Markets

London - The FTSE 100 rose 17.08 points to close at 5,142.72 on Friday. British Airways shares jumped 6.7% despite it reporting a £292m first-half loss. Investors welcomed attempts by the airline to cut costs. Bank shares were also on the rise, with RBS up 5.3% after it reported its third-quarter figures. On the downside, pest control and business services firm Rentokil fell 6.3% after a trading update raised concerns about its outlook for 2010. This morning, the index is 53.7 points higher at 5,196.42.

New York - US stocks finished higher on Friday, shrugging off disappointing jobs data. The Labour Department said US unemployment rate rose above 10% for the first time since 1983. The Dow Jones gained 17.46 points to 10,023.42, the S&P 500 rose 2.67 points to 1,069.30 and the Nasdaq climbed 7.12 points to 2,112.44. In corporate news, industrial giant General Electric gained 6% after analysts raised their ratings on the stock. Amazon.com also benefited from an upgrade, sending shares 4.6% higher.

Tokyo - The Nikkei rose 19.64 points to close at 9,808.99 this morning. China related shares such as Kubota Corp were up on hopes Chinese economic indicators due later this week will be good. But gains were limited by losses in banks such as Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group after Britain pressed the G20 to come up with a plan to make banks pay for any future bailouts.

Hong Kong - The Hang Seng is currently 359.73 points higher at 22,189.45. Banks are among the strongest performers with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the nation’s biggest lender, and China Construction Bank Corp, the second largest, added more than 3%.

Economics

No major economic data to report 

Corporate

Security services provider G4S today said it is confident it can deliver a strong performance in 2009 and into 2010, boosted by growth in new markets and demand from the public sector despite challenging market conditions. The company said that trends from the first half continued into the third quarter, including slightly lower growth in developed markets’ commercial security services, offset by a strong performance in government and new markets. Revenue in the first nine months of the year grew 23% at actual exchange rates, compared with the same period last year, and by 9% at constant exchange rates. Organic growth was 4.2%, with about 1.6% in developed markets and 12.3% in new markets. Operating profits rose 25% at actual rates and 12% at constant rates. The operating margin improved by 0.1% at actual rates and by 0.2% at constant rates.

Posted: November 9th, 2009 under Asset Management.
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