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February 26, 2008
by Peter Charalambous
The South African economic grew unexpectedly in the fourth quarter to an annualized yearly high of 5.3 percent.
Compared to a growth rate of just 2.7 percent between 1998 and 2002, the current rate is the fastest pace in over 25 years.
This boom has been attributed to the buoyant construction industry and the resurgence of manufacturing.
According to an average across 11 ...
by Elaine Frei
The Chicago Board of Trade again upped the daily exchanged-imposed limit that wheat can rise or fall in a session, raising it to 90 cents after the recently-imposed 60-cent limit was reached on Monday.
CBOT May wheat promptly rose the full 90 cents to $12.14 per bushel, while contracts for July, September and December 2008 and March 2009 all also were up ...
by Elaine Frei
Asia-Pacific equities markets were higher on Tuesday after Standard & Poor’s retained good credit ratings on two top bond insurers. South Korea’s Kospi index traded even at 1,709.13. The Taiex was up 0.26 percent to 8,307.67 while the FTSE Straits Times Index was 0.42 percent higher to 3,077.83. In Australia the S&P/ASX200 added 0.79 percent to 5,666.1 and ...
by Elaine Frei
The South African rand gained against all major currencies Tuesday as new data showed that the economy grew more in the last quarter of 2007 against predictions that it would slow.
The new data raised the possibility that interest rates in South Africa could go up this year.
The rand traded at R7.5545 to the US dollar at midday in New York, while it was ...
by Kay Murchie
Menswear chain Moss Bros is the subject of a £40 million takeover bid from Icelandic investor Baugur.
Baugur is already the largest shareholder in Moss Bros with a 28.55% stake.
Fellow retailer Laura Ashley has built a 5.42% stake in recent weeks.
Baugur owns supermarket chain Iceland, retailers House of Fraser, Karen Millen and Oasis, toy store Hamleys and ...
by Kay Murchie
Ford Motor is to announce the sale of its luxury Jaguar and Land Rover brands to Tata Motors as early as March 5.
Ford has been exploring the possible sales of the two brands since June 2007.
The deal is set to proceed after Indian carmaker Tata met with a Ford UK labour union last week.
Tata is India's top vehicle ...
by Kay Murchie
Housebuilder, Persimmon posted record profits for last year. It reported pre-tax profits of £585.1 million, a slight increase from the £582.1 million in 2006.
The country's biggest housebuilder by market value and No.3 by homes built, said visitor numbers to its sites were down 13%, compared with a 20% fall prior to the Christmas period, and its cancellation rate ...
by Kay Murchie
Visa, the world's largest credit card network, plans to push ahead with an $18.8 billion (£9.5 billion) initial public offering (IPO), which is set to be the largest in US history.
In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Visa proposes to sell 406 million Class A shares at between $37 and $42 each which would generate proceeds of between ...
February 25, 2008
by Elaine Frei
Crude oil prices were higher again on Monday on continuing geopolitical concerns surrounding the Turkey/Iraq conflict and international sanctions on Iran and after cold weather was forecast in parts of the United States.
West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery was up 54 cents to $99.35 per barrel just before the close in New York, while April contracts ...
by Peter Charalambous
The Central Bank of Malaysia's has kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged for the 15th straight Meeting, with the rate stable at 3.5 percent.
The case for a cut in the cost of borrowing is been overturned by the fact that the economy has met inflation targets, which are underpinned by the strength of domestic demand.
The central ...
by Elaine Frei
Tokyo’s equities markets were higher on Monday, helped by hopes that a US bond insurer will not have its credit rating cut after all, which was good news for the US economy and by extension for global economies. The Nikkei 225 added 3.07 percent to 13,914.57 while the Topix index was up 2.59 percent to 1,355.54 and the Mothers market was 0.5 ...
by Peter Charalambous
The growth experienced by Thailand’s economy exceeding has economists' estimates as it has expanded at its fastest pace in two years, driven by exports of rice, computer chips and cars.
In the fourth quarter growth was marked at 5.7 percent, a 0.9 percent on the third quarter, as overseas shipment increased by a staggering 24 percent from the last quarter.
The end ...
by Elaine Frei
The yen was lower versus all major currencies on Monday on optimism fueled by hopes that a major US bond insurer will keep its credit rating and on the news that US home sales declined less than had been expected.
The yen lost the most in relation to the Canadian dollar, trading at ¥108.2177 to the loonie just past noon in ...
by Kay Murchie
Microsoft has announced that it will not make any job cuts if it is successful in its unsolicited $28.66-per-share bid to gain control of Yahoo.
Kevin Johnson, president of Microsoft's platforms and services division, said in an e-mail to employees in his unit that the company would dedicate ‘significant rewards and compensation’ to retain Yahoo and Microsoft employees.
Mr Johnson added ...
February 24, 2008
by Kay Murchie
Humberts Group, the estate agency and surveyor that is part-owned by property tycoon Vincent Tchenguiz, has revealed a major reorganisation of the business which may lead to a sale.
Following a slowdown in the housing market, the Aim-listed group has stumbled into the red, writing off £18.4 million in recognition that businesses it has recently acquired are much less valuable ...
February 22, 2008
by Elaine Frei
The price of crude oil was higher Friday after Turkish troops crossed the border into northern Iraq in response to attacks on Turkish soil by Kurdish militants, raising fears that if the conflict widens oil supplies out of Iraq could be interrupted.
West Texas Intermediate crude April contracts were up 55 cents to $98.78 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, ...
by Elaine Frei
The US dollar declined in relation to the euro on Friday after new data showed that the Eurozone’s service sector is doing better than anticipated and on a European Central Bank official’s comments that the Bank is still most worried about inflation, both of which shored up expectations that the ECB will hold interest rates steady while the US Federal Reserve will likely ...
by Elisha Sanders
Kenneth deRegt, a former head of fixed income, has been re-hired by Morgan Stanley due to the transformation of the banks risk management team. This reshaping will see deRegt stepping into the place formerly held by Tom Duala, chief risk officer.
deRegt is coming back to the bank, after leaving it six years ago, and will now be a ...
by Kay Murchie
The number of Facebook users in Britain has fallen for the first time suggesting that the website’s success may have reached its peak.
The number of visitors to the social networking site fell by 5% last month. Over recent months, the website has become extremely popular, with over 2.5 million users in London alone.
The figures show the number of visitors ...
February 21, 2008
by Elaine Frei
Crude oil prices dropped on Thursday after the US Energy Information Administration said that inventories of crude oil and gasoline were higher in the week ending 15 February.
Inventories of crude oil were up by 4.2 million barrels last week, against an expected gain of 2.9 million barrels, while gasoline stockpiles added 1.1 million barrels and distillates inventories were down ...
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