnings boost from its US acquisition. The construction firm said yesterday half-year pre-tax profit rose by 32 per cent to £141m, compared with £107m in 2009. “Our strategy has been to build [...]
US industrial output growth slows while import prices rise September 15, 2010 US industrial output slowed last month and a regional measure of factory activity touched a 14-month low in September, pointing to a cooling in manufacturing as the boost from an inventory build-up fades. The reports yesterday were consistent with other data suggesting the US economy is stuck in a soft spot, but they also showed [...]
Surveys cast shadow over house pricesa September 2, 2010 HOUSE prices fell much faster than expected last month and construction activity slowed, industry surveys showed yesterday, reinforcing concerns that economic growth will fall off sharply. The strongest quarterly construction growth for decades pushed British economic growth to a nine-year high of 1.2 per cent in the second quarter, but the Markit/CIPS purchasing managers’ index [...]
Surveys cast shadow over house pricesa September 2, 2010 HOUSE prices fell much faster than expected last month and construction activity slowed, industry surveys showed yesterday, reinforcing concerns that economic growth will fall off sharply. The strongest quarterly construction growth for decades pushed British economic growth to a nine-year high of 1.2 per cent in the second quarter, but the Markit/CIPS purchasing managers’ index [...]
The housebuilder who is ready to take the long road back to recovery October 31, 2010 DESPITE the generally depressed state of the housebuilding and residential property market, Taylor Wimpey’s chief executive Peter Redfern says he is pretty pleased with business. But sitting in the boardroom of his London office, his mood appears more reflective than upbeat. “Prices are very stable at the moment,” says Redfern. “Stable is good for us. [...]
Construction growth slows down in July August 3, 2010 CONSTRUCTION activity in the UK dropped sharply to a four-month low last month, according to a leading survey published yesterday. The Markit/CIPS purchasing managers’ index for the construction sector fell to 54.1 in July from 58.4 in June, highlighting concerns that activity in the sector may have peaked. However, this is the fifth consecutive month that the [...]