US jobless claims fall to lowest level since January 2008 August 1, 2013 US initial jobless claims have fallen from 343,000 to 326,000 n the week of 26 July. Analysts had forecast a rise to 346,000. Continuing claims down from 2.997m to 3.2.951. Economists predicted an increase to 3.000m. This follows good jobs data in the former of lower corporate jobs cuts and higher private sector employment. Looking [...]
Spanish prime minister says he won’t resign or call early elections August 1, 2013 Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy has said that he won’t resign or call early elections amid a political crisis gripping his country. The so-called slush fund scandal involves Rajoy and other senior members of the Partido Popular allegedly received illegal cash payments from the party's former treasurer Luis Barcenas. These payments were purportedly registered in [...]
European Central Bank holds rates ahead of press conference August 1, 2013 The Governing Council of the ECB has decided to hold interest rates. The rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 0.50 per cent, 1.00 per cent and 0.00 per cent respectively.
Number of US corporate job cuts fell in July August 1, 2013 The number of corporate job cuts in the US announced in July fell to 37,701 from 39,372 the same time last year, according to data from Challenger, Grey & Christmas. This follows yesterday’s news that US private sector job creation increased to 200,000 from 198,000 against expectations of a fall to 182,000. The series of [...]
The former City men and women among today’s peerage lineup August 1, 2013 There are a few former City types among the 30 new peers welcomed to the House of Lords today. Howard Leigh (Conservative): Senior partner at Cavendish. Leigh is a qualified charterd accountant who set up Deloitte’s M&A group in early 1986 and Cavendish Corporate Finance in 1988. He’s also chaired the Conservative party’s The Leader's [...]
Bank of England holds QE and rates ahead of inflation report August 1, 2013 The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has voted to hold asset purchases and interest rates, as expected. That's given the pound a boost against sterling, the second today after the good manufacturing data released earlier. No change was expected as the MPC awaits the inflation report which is due to be released on [...]
Time Warner beats on earnings and revenues as demand rises for high-speed services August 1, 2013 Media giant Time Warner has beaten analyst expectations, with adjusted earnings per share at $1.69 ($1.64 estimated) and revenues of $5.6bn ($5.58bn estimated) (release). The company said that total revenues grew by 2.7 per cent over the year, driven by growth of 21.8 per cent in business service revenue and 12.5 per cent in residential [...]
Average large US hedge fund holds $1.8bn in assets August 1, 2013 The biggest hedge funds in the United States held $1.47 trillion (£970bn) in net assets and $1.06 trillion in secured and unsecured borrowings as of the fourth quarter, according to the first report on confidential data provided to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Some 823 hedge funds holding over $500m each in net [...]
Regulator closes investigation into KPMG auditing of BAE August 1, 2013 The investigation into the conduct of KPMG as an auditor of British Aerospace/BAE is over. Launched in 2010, the Accountancy and Actuarial Discipline Board (AADB) was investigating the audits and professional services adviced provided during the period 1997 to 2007. Subsequent investigations have shown that proper assessment of KPMG’s conduct would require consideration of work [...]
Senior Asia economist explains unexpected swing in Chinese manufacturing August 1, 2013 Capital Economics’ chief Asia economist Mark Williams has warned against reading too much into the unexpected swing in the official Chinese manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) released last night. The PMI data released by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (NBS) rose from 50.1 to 50.3 – analysts had expected a fall to 49.8 [...]