YP75: Markets hit two-year high as US plans to print extra $600bn

A BUSY week saw equity markets reach highs not seen since the days of the Lehman Brothers demise as the Fed Reserve embark on quantative easing for a second time.
By The Newsroom
Published 9th Nov 2010, 11:53 BST
Updated 9th Nov 2010, 11:53 BST

The FTSE 100 finished the week up 200 points, the highest since June 2008, as the Bank of England left the interest rate at the historic low of 0.5 per cent.

In America, the Federal Reserve announced plans to print $600bn in order to buy assets and, hopefully, stimulate economic growth as the economy heads towards a deflationary state.

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On Monday, Syntopix Group, a company focused on topical antimicrobial innovations for products in the medicine and consumer healthcare markets, signed a second agreement with Sinclair Pharma, an international specialty pharmaceutical company.

Sinclair Pharma will pay a development contract fee to further develop combination formulations and if any of the resultant formulations are commercialised, Syntopix Group will receive royalties.

This builds on an initial agreement in April between

the two companies to work together.

Discover Leisure, a specialist caravan, motor home and leisure industry retailer, reported a narrowed pre-tax loss for fiscal 2010 and said it looks forward to a second year of performance improvement in 2011.

The results were in line with expectations and the board does not intend to declare a dividend. The pre-tax loss was 1.8m compared with 16.7m in 2009 and the company said there are also significant opportunities in the market for warranties, insurance and service plans and these will continue to be the focus for the centralised direct sales operation.

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Wakefield-based Communisis, a marketing services provider, released an interim management statement on Monday in which the company said it sees a good level of new business opportunities emerging across the company and remains confident of meeting full-year expectations.

Trading in the third quarter has been in line with the management's expectations and the Intelligence Driven Communications business continued to grow.

On Thursday, Bradford-based William Morrison Supermarkets updated the market with an interim management statement. The fourth largest supermarket in the UK said that third-quarter comparable sales excluding fuel rose 1.3 per cent and its full-year outlook remains unchanged.

Saltaire-based Pace, the television set-top maker announced a deal on Thursday in which the company was buying Belfast-based software specialist Latens Systems Limited. The deal is an all cash deal that won't exceed 28.75m and 10mn of the consideration will be deferred until 2012 subject to "the achievement of conditions".

Adrian Wasson: Assistant Investment Manager, Brewin Dolphin.