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Financials lead gains as interest rate curves steepen, pound pops higher

Wed, 18th May 2016 19:36

(ShareCast News) - Financials led gains in London, over on the Continent and across the Pond too, as interest rate futures continued to progressively - albeit only modestly - price-in a higher probability of a US central bank rate hike in the very near-term, perhaps as soon as the next month.As of 18:51 the Chicago Mercantile Exchange's Fed Watch tool was pegging the probability of a 25 basis point increase in the range for the Federal Reserve's main policy rate at its 15 June meeting at 18.8%, up from nearly zero just a few weeks ago.The critical spark for that change came on 12 May when Boston Fed president Eric Rosengren explicitly stated that a June rate hike was possible. Aside from being known for being of a more 'dovish' slant, which in itself made his remarks noteworthy, he was also a voting member on the US Federal Open Market Committee in 2016.Not only were market interest rates rising on both side of the Atlantic, interest rate curves also steepened.As of 19:16 BST the yield on the benchmark two-year Gilt was higher by five basis points to 0.43% and that on the 10-year bond by seven basis points to 1.44%.Yields in the UK were also higher as the pound strengthened on the back of more positive poll results regarding the upcoming 23 June referendum on EU membership.The key level of technical resistance to watch for on daily price charts for cable was 1.48, Digital Look technical analyst Jose Maria Rodriguez said.In and of themselves, reduced (for now at least) odds for Brexit were considered a 'plus' for banks shares by many market commentators.Shares in RBS picked up 4.29% to 223.7p, with Barclays (3.74% to 170.4p) and Standard Life (4.12% to 333.3p) also to be seen near the top of the leaderboard.The likes of Lloyds, Aviva, St.James's Place and Prudential were not far behind.Stability is importantCommodities were generally lower as the spot US dollar index firmed a little, although iron ore futures bounced back a little following recent sharp drops.Bloomberg's commodity index was down by 0.37% to 85.40, while three-month copper futures on the LME gave back 0.50% to end at $4,618.00 per metric tonne.To take note of, in a research report dated 16 March analysts at Macquarie hiked their 2017 iron ore price forecast by 11.1% to $50 per metric tonne and that for 2016 by 1.5%.'Stability' would be key in the Asian giant going forward, the Australian broker said, ahead of next year's political changes in Beijing, when half of the current Politburo's mandarins were set to step down, they added in another report published on the next day.However, the Australian broker downgraded its forecasts for the price of iron-ore in 2018 and beyond by approximately 20%, arguing that 100 metric tonnes of seaborne supplies still needed to be taken out of the market by 2018-19 for the market to rebalance, on top of another 150 metric tonne per annum reduction in domestic Chinese supplies in 2018.It also singled out Antofagasta as its preferred short in the base metals space.Top performing sectors so far todayLife Insurance 6,745.59 +2.01%Technology Hardware & Equipment 1,164.39 +1.79%Banks 3,223.97 +1.70%Industrial Transportation 2,847.62 +1.11%General Retailers 2,783.73 +1.09%Bottom performing sectors so far todayMining 9,037.47 -2.27%Forestry & Paper 14,250.51 -1.56%Electricity 8,919.27 -1.31%Automobiles & Parts 6,417.99 -1.26%Aerospace and Defence 4,066.74 -1.15%
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17 Feb 2017 09:19

Friday broker round-up

(ShareCast News) - AstraZeneca: Jefferies reiterates Buy with a target price of 5250p. BT Group: Jefferies reiterates Hold with a target price of 325p. Standard Life: Macquarie reiterates Outperform with a target price of 450p. Cobham: Goldman Sachs reiterates Sell with a target price of 88p. Dra

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13 Feb 2017 09:29

BROKER RATINGS SUMMARY: Morgan Stanley Raises AB Foods To Overweight

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9 Feb 2017 17:19

Britain's FTSE rises on insurers and banks, mid-cap index has record close

* FTSE 100 up 0.5 pct * Insurance, financials support index higher * FTSE 250 closes at record level * Thomas Cook suffers on cautious outlook * Miners tumble as copper prices turn down (ADVISORY- Follow European and UK stock markets in real time on the Reuters Live Mark

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9 Feb 2017 16:07

Sector movers: Financials, insurers pace gains as interest rates rise

(ShareCast News) - Interest rate sensitive stocks such as life insurers and banks recovered some of their poise as government bond yields bounced back from their recent lows. Significantly, traders cited comments from US president Trump during the afternoon saying he would have "something phenomenal

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9 Feb 2017 10:56

Top Thomas Cook shareholder opposes firm over pay plans at AGM

LONDON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Standard Life Investments, the fund arm of insurer Standard Life, said on Thursday it had voted against the re-election of the board members who set pay at holiday firm Thomas Cook after it disagreed with their plans. SLI, the second-biggest investor in Thomas Cook

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1 Feb 2017 15:11

UPDATE 2-Investor Standard Life seeks change at Sports Direct, Volkswagen

* Has "major concerns" about Sports Direct remuneration policy * VW needs more board independence * WPP has made progress in succession planning * Monitoring BHP compensation plans for Samarco dam disaster (Adds comment from VW, Standard Life on VW bond ownership) By Car

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26 Jan 2017 11:22

Standard Life's UK pensions chief steps down

(ShareCast News) - Standard Life pensions and savings chief Paul Matthews will retire from the life insurer after 28 years at the company. Matthews, who will step down from the board at the start of March, will be replaced by Barry O'Dwyer, currently chief executive of Standard Life Assurance, just

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26 Jan 2017 10:27

Standard Life UK & Europe Pensions & Savings Head To Retire In August

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24 Jan 2017 16:16

Tuesday broker round-up

(ShareCast News) - SSE: Macquarie reiterates outperform with a target price of 1735p. Easyjet: Numis reiterates hold, 1050p target. William Hill: UBS downgrades to sell with a 240p target. Standard Life: UBS downgrades to sell with a 310p target. Beazley: JP Morgan reiterates overweight with a 46

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24 Jan 2017 11:23

MOVES-Standard Life Investments appoints governance director

LONDON, Jan 24 (IFR) - Standard Life Investments, the UK-based investment manager, has appointed Deborah Gilshan as governance and stewardship director to strengthen its ESG investment team. Gilshan will report to Euan Stirling, head of stewardship and ESG (environmental, social and governa

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24 Jan 2017 09:45

UBS downgrades Standard Life due to GARS fund outflows

(ShareCast News) - UBS downgraded Standard Life to 'sell' from 'neutral' and lowered its price target to 310p from 320p on expected earnings pressures from increased outflows from Standard Life Investments. The Swiss bank changed its rating on its expectation that earnings pressure will emerge in 20

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13 Dec 2016 13:12

Tuesday broker round-up

(ShareCast News) - British Land: Barclays reiterates overweight with a target price of 740p. GlaxoSmithKline: UBS reiterates neutral, 1600p target. Reckitt Benckiser: Jefferies reiterates buy with a 7750p target. GB Group: Berenberg reiterates buy with a 340p target. Great Portland Estates: Barcl

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13 Dec 2016 11:19

MOVES-Standard Life hires Struthers as head of investments

By Steve Slater LONDON, Dec 13 (IFR) - Standard Life Investments has hired Archie Struthers from Aberdeen Asset Management to be its head of investments. Struthers will join Standard Life Investments on January 9. He was global head of investment solutions at Aberdeen. Struthers

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13 Dec 2016 11:03

Standard Life Hires Head Of Investments From Aberdeen Asset Management

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13 Dec 2016 10:11

Britain's FTSE edges higher though miners drop

(ADVISORY- Follow European and UK stock markets in real time on the Reuters Live Markets blog on Eikon, see cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets) * FTSE 100 up 0.3 pct * Miners drop ahead of Fed rate decision * Standard Life falls after downgrade By Kit Rees LOND

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