Breaking News in association with Money AM

Thursday, 5th November 2009

The Friday Press Roundup

7:02am
A brief summary of the day's main business comment......

FINANCIAL TIMES

Regions angered by EU budget proposals - Brussels presses for radical shake-up of 140bn-a-year spending

FBI makes more arrests in Galleon case - Fund chiefs, traders and lawyers charged

UBS staff speculated on client accounts - Unauthorised trades lose £26m

Citi to relaunch troubled unit - Move follows strife at hedge fund operation

UK experiment raises prospect of new...

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FTSE tipped to open slightly higher

7:02am
PRE-OPEN REPORT: Headline shares are tipped to open slightly higher today, according to financial websites, with investors keen to see the latest update from Royal Bank of Scotland and with BA in focus as it publishes half-yearly results.

US & ASIA

In the US last night, the Dow climbed 204 points to 10,006, the Nasdaq Composite added 50 points at 2,105 and the S&P500 gained 20 points at 1,067.

In Asia today, the Nikkei was up 52.22 points at 9,769.66, while the Hang Seng ended the morning ahead 361.92 points...

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FTSE enjoys firm afternoon rally

5:02pm
END-OF-DAY REPORT: Headline shares rallied following the BoE decision to increase quantitative easing less than expected, with miners and energy stocks pushing into positive territory on hopes of increased demand and retailers adding to gains.

At the close of play, the FTSE100 was up 17.75 points at 5,125.64 with the FTSE250 ahead 27.65 points at 9,020.4 and the FTSE Smallcaps 7.62 points lower at 2,780.82.

NEW YORK

US stocks made strong gains in late morning trade after better-than-expected unemployment data and encouraging productivity reports.

Approaching the...

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FTSE remains lower in midday trade

12:47pm
MIDDAY REPORT: Headline shares remained firmly lower at midday, investors cautious ahead of the BoE decision on UK interest rates and quantitative easing, with a mixed bag of earnings hitting sentiment and a quiet start likley in New York.

At high noon, the FTSE100 was down 30.12 points at 5,077.77 with the FTSE250 off 54.41 points at 8,938.34 and the FTSE Smallcaps 12.44 points lower at 2,776.

NEW YORK

US stock futures drifted slightly lower as the Fed's decision to extend low interest rates hit sentiment.
Continue reading...

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UK QE raised by £25bn

12:17pm
As widely predicted, the BoE MPC today elected to keep UK interest rates on hold but raised QE £25bn.

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee today voted to maintain the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.5%. The Committee also voted to continue with its programme of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves and to increase its size by £25 billion to £200 billion.

The world economy has shown signs of recovery, with a number of emerging market economies experiencing a strong rebound in growth, although...

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RSA Insurance premiums up 4% in Q3

9:17am
RSA Insurance reported a 4% rise in net written premiums to £5.0bn for the third quarter.

International premiums were up 8% to £2.46bn but flat at constant exchange. UK premiums fell 3% to £1.97bn.

Emerging Markets premiums rose 7% to £575m, down 4% at constant exchange.

CEO Andy Haste said, 'We have produced another robust performance with our net written premiums again demonstrating the resilience of our strong and diversified portfolio.

'While economic conditions remain challenging, we are now seeing some encouraging signs, particularly in International...

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