Welcome to today's round-up of business news from The Times: what we're saying, what they're saying, from Michael Beh
Tuesday, October 13, 0730 GMT
Top stories
The Times: The City regulator will ban the multibillion-pound self-certification mortgage industry, in which customers do not need to provide proof of income.
http://tinyurl.com/yzp6y8d
The Daily Telegraph: Shareholders of JJB Sports want regulators to charge those people spreading rumours about the personal finances of the retailer's boss.
http://tinyurl.com/yf4wb9x
The Times: Lloyds Banking Group, the state-backed bank, may have to pay £300 million ($473 million) in bankers' fees to underwrite its £11 billion rights issue.
http://tinyurl.com/ykcchxa
Comment
Ian King in The Times: There is plenty of anxiety at the moment as to how long the record-breaking run in equities can continue.
http://tinyurl.com/yzyhesp
Damian Reece in the Daily Telegraph: The City's reputation has been damaged enough, which is why the regulators must investigate and prosecute.
http://tinyurl.com/yz8hr6r
David Prosser in The Independent: The asset sales announced by Gordon Brown are hardly ones the nation will miss - they're more like the family copper.
http://tinyurl.com/yfj2wcn
Upside
The Times: Winkworth, the estate agent, plans to raise £1 million ($1.6 million) through a floatation, in a sign of renewed confidence in the housing market.
http://tinyurl.com/yg68me5
Wall Street Journal: The US government shelved plans to raise $200 billion (£127 billion) in new taxes on multinational companies after businesses complained.
http://tinyurl.com/yzkfx3f
The Daily Telegraph: UK markets rose to a 12-month high, breaking the 5200 barrier, but the pound fell to its lowest level against the Euro since March.
http://tinyurl.com/yhxplv9
Downside
The Times: Only 47 per cent of women compared with 59 per cent of men in the UK are saving adequately for old age.
http://tinyurl.com/yhs8t2j
New York Times: Small US businesses still struggle to secure bank loans, as banks continue their tight lending standards.
http://tinyurl.com/yf33dy4
Wall Street Journal: The Dutch central bank shuttered DSB Bank, a struggling consumer and mortgage lender, after a run by depositors.
http://tinyurl.com/ygodkka
Mergers and shakers
The Times: Sir Michael Bishop, the former chairman of airline bmi, declined to become the chairman of ITV, the broadcaster.
http://tinyurl.com/yhzvxv6
The Daily Telegraph: Elnor Ostrom became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize in economics, together with Oliver Williamson, for their work on corporate governance.
http://tinyurl.com/yk2je97
The Times: Kraft, the US food group vying for confectioner Cadbury, will retain Lazard after Bruce Wasserstein, the financial advising firm's chief executive, fell ill.
http://tinyurl.com/ykxbssg
Around Asia
Financial Times: One third of the staff at the Singapore office of RBS Coutts, the international arm of the UK private bank, quit.
http://tinyurl.com/yhbv8r9
Wall Street Journal: The Singapore economy rose 14.9 per cent in the last quarter and the nation's central bank revised its 2009 forecast upwards.
http://tinyurl.com/yhq5d46
New York Times: Caijing, the highly respected Chinese business magazine, lost 11 high-ranking business executives in a dispute over its shareholding structure.
http://tinyurl.com/ygthxzn
Look ahead
The Times: The UK must raise taxes by £26 billion per year or cut public spending by 17 per cent before 2013-14, PricewaterhouseCoopers warn.
http://tinyurl.com/ykrzm79
New York Times: The deadline for Americans to come clean about the money they have hidden offshore, in places like Swiss bank accounts, is this Thursday.
http://tinyurl.com/yzjl4sd
The Times: Demand for steel from the world's mills will rise by 9.2 per cent next year on exceptionally strong consumption in China.
http://tinyurl.com/ykcfdet
MARKETS
FTSE 100 5,210.17 up 0.9% (Monday close)
Dow 9,885.80 up 0.2% (close)
S&P 500 1,076.19 up 0.4% (close)
Nasdaq 2,139.14 steady (close)
Nikkei 10,055.15 up 0.4% (latest)
Hang Seng 21,562.76 up 1.2% (latest)
Currencies
Sterling $1.5776/1.0674 euros (latest)
Euro $1.478 (latest)
Commodities
Brent crude $71.17 down 19 cents (latest)
West Texas crude $72.98 down 29 cents (latest)
Gold $1055.60 down $1.90 (latest)
New York
Reuters: The S&P 500 rose, ending at its closing high for the year but the Dow and Nasdaq ended little changed as investors opted to lock in profits. Power tools maker Black & Decker rose 7.6 per cent on an improved third-quarter earnings forecast. Among energy stocks, Chevron rose 1.3 per cent and Exxon Mobil rose 1.2 per cent on higher oil prices. Google rose 1.5 per cent on analysts' upgrades. Drug maker Onyx Pharmaceuticals rose 5.1 per cent after the company agreed to buy Proteolix.
http://tinyurl.com/yzf3y9p
Asia
Bloomberg: Asian stocks rose in morning trade led by Japanese automakers. Toyota, the world's largest seller of hybrid vehicles, rose 2.6 per cent and rival Nissan rose 0.9 per cent as the yen fell. JFE Holdings, Japan's No. 2 steelmaker, rose 6.1 per cent and rival Nippon Steel rose 6.2 per cent on an analyst's upgrades. Commonwealth Bank of Australia rose 2 per cent in Sydney on an analyst's upgrade. United Microelectronics, the world's second-largest custom-chip maker, fell 1.3 per cent and Nan Ya Plastics, the world's largest processor of plastics for pipes and imitation leather, fell 2.4 per cent on reports Taiwan may impose a tax on stock trading by corporations. Rio Tinto, the world's third biggest miner, rose 1.3 per cent on higher metals prices. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.5 per cent to 119.05 in morning trade.
http://tinyurl.com/yzzec63
Michael Beh
michaelwbeh@gmail.com
London
British Airways helped the FTSE 100 to climb to its highest level for more than a year yesterday after a push from one of the City's leading brokers. Shares in the flag carrier rose 1.3 per cent after RBS told clients to buy the stock noting it was on the verge of an avalanche of news.The broker said BA was right on the cusp of decisions relating to labour cost savings - with talks with unions set to resume tomorrow, a merger with Spanish carrier Iberia and anti-trust immunity for its proposed tie up with American Airlines. It added that BA would benefit from a US economic recovery as well as a resurgence in financial services and markets, which would boost already recovering premium passenger numbers.
The FTSE 100 advanced 48.3 points to 5210.17, with gains across the board.
Old Mutual was the top riser, up 4.6 per cent, amid reports it was set to raise cash with a sterling bond issue. The group has underperformed peers of late.
Lloyds Banking Group was the biggest faller, down 2.5 per cent, amid continued speculation it would launch a fundraising.
Peter Stiff
Peter.Stiff@the-times.co.uk
