 | May 4, 2010 |
Kill the Competition: ECB U-turn ... BP falls ... Sachs hammeredTop storiesThe Times: The European Central Bank suspended its rule preventing it accepting junk-rated government bonds in return for loans in order to help Greece. http://tinyurl.com/24c6hov The Daily Telegraph: US-traded shares in BP, the oil giant, fell 9 per cent in New York on investor fears about the fallout from the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster. http://tinyurl.com/2foc5nf The Times: Shareholders hammered the board and top executives of Goldman Sachs for gross mismanagement of the beleaguered bank in a series of legal actions. http://tinyurl.com/24kskg6 Comment Anatole Kaletsky in The Times: For the European Central Bank, the nuclear option would be unlimited lending to the Portuguese and Spanish governments. http://tinyurl.com/22wdc7s Mohamed El-Erian in the Financial Times: The rescue package will not mark the end of the Greek debt crisis. The multi-stage process has a few rounds left. http://tinyurl.com/3x9wv8d Susan Antilla on Bloomberg: The collection of the big banks’ ethical guidelines gives new meaning to the notion of cognitive dissonance. http://tinyurl.com/29dkjdk Upside Wall Street Journal: US car sales jumped 20 per cent in April as several car makers posted sizable gains. http://tinyurl.com/26gj5gx The Daily Telegraph: Apple, the iPad maker, announced it had beaten expectations and sold one million of its hand-held tablet computers in the first month. http://tinyurl.com/2932whv Wall Street Journal: US steelmakers are expanding operations and re-hiring to get an early jump on growing demand in the appliance and automotive markets. http://tinyurl.com/23hq8x8 Downside The Times: Legal actions against estate agents and surveyors reached record levels last year, after steep falls in the values of assets. http://tinyurl.com/2fb8pfk Wall Street Journal: Lehman Brothers, the investment bank, will wage legal bankruptcy fights with rival banks which made claims for losses tied to derivatives. http://tinyurl.com/29bgtdg The Times: Saudi Arabia delayed signing a defence contract worth up to £4 billion ($6 billion) to the UK economy until the next British government takes shape. http://tinyurl.com/2w3rpy6 Mergers and shakers The Times: Warburg Pincus, the US private equity group, bought Poundland, the discount retailer, in a deal believed to be worth £200 million ($305 million). http://tinyurl.com/2bdkw99 The Independent: Zamin Ferrous, a privately owned Brazilian iron ore miner, is weighing up a possible stock market flotation in London. http://tinyurl.com/29wg2fk The Times: An employment tribunal dismissed the £4 million ($6 million) claim by Jordan Wimmer, a financier who accused the boss of Nomos Capital of sexual harassment. http://tinyurl.com/32qrfov Around Asia Wall Street Journal: China's growing appetite for imported coal has ignited coal prices and fueled deal making. http://tinyurl.com/24rkvln Bloomberg: Chinese manufacturing grew at a slower pace in April, a survey of purchasing executives showed. http://tinyurl.com/2a83ctw Wall Street Journal: Westfield Group, the large owner of shopping malls, will start AUD$1 billion (£610 million, $926 million) of development projects this year. http://tinyurl.com/2echy6c Look ahead The Times: Microsoft will offer free, web-based versions of its Office 2010 software applications for businesses from May 12 and for consumers next month. http://tinyurl.com/28yc8hg The Independent: Pearson will launch its own social network by the end of the year based on the publisher’s website designed to encourage teenagers to read. http://tinyurl.com/26za8so The Financial Times: Fifa, soccer’s governing body, expects this year’s World Cup in South Africa to generate a net gain of $1 billion (£656 million). http://tinyurl.com/29plu45 MARKETS FTSE 100 5,553.29 down 1.2% (Friday close, Monday closed for a holiday) Dow 11,151.83 up 1.3% (Monday close) S&P 500 1,202.26 up 1.3% (close) Nasdaq 2,498.74 up 1.5% (close) Nikkei 11,057.40 up 1.2% (Friday close, closed for a holiday today) Hang Seng 20,868.44 up 0.3% (latest) Currencies Sterling $1.5257/1.1558 euros (latest) Euro $1.32 (latest) Commodities Brent crude $88.69 down 25 cents (latest) West Texas crude $85.90 down 29 cents (latest) Gold $1180.00 down $3.30 (latest) New York Reuters: US stocks rose broadly as data showed the economy's recovery remained on track. Good manufacturing data helped boost shares of big manufacturers in the Dow index, including Caterpillar which rose 2.7 per cent and 3M which rose 1.5 per cent. UAL, the parent of United Airlines, rose 1.9 per cent and Continental Airlines rose 1.9 per cent after the airlines agreed to merge. On the Nasdaq, Apple rose 2 per cent on better-than-expected iPad sales. US-listed shares of BP, the oil giant, fell 5.8 per cent after it promised to pay for the clean-up and compensation claims for a catastrophic oil spill. Goldman Sachs rose 3.4 per cent after billionaire investor Warren Buffett stood by his defense of the troubled investment bank. http://tinyurl.com/233oxez Asia Bloomberg: Asian stocks rose in morning trade after US manufacturing grew at the fastest pace since 2004 and personal spending increased. Hyundai, South Korea’s biggest carmaker, rose 3.7 per cent on higher US sales. Westfield Group, the world’s biggest shopping center by market value, rose 1.2 percent in Sydney after reporting the biggest increase in US sales in almost three years. Companies which sell products in the US rose. Brambles, the world’s biggest supplier of pallets, rose 3.3 per cent, Samsung Electronics, the electronics maker, rose 1 per cent and surfwear maker Billabong International rose 3 per cent. BHP Billiton, the world’s biggest miner, fell 1.5 per cent and rival Rio Tinto fell 2.7 per cent after Australia announced a tax on mining profits. The MSCI Asia Pacific excluding Japan Index rose 0.3 per cent to 423.34 in morning trade. Japan’s stock market is closed for a holiday today. http://tinyurl.com/2d39al6 Michael Beh michaelwbeh@gmail.com |
