Markets
London - UK stocks closed lower on Monday, as jitters over the eurozone debt situation continued to plague the markets. Financial markets are still betting either Portugal, Spain, or both, will need a rescue deal similar to the E85bn Irish bail-out. The ongoing eurozone saga overshadowed any optimism by the Office for Budget Responsibility, upgrading its growth estimates for the current year to 1.8 percent from 1.2 percent.
The FTSE100 closed 117.75 points lower at 5550.95.

Posted: November 30th, 2010 under Asset Management.
Comments: none

Markets
London -UK stocks closed 41.83 points higher on Thursday at 5698.93, dipping back in the closing auction after hitting a late afternoon peak above 5700. Volume was light with Wall Street closed for the Thanksgiving Day Holiday. The index was buoyed by strength in miners and banks, and by gains from real estate stocks as Capital Shopping Centres bounced on bid interest from US mall owner Simon Property. Simon Property currently owns a 5.6 percent stake in Capital Shopping Centres. Capital Shopping closed 12.9 percent higher. On Wednesday, Capital Shopping said it was in talks to buy Manchester’s Trafford Centre shopping mall for £1.6bn from Peel Group, which would see Peel end up with around a 20 percent stake in Capital Shopping Centres. The Capital Shopping bid speculation boosted sentiment towards the sector, with Hammerson and British Land up 4.8 and 2.9 percent, while mid cap Capital and Countries gained 4.6 percent.

Posted: November 26th, 2010 under Asset Management.
Comments: none

Following the announcement of the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, a whoop of joy was heard amongst employees as a national bank holiday was declared.  However, employers may have some employment issues to deal with as a result.
Firstly, many employers can expect to receive a deluge of requests for holiday leave around this [...]

Posted: November 25th, 2010 under Employment/HR.
Comments: none

Markets
London - The FTSE 100 1.4% to 5,657.1 yesterday as mining shares rallied as copper and zinc pared three days of losses. Compass Group Plc gained 7.3% after the world’s largest catering company reported earnings that topped estimates. U.K. gross domestic product rose 0.8% from the previous three months, when it increased 1.2 percent, the Office for National Statistics said today in London. That matched an initial estimate on August 26th. Exports rose 2.2% after a 2.3% increase in the previous three months. Antofagasta Plc gained 4.3% to 1,373 pence, rebounding after the company declined more than 4% yesterday. Base metals rose on the London Metal Exchange, benefiting from a weaker U.S. dollar. Kazakhmys Plc climbed 4.2 percent to 1,449 pence as the copper producer was raised to “outperform” from “neutral” at Exane BNP Paribas. Bank of Ireland sank 11% to 26.7 euro cents after two people familiar with the situation said that the Dublin- based lender may end up in majority state control as the government injects more capital into the bank.

Posted: November 25th, 2010 under Asset Management.
Comments: none

Markets
London - UK stocks closed at six week lows on Tuesday, weighed down by weak banks and commodity issues on worries over the euro zone debt crisis and rising tensions in the Korean peninsula. The FTSE100 closed 99.55 points lower at 5581.28, its lowest close since October 4. Banks led the blue chip fallers, with Standard Chartered down 2.7 percent, as investors already anxious about the euro zone debt situation were unnerved by the Korean situation and sold out of riskier assets. North Korea fired dozens of artillery shells at a South Korean island on Tuesday, killing two soldiers and prompting a return of fire by the South. Meanwhile, Ireland’s government was on a knife edge on Tuesday with damaged PM Brian Cowen challenging the opposition to let an austerity budget pass and trigger an EU/IMF bailout before early elections.

Posted: November 24th, 2010 under Asset Management.
Comments: none