Fears mount over China economy amid bank crackdown January 6, 2014 CHINA’S services sector is slowing down more quickly than expected, sparking new fears over the fate of the world’s second largest economy through 2014. Influential business surveys released yesterday showed growth slowing to its weakest pace in more than two years in December. HSBC and Markit’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) came in at 50.9 in [...]
2014: The year you might email your dishwasher January 6, 2014 MAKING sure your house is warm when you get in from work could soon be as easy as texting your boiler – or at least that was the message coming out of a major tech industry show in the US yesterday. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last night, Samsung revealed its vision for [...]
Love it or hate it: Nissan launches new London taxi January 6, 2014 NISSAN is hoping to rise through the ranks of London’s taxi market when it starts selling its own spin on the Hackney carriage this year. The car maker has redesigned its NV200 model to look more like the traditional city cab after feedback from the mayor’s office and Transport for London, which tightly regulates the [...]
Burst of optimism marks start of 2014 for UK firms January 6, 2014 BUSINESSES were increasingly confident of a broad-based UK recovery as 2013 came to a close, with both services and manufacturing firms beginning the year on a strong footing. Based on 8,000 responses to the latest survey by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), the group now forecasts that the economy grew by 0.9 per cent [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 7 January 2014 January 6, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Fall in capital flows threatens recovery The flow of money through the global financial system is stuck at the same level as a decade ago, raising fresh concerns about the strength of the economic recovery following six years of financial crisis. In mid-2007 cross-border capital inflows into the G20 group of economies were [...]
RBS to pay US another $50m January 6, 2014 US COURTS approved another $50m (£30.5m) fine for RBS Securities Japan over yen Libor fiddling yesterday, after the bank pleaded guilty to a count of wire fraud last year. RBS group paid $100m over the case in a deferred prosecution agreement last year and the final approval of the $50m means the bank has now [...]
Bumper year for car sales January 6, 2014 BRITISH new car sales grew by more than 10 per cent last year to hit a five-year high, bucking a gloomy trend in most of the rest of Europe, industry figures are expected to show today. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders releases 2013 car sales figures this morning. But in a briefing late [...]
Senate backs Yellen at Fed January 6, 2014 JANET Yellen was last night approved as the new governor of the Federal Reserve by the US senate. Yellen has spoken of her desire to keep policy very loose in a bid to cut unemployment further, rather than worrying about price inflation. President Obama nominated her for the job in October and she will take [...]
Ice looks to sell Euronext chunk January 6, 2014 EXCHANGE operator Ice is trying to offload up to 30 per cent of Euronext to long-term investors before it floats the unit, Bloomberg reported yesterday. Euronext will go public later this year, but competition regulators want ICE to hold onto at least 25 per cent, unless it can sell the stake on to other long-term [...]
Business anger at plans to hike congestion levy January 6, 2014 LONDON’S congestion charge could rise from £10 a day to £11.50, under plans revealed yesterday by Transport for London that were criticised by hauliers and some business groups. The levy on motorists in central London has already doubled from £5 a day when it was launched in 2003, though TfL said the charges have been [...]