Brent and US crude oil prices: The black stuff falls further after US figures show gasoline inventory boost January 6, 2016 Brent crude oil hit a low of $34.13 per barrel at one point yesterday, after figures from the US showed a huge increase in gasoline and distillate inventories. It recovered slightly to trade at $34.38 last night. The closely-watched weekly figures, from the US Energy Information Administration, showed that while inventories of crude oil have [...]
ISM PMI: The US economy has lost some traction January 6, 2016 The US economy slowed in December, according to a survey of businesses published today. The Institute for Supply Management's purchasing managers' index dropped to a score of 55.3 for last month from 55.9 in November. Scores above 50 indicate growth, with last month's lower score indicator slower growth. The survey was for the non-manufacturing sectors, which [...]
London house prices: London has the highest construction costs in Europe January 6, 2016 London has the highest construction costs in Europe, and the second highest in the world, new research has shown. London came second only to New York in terms of construction costs in the annual Arcadis international construction costs index. And another financial centre, Hong Kong, took third place. It topped other European cities: Geneva (4th), Copenhagen [...]
ECB chief economist Peter Praet: If you print enough money, you will always get inflation January 6, 2016 The European Central Bank's chief economist has staunchly defended its asset purchase programme, arguing that it will eventually increase inflation in the Eurozone. "If you print enough money, you will always get inflation. Always," Peter Praet said in an interview with Belgian magazine Knack. However, he added: But if oil and commodities prices tumble, it is [...]
UK house prices: Here’s one way to solve the housing crisis – build homes on rural estates January 6, 2016 Here's one the Granthams of Downton Abbey won't like: a major housing body has suggested one way to solve the housing crisis might be to build homes on large rural estates. There goes the neighbourhood… In a rural policy paper, the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) suggested central and local government should introduce measures [...]
Markit PMI: The Eurozone recovery is getting into full swing January 6, 2016 The Eurozone economy is likely to have grown at its fastest rate in four and a half years toward the end of 2015, according to survey figures released this morning. The figures mark a swift turnaround in fortunes for the currency-bloc, which has been blighted by sluggish growth since it was struck by a second recession [...]
Markit PMI: UK services sector knocked in December by Living Wage fears and Brexit jitters January 6, 2016 Activity in the services sector fell slightly in December, new figures showed have shown, as businesses became increasingly nervous about the impact of the new National Living Wage and the outcome of the EU referendum. Figures by Markit showed the purchasing managers' index (PMI) stood at 55.5 in December – down from 55.9 in November, but above [...]
Glassdoor: UK is third best place in Europe to look for work January 6, 2016 The UK is one of the top places in Europe for finding work, according to new research published this morning. Online jobs site Glassdoor said that while the unemployment rate in countries such as Austria, Switzerland and Germany were lower than in the UK, the UK has one of the lowest proportions of temporary workers. In [...]
Opec oil output dips but market labels it a blip January 5, 2016 The global oil supply was eased slightly in December, according to a Reuters survey. The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) supply of oil fell in December to 31.6m barrels per day, down from 31.8m in November. The dip in supply is not thought to be the beginning of a trend however, with analysts expecting [...]
State postpones fears of a sell-off in China markets January 5, 2016 Chinese authorities gave the country's stock and currency markets a boost yesterday when they resumed buying shares, despite vowing not to at the tail end of 2015. State controlled financial institutions, known as the “national team”, were widely credited with buying up shares by analysts and traders, many of which were critical of the government’s intervention [...]