Welcome to today's round-up of business news from The Times: what we're saying, what they're saying, from Michael Beh
Tuesday, November 24, 0730 GMT
Top stories
The Times: Lloyds Banking Group raised £9 billion ($15 billion) as investors flocked to the bank's pioneering CoCos, or contingent capital, bond offer.
http://tinyurl.com/ykdjylh
Financial Times: The International Monetary Fund said the global economy was vulnerable to shocks and stimulus programmes should not be stopped too soon.
http://tinyurl.com/yfzczdf
The Times: Petrol prices at Tesco are higher in areas where the supermarket faces no competition, highlighting the need for the proposed competition test.
http://tinyurl.com/yh8aa2c
Comment
David Wighton in The Times: The most striking feature of the CBI conference was that growth is back. Or, to be more precise, talking about growth is back.
http://tinyurl.com/y9xzea8
William Cohan in The Financial Times: Despite all the criticism, Goldman's risk-taking prowess and judgment should be applauded.
http://tinyurl.com/ya7vod6
David Prosser in The Independent: Depriving Google of content from NewsCorp would nip at the heels that the search engine elephant would notice.
http://tinyurl.com/ydoy7mo
Upside
Wall Street Journal: US home resales increased by 10.1 per cent in October, far more than expected.
http://tinyurl.com/ybtlorr
New York Times: News Corporation is considering an exclusive alliance with Microsoft, the software giant, for the media conglomerate's news content.
http://tinyurl.com/ycz3s3r
The Independent: Creditors of Blacks Leisure backed the rescue plan of the camping and outdoor equipment retailer, saving 4,300 jobs.
http://tinyurl.com/yh2cy6l
Downside
The Times: Rolls-Royce, the UK engine maker, may lose a $1.5 billion (£903 million) contract with Gulf Air after the carrier announced a change in strategy.
http://tinyurl.com/yhubxq7
The Times: UK school-leavers are "not fit for work", said Sir Stuart Rose, executive chairman of Marks & Spencer, the retailer.
http://tinyurl.com/yen8prq
The Times: Travelodge, the hotel giant, lodged a complaint with regulators over its rival Premier Inn's £29-a-room ($48) advertising campaign.
http://tinyurl.com/yzhfr77
Mergers and shakers
The Times: The Cosmen family, the largest shareholders of National Express, increased their stake in the troubled transport company to almost 20 per cent.
http://tinyurl.com/yjk5j4o
The Daily Telegraph: Jamie Dimon, chief executive JP Morgan Chase, is touted as a potential successor to Tim Geithner, the current US Treasury Secretary.
http://tinyurl.com/yzl8gza
The Times: Informa, the professional publisher behind Lloyd's List, approached Springer Science & Business Media over a potential takeover of the German group.
http://tinyurl.com/yhf7v4h
Around Asia
Wall Street Journal: China's banking regulator issued a stern warning to banks to strictly comply with capital requirements or face sanctions.
http://tinyurl.com/ydszad9
The Times: The Japanese Finance Ministry plans to float ¥140 trillion £950 billion, $1.6 trillion) of "ordinary" government bonds in 2010.
http://tinyurl.com/yhhbxug
Wall Street Journal: Thailand's economy showed modest growth in the third quarter and the nation's government forecast a rebound in growth in 2010.
http://tinyurl.com/ycxhnad
Look ahead
Reuters: General Motors will present a plan to European governments to save Opel, the car maker's struggling European business, within days.
http://tinyurl.com/y9dn3sf
Wall Street Journal: Apollo Global Management, the private-equity giant, plans to list shares publicly on the New York Stock Exchange early next year.
http://tinyurl.com/yk84vq2
Reuters: Lehman Brothers International (Europe), the bank's European arm, could return about $11 billion (£7 billion) by March if clients approve a new plan.
http://tinyurl.com/yftejom
MARKETS
FTSE 100 5,355.50 up 2% (Monday close)
Dow 10,450.95 up 1.3% (close)
S&P 500 1,106.24 up 1.4% (close)
Nasdaq 2,176.01 up 1.4% (close)
Nikkei 9,447.36 down 1.5% (latest)
Hang Seng 22,730.66 down 0.2% (latest)
Currencies
Sterling $1.6566/1.1084 euros (latest)
Euro $1.4946 (latest)
Commodities
Brent crude $77.50 up 4 cents (latest)
West Texas crude $77.51 down 5 cents (latest)
Gold $1164.50 down 20 cents (latest)
New York
Reuters: US stocks rallied as stronger-than-expected home sales data fueled optimism and a weaker dollar boosted commodity-linked stocks. Among home builders, DR Horton rose 2.8 per cent and MDC Holdings rose 1.1 per cent after existing home sales rose. Newmont Mining rose 2.1 per cent on higher commodities prices. Communication equipment maker Ciena fell 8.9 per cent after it agreed to buy the optical networking and ethernet equipment businesses of bankrupt Nortel Networks. Trading volume on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq was light.
http://tinyurl.com/ydrad3p
Asia
Bloomberg: Asian financial stocks fell in morning trade on reports Japanese banks are preparing a new round of share sales. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Japan's second-largest bank by market value, fell 2 per cent and rival Resona Holdings fell 3 per cent. Woodside Petroleum, Australia's second-largest oil producer, rose 2.5 per cent on reports of a possible takeover bid. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.2 per cent to 117.48 in morning trade.
http://tinyurl.com/ydy3hpx
Michael Beh
michaelwbeh@gmail.com
London
The FTSE 100 soared 2 per cent yesterday amid higher commodity prices and renewed optimism about the US housing market.
Gold hit a new record high above $1,167, bouyed by a weaker US dollar, and American home sales data showed a better than expected 10.1 per cent rise in October to the highest level in two and a half years.
Overall, the FTSE 100 climbed 104.09 points to 5,355.50, edging towards its highest level for the year.
Higher metal prices helped Kazakhmys up 4.3 per cent.
Lloyds Banking Group gained 3.8 per cent after receiving strong support for its debt-swapping plans.
Cadbury hit a new high, up 1.7 per cent, on hopes of a bidding war for the confectionary group.
Peter Stiff
Peter.Stiff@the-times.co.uk
