Long-term borrowing costs for lower-quality US investment-grade companies are nearing 5 per cent — the highest level in nine months — as investors anticipate rising inflation and higher growth, reversing from the six-decade low touched earlier this year. The average yield on the closely followed Moody’s Baa index has climbed to 4.9 per cent, the highest since March when the US credit market slowly recovered from a […]
Investors are making a record bet on global bank shares following the US election, according to a new survey of institutional money managers that also highlights the risks to the sector if Donald Trump fails to deliver faster economic growth. The allocation that investors made to bank stocks this month climbed to a weighting of 31 per cent above their benchmarks, up from 25 per cent in […]
By Nigel Stephenson | LONDON LONDON Global shares edged up on Tuesday, helped by gains in banks after Italy’s largest lender unveiled a 13 billion euro share issue, while the dollar held steady before a Federal Reserve meeting expected to deliver higher interest rates. UniCredit launched Italy’s biggest share issue to clean up its balance sheet and boost profitability in the latest move to strengthen the Italian […]
Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (Apicorp) has bought 30 percent of Falcon Cement Co, Bahrain’s largest cement producer, to help to drive economic growth in the region, the development bank said on Monday. The stake was bought from Islamic investment bank GFH Financial Group, which said it would remain a strategic shareholder in Falcon. The companies did not disclose the purchase price, but GFH has previously valued Falcon […]
Trading volumes across markets have soared following the US presidential election, a boon to Wall Street investment banks as money managers prepare for a new environment under the future Trump administration. Since the November election result, there have been seven days when more than $20bn of investment grade debt has traded hands — a level that had previously only been breached 18 times since data has been […]
By Alwyn Scott | SEATTLE SEATTLE Donald Trump on Monday widened his attack on defence contractors, slamming Lockheed Martin Corp’s (LMT.N) F-35 fighter jet program as too expensive as aides to the president-elect said he intends to keep pushing to cut the costs of military hardware. Trump’s latest Twitter broadside sent defence shares tumbling and fanned concerns that the incoming administration will reduce defence contractors’ profit margins […]
Donald Trump has named Goldman Sachs president Gary Cohn to head the White House National Economic Council, marking his third top appointment from the ranks of the bank despite his pledge to sever links between Wall Street and Washington. The appointment of Mr Cohn, who serves as chief operating officer, leaves Goldman nursing another big departure from its leadership team just weeks after the news that the […]
Following Friday’s report by RCB’s Charlie McElligott which sought to answer “THE” question every investor is asking, namely “what could derail this rally“, today’s the cross-asset strategist has released a follow up analysis in which he warns that even though the bond battering continues – and is likely to continue for a while – the market is now being set up for a “massive mean-reversion” counter-trend rally […]
WASHINGTON Donald Trump on Monday criticized Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter jet program as too expensive, the latest attack by the U.S. President-elect on large defense contractors. Lockheed shares dropped 5.1 percent and shares of several other defense contractors also tumbled. “The F-35 program and cost is out of control,” Trump said on Twitter, echoing campaign promises to cut waste in federal spending. “Billions of dollars can and […]
Sumner Redstone and his daughter Shari have scrapped plans to merge Viacom and CBS, the two media companies they control, amid disagreements about valuation and management control. The news surprised investors, who had been betting on a merger after months of discussions between America’s leading broadcast network and the owner of Paramount Pictures and MTV. Viacom shares fell as much as 8 per cent in morning trading […]
Exchange traded funds have led to excessive trading and changed the way the stock market works, according to the man widely regarded as the father of passive investing, who is now calling for politicians to re-examine the sector. Writing in an opinion piece for the Financial Times, Jack Bogle, the founder of the Vanguard Group, the world’s largest passive manager, complains that the annual turnover of shares […]
Crude oil surged to the highest in 17 months amid efforts to cut production, pushing up the outlook for global inflation and sending 10-year Treasury yields above 2.5 percent for the first time since October 2014. Chinese equities tumbled. Oil jumped more than 4 percent in New York and London after Saudi Arabia signaled it will cut output by more than previously agreed amid a weekend deal to […]
This is part of a series on the global rise of exchange traded funds Each day, the investing public hears news of the latest developments in exchange traded index funds (ETFs). But rare is the mention of traditional index funds, which I call Tifs, although the acronym has yet to gain acceptance. In 1976, I created the first Tif. It was named First Index Investment Trust (now […]
By Joyce Lee | SEOUL SEOUL South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn will begin getting official briefings from aides of President Park Geun-hye on Monday, having assumed presidential authority in a caretaker role following her impeachment by parliament last week. Hwang has sought to calm anxiety over national security and to reassure financial markets while Park’s presidency is held in limbo pending the outcome of a Constitutional […]
IT management and consultancy firm ASG Group expects to be wholly acquired by Japan’s Nomura Research Institute (NRI) before the year is out, after the Federal Court of Australia gave the nod to the arrangement on Monday. Announced in September, NRI will pay approximately AU$349 million for 100 percent ownership of ASG. ASG told shareholders on Monday that a copy of the court’s order is to be […]
Photo: Bullit Marquez, AP FILE – In this Dec. 2, 2016, file photo, protesters burn a mock American flag during a protest against the planned joint US-Philippines military exercise in central Philippines in front of the U.S. Embassy in Manila, Philippines. The Philippines has again thumbed its nose at the U.S., its longtime defense ally, saying it won’t be used as a springboard for U.S. ships and […]
Even in today’s increasingly globalised, genre-melding world of music, many fans remain remarkably territorial – none more so than the stereotypically snobby classical connoisseurs. Yet different genres more in common that you might think, and a series of concerts, hosted as part of the Abu Dhabi Classics, aims to explore and expose the relationship between classical and pop music, with the help of a man who has […]
MILAN Italy’s biggest bank by assets UniCredit (CRDI.MI) has reached a deal to sell its asset manager Pioneer to France’s Amundi for more than 4 billion euros ($4.2 billion), a source with knowledge of the matter said on Sunday. The deal, which the source said involves a special dividend of about 500 million euros to be paid to UniCredit, is one of various disposals being pursued by […]
In a move that is certain to infuriate those who see Trump as nothing more than a puppet of the Kremlin, moments ago NBC reported that Rex Tillerson, CEO of Exxon Mobil and late entrant into the SecState race after his first meeting with the president elect this past Tuesday at the Trump Tower, has been picked by Trump to serve as his next Secretary of State. […]
Our round-up of the week’s best comment and analysis from the Financial Times focuses on the expectations of boom times for US stocks, the troubles of active fund managers and Italy’s dilemma after the referendum. The selection is taken from our Markets Insight and Smart Money columns, written by industry contributors and FT commentators. US stocks may be at record levels but there is no end to […]
Ahead of next week, here are the big questions we are asking at FT Markets What signal will the Federal Reserve send? The last US central bank meeting of the year will unfold on Wednesday with all eyes on officials’ latest assessment of the economy and the press conference of Fed chief Janet Yellen. Plenty has changed since their previous gathering just before the US election. Dollar […]
For a quick study in market blindness, look at how an obscure US fund reacts to events in a country where markets do not even exist. Nearly two years ago US president Barack Obama and Cuban president Raúl Castro jointly announced their intent to rejuvenate the diplomatic and commercial relationship between their two countries. Until that day, the Cuba closed-end fund had historically traded beneath its net […]
This is part of a series on the global rise of exchange traded funds The morning after the US election Steven Bregman, a New York-based hedge fund manager, began to notice something strange going on in a corner of the stock market. His screen showed that shares of gold mining companies were being sold indiscriminately, falling by double digits, even though the price of gold itself had […]
Submitted by Nomi Prins via TomDispatch.com, Given his cabinet picks so far, it’s reasonable to assume that The Donald finds hanging out with anyone who isn’t a billionaire (or at least a multimillionaire) a drag. What would there be to talk about if you left the Machiavellian class and its exploits for the company of the sort of normal folk you can rouse at a rally? It’s […]
