New York Report: Investors wait for jobs report April 3, 2014 US STOCKS slipped yesterday as investors turned cautious ahead of today’s monthly jobs report, while a drop in biotech and momentum shares dragged the Nasdaq down nearly one per cent. Among momentum stocks, the shares of Tesla Motors fell 2.1 per cent to $225.40 and the shares of Netflix, the online movie rental company, lost [...]
Which surprise stocks will see the biggest wins from an Internet of Things? April 3, 2014 Hot on the heels of a 75-page paper from analysts at Barclays dubbed the ‘Hyperconnected World: The digital invasion” comes another mammoth paper from banking analysts on the invasion of the internet. Morgan Stanley have published a 96-page tome detailing in great precision on the Internet of Things, or IoT in short, and its impact [...]
What you need to know before the US open April 3, 2014 US futures suggest a mixed open for markets, which will have the latest jobs report to digest, with numbers from Markit indicating the health of the services sector later on. Stocks were left little changed today by the announcement by the ECB that it has, as expected, opted to keep rates on hold, despite falling inflation [...]
The Bank of England chief cashier who won the Military Cross April 3, 2014 Bank of England records released this morning include their documents on the war service of the clerks who left between 1914-1918. Hundreds of young men were given “war leave” over the period, and many returned to the Bank afterwards. One of those young men was Kenneth Peppiatt, 20 or 21 in 1914 – who was [...]
BSkyB faces “significant risks” over Premier League auction April 3, 2014 HSBC has reiterated its bearish position on BSkyB with an "underweight" rating. The bank expects concerns over the Premier League rights auction will resurface resulting in significant risks to BSkyB. Despite a rise of 8.2 per cent in BSkyB's share price since the beginning of 2014 HSBC believe that once the bidding begins for the [...]
EU Commission makes U-turn on carbon emissions April 3, 2014 The European Commission has reversed its position over plans to charge international flights for their carbon emissions. The Commission recommended the European parliament vote to exempt international flights over the EU from the scheme. Under the Commission's original proposals flights into and out of the EU would have been charged for their carbon use through [...]
Regulator confirms probe into UK credit card market April 3, 2014 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced its decision to run a competition review into the UK’s credit card industry. The regulator says it’ll focus on how it deals with those who are already in financial difficulty, in particular. 30m people hold at least one credit card in the UK, with 56m credit cards in [...]
Homeowners’ equity injections into housing market near sixth year April 3, 2014 Homeowners injected £10.6bn of equity into the housing market in the final quarter of 2013, as very low savings interest rates continue to make it easier for people to pay down their mortgages. The figures from the Bank of England show the quarter to be the 23rd successive net housing equity injection, but the figure [...]
Will the ECB finally cut rates as currency bloc drifts towards deflation? April 3, 2014 While consensus indicates that we'll see no action from the European Central Bank today, recent falls in inflation may see the hand of president Mario Draghi forced. The latest data from Eurostat shows annual inflation in the Eurozone falling to just 0.5 per cent in March, down from 0.7 in February. Analysts at BNP Paribas [...]
Service sector growth drops to lowest level in nine months April 3, 2014 UK plc activity shows no signs of stopping, but it might be slowing a little. New data from Markit shows the UK's services purchasing managers' index at 57.6 in March. That level suggests that order growth in the sector is still surging. Despite slipping from 58.2 last month, services are still well into expansionary territory, [...]