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May 17, 2005
by Brian Turner
At mid-day in New York on Tuesday, the US dollar was only fractionally off six-month highs against the euro, sterling, and Canadian dollar and it was up against the yen on mixed economic data.
The dollar was trading at $1.2641 against the euro, at $1.8392 in relation to sterling, and at C$1.2655 against the Canadian dollar. The dollar ...
by Brian Turner
A dip in US industrial production figures in April amplified concern that growth may continue to lag past the first quarter and caused the prices of US Treasury bonds to rise and yields to fall on Tuesday.
Data that showed more housing starts and a higher-than-expected producer price index in April, on the other hand, seemed to have little effect ...
by Brian Turner
Gazprom, the Russian natural gas monopoly, has announced that the Russian government will increase its holdings in the company from 38 percent to 51 percent.
Russia will acquire the shares on the open market and will pay cash for them.
This move makes it unlikely that a planned merger between Gazprom and Rosneft, the state run oil company, would proceed ...
by Brian Turner
If France votes next week to reject the European Constitution, experts expect that there will be a negative effect on the euro, eurozone equities and bonds, as well as on Turkish assets.
A poll of fund managers conducted by Merrill Lynch found that 73 percent of the managers who specialize in European financial affairs polled believe that ...
by Brian Turner
An idea to charge air passengers a tax as a way of raising money for European development has caused a rift between finance ministers of the European Union’s members.
First proposed in January at the World Economic Forum by the French, as an aviation tax of $1 per ticket, such a tax could potentially raise $10 billion ...
May 16, 2005
by Brian Turner
News that the Empire State manufacturing index has fallen into negative territory for the first time in two years sent short-dated US Treasury bond prices up and yields down on Monday.
The May manufacturing index sat at -11.1.
Two-year Treasury bonds lost 1 basis point, lowering yields to 3.59 percent. Ten-year yields were also down by 1 basis point ...
by Brian Turner
Telefónica, Spain’s biggest telecommunications group and the world’s third largest telecom, reported that its net profits rose 36 percent in the quarter ending March 31, to €912 million ($1.15 billion).
Revenues rose 17 percent to €8.3 billion, in large part because of 10 Latin American mobile phone companies that Telefónica purchased from BellSouth in 2004.
The company has ...
by Brian Turner
In equities trading on Monday, European and Japanese markets were mostly down while New York opened on an up note.
At mid-day in New York, The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.6 percent to 10,197.69, while Nasdaq rose 0.3 percent to 1,983.51 and the S&P 500 rose 0.5 percent to 1,159.56.
Despite these gains, the oil sector took ...
by Brian Turner
China is reported to be ready to raise the amount foreign investors are allowed to put into the nation’s primary stock and debt markets, according to a report in the China Securities Journal.
An official of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said that it was “only logical” that foreign investors will have a larger role in China’s economy ...
by Brian Turner
The US dollar hit a seven-month high in relation to the euro in early trading on Monday when it reached a level of $1.2582.
However, by mid-afternoon it had fallen to $1.2625, 0.1 percent off of Friday’s close.
The dollar’s strength had been being driven by last week’s good economic news out of the US, but a report issued ...
by Brian Turner
Comments from OPEC on Sunday that it would continue production at near-capacity despite growing US inventories sent crude oil prices lower on Monday.
West Texas Intermediate on the New York Mercantile Exchange was down 74 cents to $47.92 per barrel while IPE Brent for June delivery fell 70 cents to $47.98 per barrel.
The comments to reporters came from ...
by Brian Turner
The UK is considering replacing its road tax with a system that would charge motorists for each car trip they take.
The Labour party will introduce legislation early in the next parliament but the Liberal Democrats are also said to support the move and the Tories have dropped their opposition to the idea.
It is considered essential to have broad ...
May 13, 2005
by Brian Turner
In the United States on Friday, the Pentagon recommended the closure of 33 large US military bases and the alteration of 29 others, as well as the closure and/or restructuring of 775 smaller installations around the country over the next six years.
While the Pentagon characterizes the closures and restructurings as a response to the realities of a post-Cold War world, ...
by Brian Turner
Commodities prices were generally lower this week: Gold, for example, fell to a three-month low, hitting $420.05 per troy ounce on Thursday, down $6 for the week before a slight recovery on Friday.
Even with the small advance Friday, gold still traded near its low point, at around $420.20/$421.00 per troy ounce by mid-afternoon in New York.
Copper ...
by Brian Turner
The US dollar had another strong day Friday as it rose against not only the euro, but against the Swiss franc, sterling, and the yen as well.
It reached a three-month high against the Swiss franc as it rose 0.8 centimes to Sfr 1.2232. It also reached a three-month high against sterling, where it rose 0.8 cents to $1.8552.
The dollar ...
by Brian Turner
Calpers, the $181 billion pension fund that manages money for public employees in California and one of the largest pension funds in the United States, is expected to invest soon in Asian hedge funds.
No final decision has yet been made, but Calpers is expected to pick one Asian fund provider to work with at first.
It is ...
by Brian Turner
Microsoft has announced that it will implement a subscription service for home PC users.
The new system, called Windows OneCare, will provide automatic virus and spyware protection as well as other services intended to make PCs run faster, the company said.
The security features will likely be a main selling point for the new service, especially since Microsoft has ...
by Brian Turner
Russia is near to reaching an agreement with the Paris Club on the nation’s plan to repurchase some of its bilateral debt.
Russia is looking to reduce its foreign debt since growing oil revenues have increased its reserves.
Creditors had been insisting that Russia pay a premium on its repurchase of debt because the debt was extended at below-market rates when the ...
by Brian Turner
Asian stock exchanges saw mixed results on Thursday, as they fell in Japan and South Korea but rose in Taipei and Singapore.
In Japan, the markets were down once again as reaction to disappointing corporate earnings reports and other bad news continued.
The Nikkei 225 was down 0.4 percent to 11,077.94 while the Topix index also ...
May 12, 2005
by Brian Turner
More strong US economic data sent prices down and yields up on US Treasury bonds Thursday.
At mid-day, yields on 2-year bonds had risen 2 basis points to 3.703 percent and yields on 10-year bonds were up 2.6 basis points to 4.236 percent against a background of an upcoming auction of $14 billion in new Treasury bonds.
In ...
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At mid-day in New York on Tuesday, the US dollar was only fractionally off six-month highs against the euro, sterling, and Canadian dollar and it was up against the yen on mixed economic data.
The dollar was trading at $1.2641 against the euro, at $1.8392 in relation to sterling, and at C$1.2655 against the Canadian dollar. The dollar ...
News that the Empire State manufacturing index has fallen into negative territory for the first time in two years sent short-dated US Treasury bond prices up and yields down on Monday.
The May manufacturing index sat at -11.1.
Two-year Treasury bonds lost 1 basis point, lowering yields to 3.59 percent. Ten-year yields were also down by 1 basis point ...
In the United States on Friday, the Pentagon recommended the closure of 33 large US military bases and the alteration of 29 others, as well as the closure and/or restructuring of 775 smaller installations around the country over the next six years.
While the Pentagon characterizes the closures and restructurings as a response to the realities of a post-Cold War world, ...
