US insists on a flexible yuan April 6, 2010 TIMOTHY Geithner, the US Treasury secretary, urged China yesterday to make its exchange rate more flexible, stating that it was in the Asian country’s own interest to do so. “As I said before and I’ll say it again, but I want to make sure I am repeating myself, I am confident that China will decide [...]
IoD: 50p tax harmful to state of public finances April 6, 2010 RATHER than improving the parlous state of Britain’s fiscal position, the new higher rate of tax will be bad for the public finances, the Institute for Directors (IoD) claimed in a report published yesterday. The IoD argued that the 50p tax rate, which came into force yesterday, would raise little or no tax in the [...]
BRC: Food price inflation slumps in March to its lowest level in three years April 6, 2010 FOOD price inflation fell to its lowest level in three years last month, according to the latest data published by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) today. The BRC said that food price inflation was just 1.2 per cent in the year to March – down from 1.3 per cent in the year to February, despite [...]
Construction grows for the first time since 2008 April 6, 2010 CONSTRUCTION activity expanded for the first time in two years as housebuilding underpinned growth in the sector that was hardest-hit by the recession, a leading survey revealed yesterday. The CIPS/Markit purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for the UK construction sector in March rose to 53.1, a sharp improvement from February’s 48.5 and comfortably above the 50 [...]
Britons put equity into their homes April 6, 2010 BRITONS ploughed £4bn into their homes in the last three months of 2009, new data from the Bank of England showed yesterday. The £4.038bn injected into homes was the seventh successive net injection of housing equity, although it was down from £5.1bn in the third quarter and a peak of £7.1bn in the fourth quarter [...]
Samsung sees profits up and demand hike April 6, 2010 ELECTRONICS giant Samsung is predicting a surge in flat screen television sales as consumers recover their appetite for spending this year. The world’s largest semiconducter and flat-screen TV maker, which has forecast a record first-quarter profit of 4.3 trillion won (£2.52bn) and sales of 34 trillion won, predicts it will improve its figures in the [...]
Thumbs up to all-day pubs, but not Lynx effect April 6, 2010 During the last month, here at YouGov, we have invited our panellists to give their opinions on anything they like, using our new “tygga” service. The aim is to let panellists use their own words when describing any brand or topic, rather than just asking them to self-prescribe as “satisfied” or “dissatisfied” customers of the [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS April 6, 2010 FinnCap The broker and corporate adviser has appointed retail analyst David Stoddart (pictured) and corporate financier Sarah Wharry to its team. Stoddart is one of the best-known retail analysts in the City, having covered the sector for over 20 years. He joins from Altium Securities and has also worked at Landsbanki, Henderson Crosthwaite Securities and [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS April 6, 2010 ALLIANZ Execution Noble has upgraded its recommendation on Allianz to a “hold” because it feels the insurer is fairly valued. But Execution Noble said the insurer’s new operating profit guidance for 2010 is hardly inspiring relative to peers. Execution Noble remain cautious over the outlook of Allianz’s property and casualty business. BAYER RBS Equity Research [...]
HSBC aims for $100m with hedge fund April 6, 2010 HSBC Global Asset Management is aiming to raise $100m (£66m) from high street investors and institutional clients for the launch of a hedge fund focusing on emerging markets. The firm will put $20m seed money into the GIF GEM Equity Alpha fund, which will use long and short positions to generate returns with low correlation [...]