Goldman slashes US GDP forecast on weak income and spending data August 30, 2013 Goldman Sachs has cut its third quarter US GDP forecast from 1.7 per cent to 1.5 per cent after the release of weak data. US personal incomes grew by just 0.1 in July, economists had expected an increase of 0.2 per cent, matching last month's increase. Spending grew at the same 0.1 per cent rate, [...]
Brazilian economic growth surprises August 30, 2013 Brazil’s economic growth in the second quarter of the year smashed expectations, according to official figures. The country’s gross domestic product was up 1.5 per cent quarter-on-quarter, compared to a Reuters poll consensus of 0.9 per cent. Compared with the same period the year before, economic growth was 3.3 per cent (2.5 per cent expected). [...]
When is a euro not a euro? When it’s in Cyprus August 30, 2013 Capital controls in Cyprus have been renewed for a further 28 days. These "temporary" controls were introduced in March. Authorities then said that they may last as little as a week. The sceptics disagreed, and 155 days later, they're still in place. It's a similar situation to the one in Iceland, where "temporary" controls have [...]
Indian GDP growth slows by more than forecast August 30, 2013 India's economic growth slowed by more than expected in the April to June period, according to official figures. The country’s gross domestic product rose by 4.4 per cent in the period April to June 2013 – the lowest in more than four years. This was down from 4.8 per cent growth in the previous quarter [...]
Cameron: “Technical issue” behind failure of senior MPs to turn up to Syria vote August 30, 2013 UK prime minister David Cameron has said that the two senior Tory ministers who missed yesterday’s vote on intervention in Syria did so because a “technical issue” meant they didn’t hear the division bell. Minister without portfolio Kenneth Clarke was unable to attend the vote for family reasons – although he released a statement saying [...]
Germany has no plans to get involved in Syria intervention August 30, 2013 The German government has said it has no plans at present to join any military intervention in Syria. Government spokesman Steffen Seibert said today, “we haven't considered any German military participation and still aren't doing so”. Speaking to German newspaper Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung earlier, foreign minister Guido Westerwelle said Germany had not yet been asked [...]
The Eurozone is seeing a no-inflation recovery August 30, 2013 Berenberg's Christian Schulz says that the Eurozone is now witnessing a "no-inflation recovery" on the back of strong confidence numbers released this morning. The Eurozone unemployment rate stayed at 12.1% in July. The stable headline rate conceals a second successive monthly fall in the number of unemployed. Whether that fall can last into the autumn [...]
South African gold miner strikes to begin on Tuesday August 30, 2013 Workers in South Africa’s gold mines are planning to begin a strike over pay on 3 September, the Chamber of Mines has said. Last week, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) – which represents 64 per cent of all underground workers in the country – gave gold producers a seven-day ultimatum to meet its demand [...]
Hollande: France could launch military strike on Syria next week August 30, 2013 French president Francois Hollande has said the French position on Syria remains unchanged despite refusal by British MPs to initiate military action, and that the country could launch a strike as early as Wednesday. In an interview with Le Monde published this morning, Hollande said: The chemical massacre of Damascus cannot and must not go [...]
Eurozone confidence thumps forecasts despite stagnant unemployment August 30, 2013 Eurozone consumer confidence has come in very strong in August, with the main indicator at a healthier -16 from -17.4 (-16.5 expected). That's despite a flat unemployment rate posted for the same month. Economic sentiment too looked decidedly better, rising from 92.5 to 95.2 (93.0 expected). Business climate is up to -0.2 from -0.53 (-0.35 [...]