Fed comments soothe jitters on Wall Street February 26, 2013 NEW YORK REPORT US stocks rebounded from their worst decline since November yesterday after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke defended the Fed’s bond-buying stimulus and sales of new homes hit a four and a half year high. The S&P 500 had climbed six per cent for the year and came within reach of all-time highs [...]
UK share boost is tempered by Italian election February 25, 2013 LONDON REPORT UK shares shed all of their early gains yesterday as projected Italian election results suggested a clear-cut winner was unlikely to emerge, diminishing the prospects for a stable government. Early exit polls suggesting a healthy lead for a centre-left coalition led by Pier Luigi Bersani in both houses of parliament were confounded by [...]
US stocks drop on fears over European debt February 25, 2013 NEW YORK REPORT US stocks yesterday suffered their biggest drop since November after a strong showing in Italian elections by groups opposed to the country’s economic reforms triggered worry Europe’s debt problems could again destabilise the global economy. The decline marks the biggest percentage drop for the benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 Index since 7 [...]
Analyst picks for 26 February 2013 February 25, 2013 DailyFX CURRENCY STRATEGIST CHRIS VECCHIO My pick: Short Aussie-dollar and sterling-dollar Expertise: Fundamental and technical analysis Average time frame of trades: A few hours to a few days Even as the US budget sequester looms, I remain a dollar bull. If the sequester happens, global risk-aversion is likely, which will support the dollar. With Luigi Bersani [...]
RBS and Lloyds results look set to show losses February 24, 2013 STATE-BACKED banks Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group are both expected to announce full-year results this week, with analysts forecasting both lenders will remain loss-making. Investec believes RBS, which will deliver its 2012 figures on Thursday, will announce an attributable loss of £2.2bn for the final quarter – or a £5.6bn loss for [...]
Wall Street on edge over talk of end to QE February 24, 2013 US investors face another Washington-imposed deadline on government spending cuts this week, but the cut-off not generating the same level of fear as two months ago when the “fiscal cliff” loomed large. Investors in sectors most likely to be affected by the cuts, like defence, seem untroubled that the budget talks could send stocks tumbling. [...]
Cyclical stocks drop after Fed warns over QE February 22, 2013 LONDON REPORT BRITAIN’S blue chip shares posted their biggest one-day loss since July yesterday on concerns the Federal Reserve could end its stimulus programme sooner than expected, removing a driver of the recent equity rally on both sides of the pond. The FTSE 100 closed down 103.83 points, or 1.6 per cent, at 6,291.54, dropping [...]
Growth fears push Wall St down again February 22, 2013 NEW YORK REPORT US stocks fell for a second straight day yesterday and the S&P 500 posted its worst two-day loss since November after reports cast doubt over the health of the US and Eurozone economies. But a late-day rally helped stocks erase some of their losses with most of the pullback concentrated in the [...]
FTSE surges to highest level in over five years February 21, 2013 THE FTSE 100 benchmark equity index edged up yesterday to touch fresh five-year highs but its failure to close above a key technical level led some traders to expect a minor, near-term sell-off. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed up 0.3 per cent, or 16.30 points higher, at 6,395.37 points – its highest level since [...]
Wall St drops as Fed minutes spark concern February 21, 2013 US stocks fell the most in three months and a key gauge of market volatility spiked yesterday after minutes from the US Federal Reserve’s most recent meeting suggested the central bank may slow or stop buying bonds sooner than expected. The minutes from the Fed’s January meeting showed many officials voiced concern last month over [...]