– Investors entering 2011 in bullish move – Polls show increase in equity exposure – Bond holdings cut back, EM losing favour Investors are entering 2011 in a relatively bullish mood, raising equity holdings to a 10-month high, increasing exposure to high-yield credit and cutting back on government debt, Reuters polls showed on Wednesday.
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British fund managers upped their exposure to UK equities during December, buoyed by hopes of bumper dividends from cash-rich companies and expectations of a 2011 takeover boom, a Reuters poll has found. A survey of 12 investment managers showed the average allocation in global equity portfolios to UK stocks jumped to 16.3 percent from 12.6
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Greeks staged a three-hour general strike in Athens on Wednesday against the 2011 budget which imposes yet more austerity on the debt-laden nation, but parliament was set to pass the bill later in the day anyway. Public transport ground to a halt in the city, but some Greeks questioned the point of countless strikes and
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Germany and France have urged the European Union to delay bringing Romania and Bulgaria into the bloc's borderless travel zone, due to concerns about their ability to combat corruption and crime. The two Black Sea states hope to join the Schengen zone, which includes most of the EU, in March but Berlin and Paris are
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Fitch Ratings said there was a growing probability it would cut Greece's sovereign foreign currency credit rating to junk, highlighting doubts over Athens' ability to pull itself out of a debt crisis that has shaken the euro zone. It put Greece on review for a possible downgrade and said its review, which is already under
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Cyprus expects its economy to expand 0.8% in 2010 and almost double growth to 1.5% in 2011 provided the global economy continues to recover and there is no domestic fiscal slippage, Finance Minister Charilaos Stavrakis said on Wednesday. Cyprus may also tap international markets for its financing requirements towards the end of next year, Stavrakis
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Northern Europe's big freeze wreaked more havoc with flights on Tuesday as airports struggled to cope and retailers fretted they would struggle to make up lost sales in the few shopping days left before Christmas. More planes got off the ground than on Monday but for thousands of travellers hoping to get home or away
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Cyprus is seeking expressions of interest from private investors to build a new 300,000 cubic metre oil storage facility on its southern coast, government documents seen by Reuters showed. The project, estimated to be worth a minimum of 100 million euros, will be run jointly by the Cypriot government and the successful bidder for a
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There was a modest increase in outbound tourism in November, according to the latest figures from the Statistical Service based on the results of the Passengers Survey. This showed that 73,541 residents of Cyprus returned from a trip abroad in November 2010 compared with 72,612 in the corresponding month of 2009, recording an increase of
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The future for the construction sector still looks bleak, with the number of building permits authorized down again by 5.6% year on year in October. The Statistical Service announced that the number of building permits authorised by the municipal authorities and the district administration offices during October 2010 stood at 676. The total value of
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