Archive for May, 2011

Sterling swung gently down last Monday and Tuesday and gently back up on Thursday and Friday. Having covered a range of 30 cents the GBP/ZAR rate opened in London Monday morning virtually unchanged on the week. Although South African inflation accelerated from 4.1% to 4.2% in April the increase was not as much as...
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Equity markets have rebounded today as day trading investors cautiously re-enter the market pushed up by higher commodity prices and mining stocks, with copper miner Antofagasta and Kazakh miner Kazakhmys leading the way. Gold miner Randgold Resources and silver miner Fresnillo are also higher on firmer precious metals prices. Oil stocks are higher with...
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European stock indices reversed strong gains of 1% in afternoon trading to finish lower on Friday by as much as 1.3% over investor concerns about the clouded situation of Greece’s ability to meet its debt obligations. The day started very brightly, with the UK 100 charging higher by as much as 1% in early trading,...
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Sterling touched the top of the week’s four-cent range on Wednesday and slumped to the bottom the following day. It spent most of its time close to the middle of the range and opened in London yesterday morning down by a negligible net half cent on the week. The housing picture in New Zealand is not...
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Equity markets, despite a weak rally early on, have slipped back in the afternoon session with the FTSE looking to test key support around the 5,860 level. An early rally in commodity prices was soon reversed sending the miners from positive to negative territory. The telecoms sector has been a bright spot with Vodafone...
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European stocks reversed earlier gains to trade flat to negative territory going into the close on Friday. Traders seem unwilling to carry much risk over the weekend with the volatility in commodity prices an underlying concern and today’s session is best described as a game of two halves. The first half of the day saw...
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Equity markets started the day in full risk off mode today sliding back on weakening commodity prices. This sentiment was reinforced mid-morning when the People’s Bank of China once again raised its bank reserve requirement ratios by another 50 basis points pushing them up to 21%. Biggest fallers, as would be expected have been...
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Almost for the first time in living memory the dollar went up last week. It was not the best performer – that honour went to the Japanese yen – but the dollar was not far behind. As London began its third shortened week, sterling fell sharply. There were further losses on Thursday before the...
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Equity markets in Europe have pushed higher this morning, with the FTSE 100 moving back above the 6,000 level, shrugging off anxiety about events in Greece. The markets are heading higher on a firmer mining sector after Chinese trade data showed a significant jump in exports as its April surplus jumped four times market...
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Risk aversion continued on Monday as indices spread trading investors continued to shy away from riskier asset classes such as mining and banking stocks whilst the typical safe haven investments such as the US dollar and Gold gained ground. Greece debt rating cut by S&P Fears over sovereign debt resurfaced over the weekend with speculation...
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