India hikes interest rates again. Will Turkey be next? January 28, 2014 As markets jitter from the tumult seen in emerging markets over the last few days, India has made the surprise announcement that it’s raising interest rates in a bid to quell inflation and respond to a vulnerable rupee. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) has raised the benchmark repo rate – the amount at which it [...]
Growth strong but slowing: GDP up by 0.7pc in final quarter of 2013 January 28, 2014 UK GDP grew by 0.7 per cent in the final quarter of 2013, according to the Office for National Statistics' first estimate. The previous quarter saw GDP grow at a slightly stronger 0.8 per cent. Growth was seen across all four quarters of 2013. That brings year on year real GDP growth up to 2.8 [...]
Ukraine prime minister Azarov resigns January 28, 2014 With Ukrainian MPs set to vote on scrapping a new anti-protest law this morning – in response to the continuing unrest in the country – news that prime minister Mykola Azarov has resigned has just broken. According to Ukraine's government website, the press service of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has reported Azarov's resignation. He said [...]
F&C shares jump on £708m sale to Canada’s BMO January 28, 2014 F&C Asset Management, one of Britain’s oldest investment companies, has confirmed the clinching of a deal with Canada’s Bank of Montreal (BMO), which has acquired it for £708m. It's hoped that the agreement will bring some calm to F&C, which has seen a turbulent last few years. Shares are currently trading up four per cent [...]
What you need to know before the open – 28/01 January 28, 2014 A mixed open for European markets today – slightly less jittery after Asian counterparts showed some signs of stability in Tuesday trading. Today’s UK GDP numbers are expected to show that the economy grew 0.7 per cent in the fourth quarter – that’s 2.8 per cent when annualised, which would be the best number since [...]
Carpetright issues second profit warning as Netherlands business wears thin January 28, 2014 Flooring specialist Carpetright has issued a second profit warning this morning, as its Netherlands arm saw a “further deterioration”, with “extremely difficult economic conditions” persisting in the third quarter (13 weeks to 25 January). It expects full year underlying pre-tax profit to be "below the lower end of current market expectations." Carpetright, which operates in the [...]
Buoyant property market brings good news for British Land January 28, 2014 Property giant British Land has reported like-for-like occupancy up 0.3 percentage points to 97.1 per cent and overall occupancy including recently completed developments at 96.5 per cent, according to its interim management statement for the quarter to 31 December 2013. British Land saw £405m of sales since the end of the half year (£122m since [...]
Google snaps up London start up in £400m deal January 28, 2014 GOOGLE has paid £400m to take control of a London-based tech company co-founded by former chess prodigy and neuroscientist Demis Hassabis. DeepMind Technologies, which was set up by Hassabis and colleagues Shane Legg and Mustafa Suleyman in 2011, will work on research and development projects in artificial intelligence, which could one day be used in [...]
CNBC Comment: Davos cynics miss its true relevance January 28, 2014 IT’S EASY to be hysterical or snarky about the annual gathering of chief executives, politicians, economists and “thought leaders” at the World Economic Forum in Davos (which begins this week) – particularly if you’re not going. Plenty of conspiracy theorists suspect that the world’s elite is gathering in this small Swiss town to plan the [...]
CNBC Comment: Mexico can withstand current volatility January 27, 2014 DAVOS is done, and chief executives are returning home to further volatility after last week’s emerging market-led sell-off. In December, the US Federal Reserve announced that it would start tapering its monthly asset buying from $85bn to $75bn. And tomorrow, its rate setting committee will inform us of both its latest rate decision (no change [...]