Welcome to today's round-up of business news from The Times: what we're
saying, what they're saying
Top stories
The Times: Britain's economy is set
to shrink over the next year, the first full-year fall since 1991.
New York Times: New York’s attorney-general will make Xcel Energy,
which builds coal-fired power plants, warn
investors about the financial risks of global warming.
The Times: Taylor Wimpey said it was selling
less than half a house a week on each site as the housebuilder reported
a £1.55 billion ($2.8 billion) loss.
Comment
David Wighton in The Times: Being a director of one of the world's
biggest banks is fine when times are good. When times are bad, it's
no fun at all .
David Prosser in The Independent: The Government should not be worried
about helping homebuilders, but the
soon-to-be homeless .
Jeff Randall in the Daily Telegraph: Financial pundits from both sides
of politics are polarised between
apocalypse and opportunity.
Upside
New York Times: An apparent international
takeover battle for London’s Liberty International, a real-estate
investment trust, suggests British property prices have bottomed.
Daily Telegraph: Antofagasta, the FTSE 100 Chile-based copper miner, increased
half yearly profit 15 per cent to $1.66 billion (£900 million) on
higher prices.
Daily Telegraph: Pimco, the manager of the world's largest bond fund, wants
to raise $5 billion (£2.7 billion) to profit from depressed
mortgage-backed debt.
Downside
The Times: BAA has been appointed as a security
adviser for the 2012 Olympic Games; the decision was ridiculed by the
airlines that use BAA’s airports.
The Independent: Half-yearly profit at Johnston Press, the publisher of
318 regional newspapers including The Scotsman and The Yorkshire
Post, fell 16 per cent .
Reuters: Maple Leaf, Canada's biggest meat processor, has taken
responsibility for an outbreak of food poisoning that is linked to
deaths of 15 people.
Mergers and shakers
The Times: Cedar Rock, the largest shareholder in Taylor Nelson Sofres,
is understood to have rejected the
only remaining bid for the British market researcher.
Financial Times: Siemens, Europe’s biggest engineering group, has
talked with sovereign wealth funds from around the world about becoming
long-term investors .
The Times: John McFarlane, the former chief executive of ANZ Bank,
joined the board of Royal Bank of Scotland and became a possible
successor to Sir Tom McKillop as chairman.
Around Asia
Daily Telegraph: Temasek, the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund, will
spend $3.4 billion (£1.9 billion) to lift
its stake in Merrill Lynch to about 14 per cent.
Financial Times: Iraq has revived a $3 billion (£1.6 billion) deal
with China to develop al-Ahdab oilfield that was first negotiated by
the government of Saddam Hussein.
Nikkei: Giant Japanese companies Mitsubishi Corp and Sumitomo, and 28
other firms, will together research mining of hydrothermal deposits on the
ocean floor.
Look ahead
Bloomberg: Tropical Storm Gustav is likely to reform
as a cyclone and hit the oil-producing region of the Gulf of Mexico on
the weekend.
The Times: Brit Insurance, the Lloyd's of London underwriter, will
decide within six months whether to
quit Britain for a more competitive tax regime.
Reuters: BP is holding secret, high-level talks with its Russian
billionaire partners in TNK-BP and a deal to settle
their dispute may come in weeks.
MARKETS
FTSE 100 5,528.10 up 1% (Wednesday close)
Dow 11,502.51 up 0.8% (close)
S&P 500 1,281.66 up 0.8% (close)
Nasdaq 2,382.46 up 0.9% (close)
Nikkei 12,760.00 up 0.1% (latest)
Hang Seng 21,182.68 down 1.3% (latest)
Currencies
Sterling $1.8362/1.2423 euros (latest)
Euro $1.4780 (latest)
Commodities
West Texas crude $118.60 up 45 cents (latest)
Gold $836.90 up $2.90 (latest)
New York
Reuters: US stocks rose on
Wednesday on surprisingly strong data on durable goods orders while mortgage
giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac led a rally in financial
shares. Fannie rose 15.3 per cent and Freddie rose 19.7 per cent. Bank of
America rose 2.2 per cent and Lehman Brothers rose 5.4 per cent.
The strong durable goods figures helped planemaker Boeing rise 1.7
per cent and Alcoa, the world’s largest aluminium producer, rise 1.5
per cent. Amylin Pharmaceuticals lost almost 25 per cent on news its
diabetes drug was linked to four more deaths. Trading volume was
particularly light ahead of the US Labor Day holiday weekend.
Asia
Bloomberg: Asian stocks rose
for a second day, led by mining companies and banks. Among the miners, BHP
Billiton, the world’s largest, rose 2.5 per cent, Rio Tinto,
the third-largest, rose 2.1 per cent, and Nippon Mining Holdings,
Japan's biggest copper producer, rose 1.5 per cent. Woodside Petroleum,
Australia's second-largest oil explorer, rose 2.7 per cent. Westpac Bank,
Australia's second-largest, rose 2.5 per cent, Macquarie Group,
Australia's largest securities firm, rose 2.7 per cent and Kookmin Bank,
South Korea's largest, rose 0.8 per cent. Acom, Japan's biggest
consumer lender, rose 9.2 per cent. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.2
per cent to 123.09 in early trade.
Michael Beh
michaelwbeh@gmail.com
London
The FTSE 100 index rose 57.40 points to 5,528.10 as gains for commodity stocks
offset losses for property groups and consumer-focused companies. A good
start on Wall Street also helped to keep London positive. The oil sector was
in focus, with Tullow Oil, up 3 per cent, and Petrofac, up 6.2
per cent, reporting strong first half earnings and with the oil price rising
above $118 amid fears that Tropical Storm Gustav posed a risk to energy
facilities in the United States. Enterprise Inns was the biggest
faller, losing 4.4 per cent, after analysts at Cazenove downgraded the pubs
group to “underperform” from “neutral”, citing ongoing weakness in the beer
market and consequent pressure on licensees. Media stocks rose after Goldman
Sachs upgraded BSkyB, up 1.3 per cent, and Trinity Mirror, up
3.5 per cent, noting they may have been oversold.
Peter Stiff
peter.stiff@thetimes.co.uk
AGENDA
Interims
888 Holdings
Aegis
Aer Lingus
AMEC
Anglo-Eastern Plantations
Avis Europe
Babcock & Brown Public Patrnerships
BBA Aviation
Bloomsbury Publishing
Boot (Henry)
Capital and Regional
Carillion
Cattles
Charter
Chaucer Holdings
Clarkson
Computacenter
Corin Group
Devro
Enia
Ferrexpo
Filtrona
Forth Ports
Fortune Oil
Goldenport Holdings Inc
Havelock Europa
Henderson Group
Henderson TR Pacific Investment Trust
Heritage Oil
Heywood Williams
Highway Insurance
Hikma Pharamceuticals
Hunting
IMI
ING UK Real Estate Income Trust
IP Group
Kazakhmys
Kenmore European Industrial Fund
Macfarlane
Melrose Resources
Molins
MWB Group Holdings
Nestor Healthcare Group
Parkwood Holdings
Parity
Pendragon
Pinewood-Shepperton
Premier Foods
Premier Oil
Savills
Scott Wilson Group
Skyepharma
SMG
SOCO International
Sopheon
Styles and Wood
UK Coal
UTV Media
Venture Production
Visonic Ltd
Wellstream Holdings
X5 Retail N V
PRELIMINARY RESULTS
City of London Investment Trust
Diageo
Standard Life UK Smaller Companies Trust
FINALS
Gartmore Fledgling Trust
Haynes Publishing
AGMs
Aberdeen New Dawn IT
Berkeley Holdings
Dart
Innovision Research
EGMs
Scottish Investment Trust
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