Barclays Share News (BARC)

Goldman Sachs has issued a short-term alert on China and India as inflation rears its ugly head, advising clients to rotate into Wall Street and Old World bourses as a safer bet over coming months."We're not as tactically positive on the BRICs as we have been," said Tim Moe, the bank's chief Asia-Pacific strategist, referring to the quartet of Brazil, Russia, India, and China. "To be frank, we may have held on too long to our overweight position in China last year. We have decided that discretion is the better part of valour and have tactically reduced our weight. Asia is not in the sweet part of the cycle." the Telegraph reports.China has lent more money to other developing countries over the past two years than the World Bank, a stark indication of the scale of Beijing's economic reach and its drive to secure natural resources. China Development Bank and China Export-Import Bank signed loans of at least $110bn (£70bn) to other developing country governments and companies in 2009 and 2010, according to Financial Times research.Goldman Sachs has scrapped an offer to its wealthy clients in the US to participate in a $1.5bn investment in Facebook, dealing a blow to one of the most closely watched private financings for a US company in years. The offer will still be open to investors elsewhere but the bank said that the high level of publicity the plan had generated threatened to put it in breach of US securities laws, which are designed to limit the promotion of private share sales, the FT reports.Inflation is likely to jump to a two-year high today, as economists predict the headline rate will peak soon at more than 5% - raising further questions about whether the Bank of England should raise interest rates faster than expected. Such a move, which could come as early as May, would quickly add about £40 to the average monthly mortgage bill. David Cameron recently said the rate of inflation was "concerning", the Independent reports.European finance ministers have increased their support for a bigger rescue fund for debt-laden eurozone countries, but EU paymaster Germany said there was no rush and it could be March before a package of wider changes would be approved. A two-day monthly Ecofin meeting in Brussels, which started on Monday night, will focus on discussing a boost to the lending power of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), the Telegraph reports.DE Shaw, one of the world's biggest hedge funds, has taken a near £100m short position in Barclays amid concern over the future health of the banking industry. The hedge fund, which has $21bn (£13bn) in assets under management, disclosed that it had built a 0.26% short position. The position is worth £97m after Barclays' shares closed at 306p on Monday, the Telegraph reports.GlaxoSmithKline admitted yesterday that its profits for the final three months of last year will be wiped out by legal costs relating to its Avandia diabetes drug, which has been linked to heart attacks and strokes in users. The company will record a £2.2bn legal charge as it settles further claims linked to the drug that was once its second-best-selling product ? and hundreds more American lawsuits are still in the pipeline, the Times reports.The new chief executive of a quango targeted for cuts has accepted a pay package about £61,000 smaller than his predecessor in a move that reduces his pay below that of the Prime Minister. Bill Galvin, who yesterday was promoted to be chief executive of The Pensions Regulator ? one of hundreds of quangos facing cuts ? will receive base pay of £138,000, which is £4,500 less than David Cameron. It represents a cut of about £39,000, or 22%, on the £175,000-179,000 base salary paid to his predecessor Tony Hobman, who left in May, the Times reports.BP's £10bn share swap with Russia's Rosneft could signal the end of its long-troubled relationship with Washington, according to leading shareholders. The landmark deal, formalised on Friday, also makes it more likely that the oil group will consider breaking itself up along geographical lines, several top investors said. BP could spin off a stronger Russian business and sell its North American division, either in part or as a whole, they said. While strengthening ties with the Kremlin carries political risks, shareholders said it could help to stabilise TNK-BP, BP's turbulent existing joint venture in Russia, over the longer term, the Times reports.