Receding fears over Eurozone debt levels hand FTSE a boost December 6, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index closed higher yesterday, buoyed by oil stocks after crude reached a two-year peak, while banks fell on fears over Eurozone debt as EU ministers met to discuss ways of preventing debt contagion. The FTSE 100 ended up 24.96 points, or 0.4 per cent, higher at 5,770.28, for its highest close since [...]
Bernanke’s caution worries Wall Street December 6, 2010 US stocks ended little changed yesterday, held in check by worries about Europe’s debt crisis, which frustrated investors looking for a reason to take shares to new highs for the year. Germany rejected a call for Eurozone finance ministers to increase the size of a €750bn safety net for debt-stricken members. A decline in the [...]
Bet on black: Oil prices discover fresh energy December 6, 2010 FOR a commodity used to grabbing the headlines, crude oil has been overshadowed by its cousins for much of 2010. Unlike copper, coffee or cotton, which have climbed steeply, oil remained entrenched in its trading range between $70 and $85 a barrel. Not any longer. Cold weather sweeping across Europe, strong energy demand from emerging [...]
AN ODD MIX OF SIGNALS, SO BUY GOLD December 6, 2010 CFD MARKET STRATEGIST, GFT THE LAST few weeks have seen an overall improvement in reported economic data, especially in the US. We have seen a pick-up in a number of influential reports, including the Richmond Fed manufacturing survey, the Chicago Fed National Activity index, Chicago PMI and consumer confidence. This led to a feeling that [...]
THE TIPSTER December 6, 2010 THERE will be no shortage of idle speculation as to why a French company wants to buy a British bank-note printer but overtures have certainly been made to De La Rue by a smaller Gallic rival. After stumbling earlier in the year over production problems, the shares predictably surged on this news yesterday, but with [...]
CFD NEWS December 6, 2010 BARCLAYS LAUNCHES IPHONE APP Barclays Stockbrokers launched a free iPhone application for its contracts for difference (CFD) clients yesterday. In addition to the standard features common across most iPhone trading applications, Barclays Stockbrokers are offering account holders the ability to view their trading history, multiple watch lists and real time updates on their account’s profit [...]
Bounce in US is set to lift shares in Europe too December 5, 2010 The call this morning is for stock markets in Europe to open higher following a turn-around by US markets to close in positive territory on Friday evening, despite weak non-farm payrolls data. GFT is quoting the FTSE 100 index to open up 13 points from Friday’s close, at a level of 5,758. The German DAX [...]
WALL STREET WEEK AHEAD December 5, 2010 Europe’s sovereign debt crisis will still hang over global markets this week, but on Wall Street investors will not be afraid to bet on stocks. Wall Street has shown its ability to hold onto gains, or quickly recover from losses last week despite Europe’s debt woes, suggesting that investors are confident of a sustained rally. [...]
It’s snow fun for the shops, but a winter wonderland for gas December 5, 2010 WITH THE great freeze ongoing this morning, a lot of people will not be too happy struggling through the cold to work. 73 per cent of companies had staff off work last week, and many more undoubtedly will have failed to get to work today. The costs of cold weather to the economy are far [...]
Sterling rewards when surfing silver December 5, 2010 SILVER traders might feel like the comic book character the Silver Surfer (pictured above) when they sit down to Christmas dinner this year. Surfing the silver wave has been a very profitable affair. The precious metal hit a 30-year high in August and has even outperformed gold as shown by the gold: silver price ratio. [...]