 | April 6, 2010 |
Kill the Competition: Oil highs ... Toyota fine ... Kraft promiseTop storiesThe Times: Oil prices hit an 18-month high of $86.70 a barrel in New York. http://tinyurl.com/yc4nnh7 Wall Street Journal: The US will seek a $16.4 million (£10.8 million) fine against Toyota about its handling of its cars’ safety problems. http://tinyurl.com/yb2w3br The Times: MPs want Kraft to promise that there will be no more redundancies by the food giant at its remaining Cadbury’s factories. http://tinyurl.com/ydvvuol Comment Anatole Kaletsky in The Times: Now is the time to replace the economic theories that were blown apart by the financial crisis. http://tinyurl.com/yan7qos Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in The Daily Telegraph: Ben Bernanke is taking the fateful decision to knock away the props of the US mortgage market. http://tinyurl.com/yfah8h3 Stephen King in The Independent: Governments cannot increase their borrowing indefinitely. Someone will have to take the pain. http://tinyurl.com/ygq39t3 Upside The Times: The CBI, the employers’ group, called for an independent pension commission to overhaul retirement provisions for public sector workers. http://tinyurl.com/ybstvjx Wall Street Journal: US stock and bond markets rose following reports showing a pickup in the labour market, service sector and housing. http://tinyurl.com/ybt9vbr The Times: Many companies paid bonuses early or brought forward their dividend payments to help individuals avoid the new 50 per cent tax rate. http://tinyurl.com/ydonmt7 Downside The Times: The demand for new staff in the UK fell last month, fanning fears of a further jump in unemployment. http://tinyurl.com/y9ogpyb The Daily Telegraph: Greek banks are being hit by a wave of redemptions as the country's citizens and corporations move their money offshore. http://tinyurl.com/yhhfr46 The Times: The National Union of Teachers voted to join action by the Public and Commercial Services Union if pay is frozen or working conditions are cut. http://tinyurl.com/yamd5lf Mergers and shakers The Daily Telegraph: Richard Glynn, the new boss of Ladbrokes, was allowed to retain his holding in Sporting Index, a smaller betting rival. http://tinyurl.com/ykcc5u7 Wall Street Journal: Richard Branson, the UK businessman, will sell a 21 per cent stake in Virgin Money to Wilbur Ross, the billionaire investor. http://tinyurl.com/yerdwma The Daily Telegraph: Telereal Trillium, the investment and outsourcing property group, discussed possible joint ventures with the new UK property tsar. http://tinyurl.com/yhfsutv Around Asia Wall Street Journal: Samsung Electronics, the electronics giant, expects to post a 19 per cent rise in sales. http://tinyurl.com/y8o5p7h Financial Times: Citigroup, the US bank, is using mobile phones and the internet to overcome growth restrictions of its branch network in India. http://tinyurl.com/ycnc84r Wall Street Journal: India is set to add more than 3,000 megawatts of renewable energy-based generation capacity in the current financial year. http://tinyurl.com/ydbeyno Look ahead The Times: Today’s new tax regime will reap nearly £20 billion ($30 billion) from UK taxpayers’ pockets over the next couple of years. http://tinyurl.com/yb8v9ah The Daily Telegraph: The IMF is poised this month to recommend an unprecedented new "excess profits tax" on banks worldwide. http://tinyurl.com/yhoz85e Wall Street Journal: Microsoft, the software giant, will introduce new "pink" mobile phones with social-networking capabilities next week. http://tinyurl.com/y8k9t3h Unfinished business - last week wrapped up Last Monday Rio Tinto sacked four executives shortly after a Chinese court sentenced them to jail terms for commercial espionage and taking bribes. http://tinyurl.com/yeagrr8 Greece raised €5 billion (£4.5 billion, $6.7 billion) in a bond sale to refinance its debt. http://tinyurl.com/yl9na9u Tuesday A consumer watchdog accused banks of paying derisory interest rates on cash Isas in a £3 billion ($4.5 billion) a year rip-off. http://tinyurl.com/yz43f9l BP was awarded $500 million (£330 million) in contracts to drill wells in Iraq's giant Rumaila oil field. http://tinyurl.com/ya8e3ob Wednesday The Times: Seven men were charged by the Financial Services Authority in the regulator’s first prosecution of an alleged insider dealing ring. http://tinyurl.com/ybxp7tu The Times: Regulators ordered BSkyB, the cable TV service, to cut the price that it charges rivals such as Virgin Media for its premium sports channels. http://tinyurl.com/yzu75oz Thursday Scottish & Southern Energy bought North Sea gas assets from New York-based Hess for $423 million (£278 million) in cash. http://tinyurl.com/yawbp3l Dalton Philips, the new boss of Morrisons, received shares worth £1.3 million ($2 million) to compensate him for payouts owed to him by his previous employer. http://tinyurl.com/ygssvla Friday The iPad, the new touch-screen interface device made by Apple, went on sale in the US. http://tinyurl.com/yfek22h The US dollar reached a new seven-month peak against the yen on strong March employment figures. http://tinyurl.com/yjrkej3 MARKETS FTSE 100 5,744.89 up 1.2% (Monday close) Dow 10,973.55 up 0.4% (close) S&P 500 1,187.44 up 0.8% (close) Nasdaq 2,429.53 up 1.1% (close) Nikkei 11,292.83 down 0.4% (latest) Hang Seng 21,537.00 up 1.4% (Thursday close, closed for a holiday) Currencies Sterling $1.5232/1.1347 euros (latest) Euro $1.3424 (latest) Commodities Brent crude $85.58 down 30 cents (latest) West Texas crude $86.39 down 23 cents (latest) Gold $1128.80 down $5 (latest) New York Reuters: US stocks rose as signs of a turnaround in the US labour market bolstered hopes the economy is strengthening. Energy giant Exxon Mobil rose 0.9 per cent and rival Chevron rose 1.3 per cent on higher oil prices. Standouts included consumer discretionaries and technology shares. Apple rose 1.1 per cent to a lifetime closing high as iPad sales surpassed some forecasts. Semiconductor maker Cree rose 10 per cent on an analyst’s upgrade. Among house builders, PulteGroup rose 2.9 per cent and Masco rose 2.2 per cent on good February home sales data. Motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson rose 10.5 per cent on an analyst’s upgrade. Trading volume was extremely light on the New York Stock Exchange. http://tinyurl.com/yda856c Asia Bloomberg: Asian stocks fluctuated in morning trade with declines in Japanese stocks offsetting gains in raw material producers. Toyota, the world’s biggest carmaker, fell 1.2 per cent after the US government said the company "knowingly hid a dangerous defect". BHP Billiton, Australia’s biggest oil producer, rose 2 per cent on higher copper and oil prices. Canon, the world’s biggest camera maker, fell 1.6 per cent on a higher yen. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.1 per cent to 126.98 in early trade. Markets in Hong Kong and Thailand are closed today for holidays. http://tinyurl.com/yd3hvz4 Michael Beh: michaelwbeh@gmail.com |
