Welcome to today's round-up of business news from The Times: what we're
saying, what they're saying
Top stories
New York Times: The US financial rescue plan remained
in doubt ; lawmakers said negotiations had a way to go after earlier
announcing a deal was at hand.
The Times: Britain’s five leading retail banks have up to £95.3 billion
($175 billion) of bad assets on their books that
may qualify for the US bailout.
Bloomberg: JPMorgan Chase will buy
the deposits of Washington Mutual for $1.9 billion (£1 billion) after
the biggest bank failure in US history.
Comment
David Wighton in The Times: Now that it is clear the US bailout will
happen, there are increasing doubts
about whether it will work.
Jeff Randall in the Daily Telegraph: US taxpayers will be enrolled in
an economic chain gang to pay for
the grotesque excesses of flim-flam merchants.
Rupert Cornwell in The Independent: George W. Bush, a populist but most
unpopular leader, has been forced to put Wall Street ahead
of public opinion .
Upside
Financial Times: Lehman Brothers’ London investment bankers will get large
cash bonuses if they stay under new owner Nomura, the Japanese bank.
The Times: Britain’s television regulator will let ITV drop
its Border and West Country news bulletins , saving the broadcaster £40
million ($74 million) a year.
The Times: Alitalia’s four main unions agreed to a €1 billion (£795
million, $1.5 billion) rescue plan
for the struggling Italian airline that they rejected last week.
Downside
The Times: The property portfolio of Songbird Estates, which owns most
of Canary Wharf in East London, fell in
value by £470 million ($865 million) in the first half of the year.
Daily Telegraph: Half yearly profit at Lloyd's, the world's largest
insurance market, fell 47 per cent
to £949 million ($1.75 billion).
Daily Telegraph: Embattled mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley will sack
300 staff and global banking giant HSBC will
sack 1,000 , 500 of them in London.
Mergers and shakers
The Times: The Republic of Ireland became the first eurozone state to officially
fall into recession in the current global slowdown.
The Independent: Lloyds TSB could be left short
of capital and take on too much bad debt in its emergency takeover of
rival British bank HBOS.
Financial Times: Morgan Stanley lost
a third of assets in its prime brokerage as hedge funds panicked after
the collapse of Lehman Brothers and moved to rival banks.
Around Asia
Bloomberg: The Chinese Government will let investors buy
shares on credit and sell borrowed stock to help develop its stock
market.
New York Times: A run on Hong Kong’s Bank of East Asia stopped
as quickly as it started , thanks to regulators co-operating, the bank
and a tycoon nicknamed Superman.
Bloomberg: New Zealand's economy contracted 0.2 per cent last quarter,
driving the nation into its first
recession in 10 years.
Look ahead
The Times: General Electric, one of the world’s biggest companies, said
its third-quarter profit would be up to 16 per cent below
its previous forecasts .
The Independent: Analysts expect Marks & Spencer to report on October 2 that
trading deteriorated during its second quarter.
Nikkei: Honda, Japan’s second-largest carmaker, will establish
automotive research and development operations
in India next year.
MARKETS
FTSE 100 5,197.02 up 2% (Thursday close)
Dow 11,022.06 up 1.8% (close)
S&P 500 1,209.18 up 2% (close)
Nasdaq 2,186.57 up 1.4% (close)
Nikkei 11,967.87 down 0.3% (latest)
Hang Seng 18,909.59 down 0.1% (latest)
Currencies
Sterling $1.8428/1.2563 euros (latest)
Euro $1.4668 (latest)
Commodities
Brent crude $103.47 down $1.13 (latest)
West Texas crude $106.63 down $1.39 (latest)
Gold $886.60 up $4.60 (latest)
New York
Reuters: Wall Street snapped a
three-day losing streak on Thursday as Congress had looked set to agree to
the $700 billion bailout. Banks led the gains, with Bank of America
up 4 per cent and JPMorgan up 7.3 per cent. IBM lifted the Dow
more than any other with a 3.1 per cent rise. Nike rose almost 10 per
cent after the world's largest athletic footwear and apparel company beat
profit estimates. In after-hours trade, stock futures on all three major
indices were down more than 1 per cent as uncertainty grew about the bailout
plan.
Asia
Bloomberg: Most Asian stocks
declined in early trade on concern the US financial rescue plan hit a snag
and after a measure of shipping rates tumbled the most in three months. Shinhan
Financial Group, South Korea’s leading holding company, fell 2.3 per
cent. Mitsui OSK, Japan's largest operator of dry-bulk ships, lost
3.1 per cent. Takeda Pharmaceutical rose 2.9 per cent after
announcing a share buyback. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.4 per cent to
115.18 in early trade and was set to be almost 1 per cent higher for the
week.
Michael Beh
michaelwbeh@gmail.com
London
RSA Insurance rose 11 per cent after Henri de Castries, chief executive of
Axa, the French insurer which is RSA's largest shareholder, said on French
radio "The situation today will offer us opportunities to reinforce our
positions in the next few months."
Swiss Re said its Admin Re division, which buys life and health
policies that are in run off “is uniquely placed to seize opportunities
arising from the current market situation.” Old Mutual which is
expected to sell its US life insurance division, rose 13 per cent.
The FTSE 100 closed up 101.45 at 5197.02 as word spread that the $700 billion
debt rescue package were nearing agreement.
Thomas Cook lost 4 per cent after its 53 per cent shareholder in
Germany, Arcandor, said that it may seek to raise funds by reducing its
stake. Investec said its Monday trading figures may disappoint.
AGENDA
INTERIMS
JJB Sports
AGMs
BSkyB
Henderson Smaller Companies IT
EGM
Caliber Global Investment
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