Markets
London - The FTSE 100 fell 9.17 points to 5,569.27 yesterday with a selloff in mining company Vedanta Resources Plc and bank shares overshadowing brokerage upgrades of Rolls-Royce Group Plc and Carnival Plc. dropped more than 4%, falling for a second day, while HSBC Holdings Plc led a gauge of banks lower as U.K. mortgage lending fell. Rolls-Royce, the world’s second-biggest engine maker, jumped 3.5% and Carnival, the largest cruise-ship operator, gained 1.8%.

Posted: September 30th, 2010 under Asset Management.
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Markets
London - The FTSE 100 closed 5.02 points higher at 5,578.44 yesterday. Having spent much of the morning in negative territory following worse than expected US consumer confidence a rally among miners pushed the index back above its opening level. Xstrata rallied 2.3% after copper prices rose for the fourth time in five sessions as inventories fell and a weaker U.S. dollar boosted demand. Antofagasta, owner of copper mines in Chile, gained 2.1% while Rio Tinto, the world’s third-largest mining company, increased 1.3%. Sage rallied 5.1% after the Daily Mail reported that Germany’s SAP AG or Microsoft Corp. may be mulling a bid for the U.K. software company. However, analysts at UBS AG said the speculation was unlikely given SAP’s recent $5.8 billion acquisition of Sybase Inc. in July and Microsoft’s strategic emphasis on the search and mobile business.

Posted: September 29th, 2010 under Asset Management.
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Markets
London - The FTSE 100 fell 25.06 points to close at 5,573.42 yesterday. Smiths Group lost 1.6% after BofA Merrill Lynch downgraded the shares to “neutral” from “buy,” citing the company’s exposure to the U.S. economy. Smiths generates about 48% of revenue in the U.S. AstraZeneca retreated 1.6% after its experimental cancer treatment zibotentan failed to help patients with a kind of prostate tumour live longer, missing the main goal of a study. The company said it doesn’t plan to seek regulatory approval for the drug. Sage Group and Autonomy paced advancing shares, climbing 3.1% and 1.6% respectively, after Barclays Capital rated the software companies “overweight” in new coverage. Unilever Plc climbed 1.3 percent to 1,816 pence. The shares rallied after the maker of Dove shower gel agreed to buy U.S.- based Alberto Culver Co. for $3.7 billion to become the world’s largest maker of hair-conditioning products.

Posted: September 28th, 2010 under Asset Management.
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Markets
London - The FTSE 100 rose 51.4 points to 5,598.48 on Friday. Stocks with a large exposure to US markets rose following the economic data released. Rolls- Royce Group Plc, which makes more than a quarter of its sales in the U.S., climbed 2.7 percent while Amec Plc, the energy-engineering company that generated 24 percent of its sales in the U.S. last year, gained 2.1 percent to 993.5 pence. HSBC Holdings Plc gained 0.4 percent to 666.3 pence after Europe’s largest bank was said to have appointed Stuart Gulliver, its current head of investment banking, as its new chief executive officer. Michael Geoghegan, 56, will step down at the end of the year, a person briefed on the matter said. Chairman Stephen Green, who resigned this month to become Britain’s trade minister, will be replaced by Finance Director Douglas Flint, the person said.

Posted: September 27th, 2010 under Asset Management.
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A number of changes are due to come into effect from 1 October 2010.  These include:
1 Increase in national minimum wage rates (see our previous article dated 2 August 2010 for details).
2 Amendments to the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations.
The main changes are:-
- advertisements are to specify whether the position is temporary [...]

Posted: September 24th, 2010 under Employment/HR.
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