September 13, 2005

World employers optimistic for Q4

by Brian Turner
A survey released by recruitment company Manpower on Tuesday shows that employers plan to hire new employees in the fourth quarter of 2005 at around the same rate they hired at the same time in 2004. The report shows, however, that employers are somewhat less optimistic about their hiring plans than they were when surveyed three months ago, showing the effect ...

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September 12, 2005

Tokyo equities up on election

by Brian Turner
The Tokyo equities markets were up substantially on the landslide election victory Sunday of Prime Minister Junichiro Kozumi’s Liberal Democratic party, as foreign investors seemed particularly enthusiastic in the post-election buying. Upward revision of second-quarter gross domestic product figures also helped the markets to their gains. GDP growth was put at 0.8 percent in the second quarter, up ...

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Foreign stocks down on leading ADR index

by Brian Turner
Shares of foreign stocks traded in the United States were down overall on Monday, while Asian companies did well on the outcome of parliamentary elections in Japan on Sunday, which returned the ruling part of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to power by a landslide vote. The Bank of New York’s index of leading ADRs fell by 0.8 percent, while ...

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September 6, 2005

Eurofirst 300 reaches four-year high

by Brian Turner
Following the lead of the London equities markets on Tuesday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 gained 0.9 percent to 1,201.09 on the strength of gains in the utilities sector. It was the Eurofirst’s highest close since May 2002. Spain’s largest electricity generator, Endsea, gained 8.1 percent to €20.63 while its board met to consider an offer from the smaller gas distributor ...

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London equities up on utilities strength

by Brian Turner
London equities markets were up on Tuesday even though shares in online gaming companies fell sharply, as utilities saw gains on the strength of a possible bid for Scottish Power. The FTSE 100 gained 0.4 percent to 5,359.2 and the FTSE 250 was up 0.1 percent to 7,795.4. The online gaming stocks were down amid indications that the popularity ...

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September 2, 2005

Commodities hit by hurricane damage

by Brian Turner
While oil prices have been impacted significantly by the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, oil is far from the only commodity that has been affected by the storm. Damage to coffee inventories held in New Orleans have sent coffee prices 11 percent higher in a week. The grain markets in the US could see losses, depending on the amount of damage ...

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Dollar loses value in wake of Katrina

by Brian Turner
The US dollar hit its lowest level since May against a number of European currencies this week as the fallout from Hurricane Katrina continued to grow. An especial worry was rising gasoline prices after the storm shut down 10 percent of refining capacity in the United States and it was said that gasoline prices could rise to $3.50 per ...

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