 | May 21, 2010 |
Kill the Competition: Markets fall ... Senate clears ... Grid rightsTop storiesThe Times: Stock markets tumbled on both sides of the Atlantic and the euro came under new selling pressure as concerns mounted over the stability of the currency. http://tinyurl.com/2vyohm7 Wall Street Journal: The US Senate cleared the way for a final vote on legislation to significantly overhaul financial-sector regulations. http://tinyurl.com/3yzg6hb The Times: National Grid, the large UK utility firm, stunned the City by announcing a £3.2 billion ($4.6 billion) rights issue. http://tinyurl.com/2bdopzb Comment David Wighton in The Times: The appeal of National Grid is its predictability, which is why investors didn’t like being surprised by a big rights issue. http://tinyurl.com/34cdj9c Jeff Randall in The Daily Telegraph: No amount of pit props from Berlin can save the euro from collapsing under the weight of its structural dysfunctionality. http://tinyurl.com/33auggq David Prosser in The Independent: Getting rid of Hips will not solve the fundamental problem facing buyers and sellers of homes in England and Wales http://tinyurl.com/34tz6ft Upside The Times: The Government scrapped the controversial home information packs (Hips), delighting house sellers, estate agents and property developers. http://tinyurl.com/3xfu8c4 Wall Street Journal: Growth in corporate spending buoyed sales for Dell, the computer giant, in the recent quarter and profit rose 52 per cent. http://tinyurl.com/25sceml The Times: UK retail sales rose for the third consecutive month, beating expectations. http://tinyurl.com/24v3r8t Downside Wall Street Journal: Facebook, MySpace and other social-networking sites sent data to advertising companies that could be used to find consumers' personal details. http://tinyurl.com/24y7dpk The Times: British Airways passengers face flight cancellations after the Court of Appeal overturned an injunction that was blocking a strike. http://tinyurl.com/3xfu8c4 Wall Street Journal: One-tenth of all US banks were on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp's list of "problem" institutions in the first quarter. http://tinyurl.com/28eghey Mergers and shakers The Times: Simon Eagle, a former stockbroker, was fined a record £2.8 million ($4 million) for market abuse and banned from working in the City. http://tinyurl.com/26mldgo Financial Times: The Royal Bank of Scotland, the state-backed bank, is examining a private sale of the Priory Group, owner of the celebrity rehab clinic. http://tinyurl.com/2d5so6q The Times: Dubai World, the state-owned conglomerate, has agreed terms with a committee of leading banks to restructure its $23.5 billion (£16 billion) debts. http://tinyurl.com/34sfnzd Around Asia The Times: Pakistan blocked access to YouTube, condemning "growing sacrilegious content" on the video-sharing website. http://tinyurl.com/29ejjjm Wall Street Journal: China National Petroleum Corp, China's biggest oil company, is pressing ahead with oil and gas projects in Iran valued at billions of dollars. http://tinyurl.com/29x7kmc Bloomberg: Toyota, the world’s largest carmaker, bought a $50 million (£35 million) stake in Tesla Motors to develop electric vehicles with the Californian company. http://tinyurl.com/2e3l55m Look ahead The Times: The multibillion-pound part-privatisation of the Royal Mail, the state-owned postal giant, could begin next Tuesday. http://tinyurl.com/35psfza New York Times: Devices which run Google TV, a new service that merges television programming and the internet, will go on sale in the US in autumn. http://tinyurl.com/2ezfx5z The Times: QinetiQ, the troubled defence research company, is touting for almost any form of business ahead of a strategic review next week. http://tinyurl.com/3ywcyf8 MARKETS FTSE 100 5,073.13 down 1.7% (Thursday close) Dow 10,068.01 down 3.6% (close) S&P 500 1,071.59 down 3.9% (close) Nasdaq 2,204.01 down 4.1% (close) Nikkei 9,778.65 down 2.5% (latest) Hang Seng 19,545.83 down 0.2% (latest) Currencies Sterling $1.4386/1.144 euros (latest) Euro $1.2576 (latest) Commodities Brent crude $71.04 down 80 cents (latest) West Texas crude $69.85 down 95 cents (latest) Gold $1168.70 down $19.90 (latest) New York Reuters: US stocks sank nearly 4 per cent on growing fears the euro zone's efforts to tackle its sovereign debt crisis will fall short. After the bell, computer maker Dell fell 3.1 per cent as it warned of volatile global currencies and components shortages. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, Wall Street's so-called fear gauge, closed at its highest since March 2009. In a sign of heightened fear, three times the normal put volume traded across all the exchange traded funds. On the Dow, machinery maker Caterpillar fell 4.5 per cent and diversified manufacturer 3M fell 3.5 per cent. In a rare bright spot, healthcare revenue management company Accretive Health rose 12.9 per cent and internet marketing company ReachLocal rose 15.2 per cent in their market debuts. Trading volumes on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq were among the highest for the year. http://tinyurl.com/29aknw8 Asia Bloomberg: Asian stocks fell in early trade after US jobless claims rose and concern grew European leaders will fail to contain the spread of the region’s debt crisis. Honda, the car maker which gets about 81 per cent of its sales from overseas, fell 4.5 per cent and rival Toyota fell 2.5 per cent. Canon, a camera maker that counts Europe as its biggest market by revenue, fell 3.3 per cent. BHP Billiton, the world’s largest miner, fell 2.4 per cent and rival Rio Tinto fell 4.78 per cent on lower oil and copper prices. Woodside Petroleum, the Australian oil and gas producer, fell 3.4 per cent. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 1.9 per cent to 111.28 in early trade. http://tinyurl.com/26ah7p5 Michael Beh michaelwbeh@gmail.com London The FTSE 100 dived for a second day in a row yesterday as investors fretted that Germany's ban on short selling could be introduced across Europe. There were also bad US jobless figures. The FTSE 100 lost 84.95 points to 5,073.13. Miners were responsible for most of the fall, with Bank of America Merrill Lynch suggesting clients take some profit on the sector. Rio Tinto lost 5.8 per cent. National Grid was the biggest faller, down 7 per cent, after the utilities group launched a £3.2 billion rights issue. There were only six blue chip risers, with BP, up 1 per cent, leading the pack. Peter Stiff Peter.Stiff@the-times.co.uk |
