January 22, 2007

Ruling party comments hurt Japanese yen

by Elaine Frei
The yen weakened further on Monday as fallout continued from last week’s decision by the Bank of Japan to leave interest rates at 0.25 percent for the time being. Investors continued to finance long positions in higher-yielding currencies by selling the relatively low-yielding yen, with record levels of short yen positions on the New York Mercantile Exchange reported for ...

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January 19, 2007

Dow drops at midday

by Elaine Frei
Wall Street was mixed at midday on Friday as some quarterly reports failed to inspire investors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.21 percent lower to 12,541.50, while the Nasdaq Composite had added 0.04 percent to 2,444.11 and the S&P 500 was 0.11 percent higher to 1,427.87. IBM dropped $3.82 to $95.63 even though it reported profits that were better than anticipated ...

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European construction sector sees gains

by Elaine Frei
The FTSE Eurofirst 300 closed at its highest level in six years when it added 0.6 percent on Friday to end the session at 1,519.81. The week saw big gains in more than one sector. Deutsche Borse added 10.4 percent on the week to a record share price of €164.30, with one analyst saying that estimates of the stock exchange operator’s ...

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Semiconductors decline in Tokyo

by Elaine Frei
The Tokyo equities markets were lower on Friday, with the Nikkei 225 down 0.4 percent to 17,310.44 and the Topix index 0.1 percent lower top 1,714.21. The exception was the Mothers index of small and mid-cap stocks, which added 5.9 percent to 1,247.00 after a 4 percent gain on Thursday. The semiconductors sector was lower, with Tokyo Electron dropping 2.5 percent to ...

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Crude oil prices up $1.25 per barrel in New York

by Elaine Frei
Oil prices rose on Friday after a week of declines and a day after new inventories figures showed that stockpiles of oil and oil products were up across the board last week. But analysts pointed out that so far this year, the price of oil has gone up only four times out of 12 trading ...

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January 18, 2007

Speech technology could open up online banking

by Brian Turner
Recent innovations in technology and software standards could see the world's biggest banks better integrate online. As voice recognition systems push towards early maturity, speech synthesis protocols developed by the W3C could help improve the quality of banking services across Asia. Already most of the major banking companies have an extensive internet presence, especially offering services such as internet banking. However, a common problem for many banks with integrating internet services is that ...

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Enterprise Inns adds 4.3 percent on session

by Elaine Frei
The London markets were higher on Thursday, despite the fact that the FTSE 100 dropped almost 45 points late in the session after early trade on Wall Street was weak. The 100 added 0.1 percent to 6,210.3, while the FTSE 250 gained 0.2 percent to 11,122.9. Pubs operator Enterprise Inns was the best performer on the 100 for the ...

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“Big Brother” producer up on rumored sale

by Elaine Frei
The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was lower on Thursday, losing early gains after the New York markets were weaker in early trade. The 300 closed at 1,509.47, a decline of 0.1 percent on the session. The pharmaceuticals sector saw declines. Novartis dropped 1.4 percent to SFr72.60 even though it reported record sales and profits in its full-year results when ...

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Tokyo pharma sector gains on merger talk

by Elaine Frei
Tokyo equities markets were higher on Thursday in the wake of the decision by the Bank of Japan to leave interest rates at their current level for the time being. The Nikkei was 0.6 percent higher to 17,370.93, while the Topix index added 0.5 percent to 1,715.17. The Mothers market of small and mid-cap stocks gained 4 ...

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Oil inventories up significantly in US

by Elaine Frei
Crude oil prices dropped yet again on Thursday after US inventories were shown to be up significantly in the week ending January 12. Crude oil stockpiles were up by 6.8 million barrels, far above predictions that inventories would rise by a mere 100,000 barrels. Increased imports were said to be the main reason for the large increase. ...

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Yen weaker on Bank of Japan decision

by Elaine Frei
The Japanese yen was weaker on Thursday after the Bank of Japan decided to keep interest rates at their current level for the present. Up until a day or two ago, most analysts expected that the Bank would raise rates by 25 basis points to 0.5 percent, but the Bank’s board voted by 6 to 3 to keep ...

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January 17, 2007

London markets slightly lower on session

by Elaine Frei
London equities markets were lower on Wednesday, with the FTSE 100 down 0.2 percent to 6,204.5 and the FTSE 250 down 0.3 percent to 11,094.6. Volume was at an active 3.5 billion shares traded on the session. The retail sector was widely mixed. J Sainsbury was 0.6 percent higher to 427p on rumors that a group of Icelandic investors ...

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EADS declines on profits warning

by Elaine Frei
The FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 0.1 percent on the session Wednesday to close at 1,510.37. A major factor in the 300’s decline was yet another profits warning from EADS, its second in four months. The aerospace giant was 2.8 percent lower to €25.01 after some one-time costs that were expected to be on the books in 2007 were charged in 2006 ...

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Slight gains seen in Tokyo equities markets

by Elaine Frei
There were slight gains in the Tokyo equities markets on Wednesday as investors continue to hesitate ahead of the Bank of Japan’s interest rate decision, due Thursday. The Nikkei 225 added 0.3 percent to 17,261.35, while the Topix index was up 0.2 percent to 1,706.76. The banking sector was lower, dropping 1.1 percent as a whole. Sumitomo Trust ...

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Crude prices mixed on OPEC news, price levels

by Elaine Frei
Crude oil prices were mixed on Wednesday after Saudi Arabia’s energy minister said there was no need for an emergency meeting by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to deal with the falling price of oil. He said, among other things, that OPEC’s spare production capacity was currently at 3 million barrels per day. A rise in the ...

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Sterling strengthens on likelihood of more interest rate hikes

by Elaine Frei
With analysts saying that more interest rate hikes are likely in store from the Bank of England, sterling strengthened on Wednesday. Many look for another rate increase as early as February or March. Analysts base their expectations on new data that show unemployment in the UK dropped at its fastest rate in nearly two years ...

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January 16, 2007

Nasdaq down 0.1 percent at noon

by Elaine Frei
Wall Street was mixed at noon on Tuesday as the earnings season prepares to get into full swing, with companies such as Apple, IBM, Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan and General Electric all scheduled to release their fourth-quarter reports this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.04 percent to 12,560.88, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.1 percent ...

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London markets decline on day

by Elaine Frei
London equities markets were lower on Tuesday, with the FTSE 100 dropping 0.8 percent to 6,215.7 and the FTSE 250 falling 0.7 percent to 11,124.5. The tobacco sector was mixed on bids rumors. Gallaher was 0.3 percent higher to £11.38 after it was said that Japan Tobacco could be working to purchase more stock. After the close these rumors were ...

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European carmakers lower despite higher sales

by Elaine Frei
European equities markets were lower on Tuesday, with the FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropping 0.5 percent to 1,511.95. The automobile manufacturing sector was lower, hurt by the possibility of interest rates going higher despite higher sales figures. Volkswagen dropped 0.2 percent to €84.38 even though sales of its Audi brand was reported to be selling well in China. Fiat was ...

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Tokyo department stores lower on sales concerns

by Elaine Frei
With investors seeming to want to hold off on committing their money anywhere before the Bank of Japan makes its decision on interest rates Thursday, the Tokyo equities markets moved very little on Tuesday. The Nikkei 225 was unchanged at 17,202.46, while the Topix index was lower, but only by 0.1 percent to 1,703.54. In the retail sector, department ...

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