FX round-up: Dollar dips as Dubai concerns ease

Date: Tuesday 01 Dec 2009

Investors deserted the dollar and returned to higher yielding currencies as concerns over the Dubai debt siutation eased.

The dollar index, which measures the value of the US currency against a basket of currencies, fell 0.2% to 74.829, completing a miserable month for the greenback. The dollar index shed more than 2% in November.

The dollar's appeal as a haven currency was ignored as confidence returned following the announcement by the United Arab Emirates' central bank on Sunday that it would help the country’s local and foreign banks.

The central bank has introduced a special facility under which banks can access funds at a cost of 50 basis points (half a percentage point) above the three-month local benchmark interest rate.

The greenback lost ground against the euro though it recovered from its low point of $1.5083.

The European common currency was little changed after the release of European inflation data which showed consumer prices rose unexpectedly by 0.6% in November, after falling 0.1% in October.

The dollar also fell back against the Japanese yen but climbed against sterling in New York trading.

In London trading, sterling slipped to a one month low against the euro, dipping to 91.38 pence.

The UK currency took a knock after UK consumer confidence fell for the first time in nearly a year in November.

Consumer confidence declined to -17 from -13 in October, which contrasts with the continuing recovery in sentiment on the continent.

GBP	AUD	CAD	JPY	EUR	CHF	USD
GBP	1.0000	1.7981	1.7316	142.4565	1.0932	1.6476	1.6408
AUD	0.5561	1.0000	0.9630	79.2262	0.6080	0.9163	0.9125
CAD	0.5775	1.0384	1.0000	82.2704	0.6313	0.9515	0.9476
JPY	0.0070	0.0126	0.0122	1.0000	0.0077	0.0116	0.0115
EUR	0.9147	1.6448	1.5839	130.3116	1.0000	1.5071	1.5009
CHF	0.6070	1.0914	1.0510	86.4656	0.6635	1.0000	0.9959
USD	0.6094	1.0958	1.0553	86.8200	0.6662	1.0041	1.0000

LONDON Tips Watcher Alert (UK)

Date: Tuesday 01 Dec 2009

Annual results from Thomas Cook beat consensus expectations and also included an upbeat outlook for the coming year. With a price to earnings ratio of just 10.7 times, a considerable discount to rival TUI Travel, Thomas Cook is still a buy says the Independent.

Power station Drax supplies about 7% of the UK's power needs. Itsshare price has been hit hard by the low price of gas over the past year. This has made generating electricity using gas cheaper than using coal-fired power stations. If a real gas glut materialises the group's earnings will suffer. However, next year's impressive dividend seems underpinned and the shares are trading close to a historical low rating. Trading on a December 2009 earnings multiple of 7.8 falling to 6.4 next year and yielding almost 8%, shares in Drax are a buy says the Telegraph.

HSBC's listed infrastructure fund currently yields 5.4pc and it plans to increase its full-year dividend to 7p by 2013. At today's price, that implies a future yield of 6.2%. The stance remains buys says the Telegraph.

Fund manager Aberdeen is in good shape, especially after buying Credit Suisse's asset management arm earlier in the year, but there is a concern that a genuine market recovery could be some way off. It is not clear that markets have finished tying themselves in knots, however, and so hang fire for now. Hold says the Independent.

Aberdeen now boasts an extensive distribution network and is well placed to capture the rising sums of cash flowing into emerging markets equities, particularly Asia. At 140p, or less than 14 times current-year earnings, they have farther to go. Hold on adds the Times.

Shares in Lamprell fell nearly 12% last week, partly on concerns over the oil services group’s exposure to Dubai. Until its pipeline starts to produce firm orders, the discount of Lamprell’s shares to their sector — eight times forecasts earnings, against its peers’s 11 times when adjusted for cash — is unlikely to close. At 177½p, pass says the Times.

Resilient trading has taken pressure of marketing services groupCreston’s £35m of net borrowings, meaning that it should be able to repay its £20m of loan notes next year without recourse to a rights issue. It also plans to resume dividend payments. At 85p, or five times forecast earnings, hold says the Times.

First Property, the property investment company which has 80% of its money tied up in Poland, has recovered its confidence and is in the process of raising two new funds. The stock can be found in the bargain basement at the stock exchange. Buy says the Independent.


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Today's Headlines

Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) | Price: 141.00p | Change: 0.72% | P/E: 21.5 | Div Yield: 4.3% Profile Prices News Charts FinancialsBroker Views Investment Column:Aberdeen Asset Management The Independent | 01-Dec-2009 Tempus:Aberdeen Asset Management Times | 01-Dec-2009 Creston (CRE) | Price: 85.00p | Change: 4.29% | P/E: 4.5 | Div Yield: 0.9% Profile Prices News Charts Financials Broker Views Tempus:Creston Times | 01-Dec-2009 Drax Group (DRX) | Price: 410.20p | Change: -2.38% | P/E: 4.2 | Div Yield: 10.6% Profile Prices News Charts Financials Broker Views Questor:Drax Telegraph | 01-Dec-2009 First Property Group (FPO) | Price: 16.00p | Change: 4.69% | P/E: 6.0 | Div Yield: 6.0% Profile Prices News Charts Financials Broker Views Investment Column:First Property The Independent | 01-Dec-2009 HSBC Infrastructure Company Ltd. (HICL) | Price: 112.00p | Change: -0.44% | P/E: 30.6 | Div Yield: 5.7% Profile Prices News Charts FinancialsBroker Views Questor :HSBC Infrastructure Telegraph | 01-Dec-2009 Thomas Cook Group (TCG) | Price: 212.00p | Change: -1.94% | P/E: 8.0 | Div Yield: 5.1% Profile Prices News Charts Financials Broker Views Investment Column: Thomas Cook The Independent | 01-Dec-2009

Commodities: Oil & gold rise as dollar wilts

Date: Tuesday 01 Dec 2009

Gold ended the month with a flourish with the price of the yellow stuff rising as the value of the dollar waned.

Gold for December delivery rose $6.90 to $1,181.10 an ounce in New York trading, capping a strong month for the precious metal, which saw its price fall on only three days in the whole of November.

Silver was also wanted, rising 19.3 cents to $18.495 an ounce, while copper rose 5.5 cents to $3.1485 a pound.

The weak dollar was also boosting the appeal of oil, allowing it to claw back some of the losses suffered on Friday, in the wake of the announcement of the Dubai World debt situation.

The January contract rose $1.23 to $77.28 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, having dipped to $75.13 earlier.

Increasing tensions between Iran and the west prompted speculative buying of oil futures. Iran has refused a request by the International Atomic Energy Agency to cease work on an enrichment plant for rnuclear fuel.

Name	Price	1 Day Change	1 Day % Change	Units
Gold	$1,175.75	+$9.25	+0.79%	$/troy oz
Silver	$18.14	+$0.16	+0.89%	$/troy oz
Cattle	142.21p	0.000p	0.00%	p/kg
Pigs	139.16p	0.000p	0.00%	p/kg
Lamb	164.88p	0.000p	0.00%	p/kg
Brent Crude	$77.20	+$0.09	+0.12%	$/barrel
Krugerrand	$1,210.70	-$4.10	-0.34%	$/troy oz
Palladium	$360.50	+$2.50	+0.70%	$/troy oz
Platinum	$1,442.00	+$16.00	+1.12%	$/troy oz