Wednesday paper round-up: Gold prices, British Airways, Tesco

7th Oct 2009 06:17

Gold prices hit a high of above $1,040 a troy ounce on Tuesday, propelled by investors seeking an alternative to the US dollar and a haven for their savings, traders and hedge fund managers said.The dollar suffered after Australia's central bank unexpectedly raised interest rates, prompting investors to dump the dollar in favour of higher yielding currencies, the FT reports. A Christmas strike by British Airways' cabin crew has edged closer after the UK flag-carrier infuriated staff by cutting 1,700 jobs, imposing a two-year pay freeze and changing working practices. In a provocative move, the airline unilaterally announced the changes without any agreement from Unite, the union that represents the airline's 14,000 cabin crew, the Telegraph reports.Two Dresdner Kleinwort bond traders are to be publicly censured by the Financial Services Authority on Wednesday in a case that could lead to more challenges to the watchdog's decisions. The pair have escaped both a fine and ban from the finance industry after taking the relatively unusual step of fighting the market abuse case against them at a committee that oversees FSA decisions, people familiar with the matter said, the FT reports. Tesco claimed yesterday that it was once again growing faster than its rivals as it declared that British consumers were beginning the long march out of recession. The upbeat proclamation of performance in its key domestic market came as the supermarket underlined its desire to take on the high street banks by renaming its personal finance division Tesco Bank, the Times reports.A Tory government will impose punitive taxes if banks refuse to curb pay and bonuses - but George Osborne failed to make clear if they would fall on banks or individuals. The shadow chancellor said bankers had received taxpayers' funds to "prop up your banks, not your bank accounts," the Telegraph reports.Europe's biggest industrial companies face the prospect of having to raise tens of billions of euros because of a proposed regulatory crackdown on "over-the-counter" derivatives. Eon , Europe's largest utility, said that it could have to raise about €7.5bn in new credit lines or extra cash reserves if the proposals from the European Commission were passed.Regulators in the US and Brussels are insisting that OTC derivatives be shifted on to formal exchanges and processed through clearing houses, the FT reports.HSBC would be forced to delay raising its dividend if new capital rules were applied too heavily or too quickly, Stuart Gulliver, the bank's head of investment banking, said yesterday. Gulliver expressed concern about the cumulative impact of tougher new capital rules and warned that they could affect the dividend plans of many banks, including HSBC, the Times reports.Digital radios should become standard in new cars from the beginning of 2014 after vehicle makers agreed to adopt the technology. Car manufacturers and broadcasters have signed up to proposals made in the Digital Britain White Paper in June, which allow for FM stations to be turned off from 2015, the Times reports.Thousands of holders of controversial shared appreciation mortgages (SAMs) have been told they can club together to take on the banks that sold them in court in a US-style class action. The schemes saw Barclays and Bank of Scotland offering low - or zero - interest loans on homes while taking up to 75% of the increase in value of those homes when the mortgages were repaid, the Independent reports. ExxonMobil has agreed to acquire large stake in Ghana's Jubilee oil field from its private equity owners, paying about $4bn for one of Africa's most potentially lucrative oil discoveries in recent years. The deal was first mooted at the end of last year and attracted interest from many of the world's big oil groups, but became bogged down by horse-trading with Ghana's government. It would generate about a four-times return for Blackstone and Warburg Pincus, which together invested $800m in Kosmos Energy, owner of the Jubilee stake, the FT reports.The London Stock Exchange saw its market share of trading volumes crash to an all-time low of 60%in the face of growing competition. So far this year, the once dominant trading platform, has lost 20% of the market to upstart rivals forcing it to consider major corporate moves to hit back, the Telegraph reports.