The UK’s service sector is still outshining the rest of Europe December 4, 2013 New data from Markit shows that the service sector activity is continuing to swell in November. New business activity in particular is seeing record highs. It's now the fifth successive month that the purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the sector is at 60 or above. Any number above 50 implies expansion – readings this high [...]
This morning’s data shows how divergent an economic “union” the Eurozone is December 4, 2013 The Eurozone shares a common currency. That's about all it shares, as illustrated nicely by this morning's Markit purchasing managers' index (PMI) figures. November's service sector activity across the currency bloc is all over the place. Germany's is growing at a tremendous pace, with a headline PMI of 55.7 (any number above 50 implies expansion), [...]
Standard Chartered shares are dropping on news that income will be flat on 2012 December 4, 2013 Not a good morning for Standard Chartered. Their stock is dropping after anouncing that their income is "expected to be broadly flat on 2012." Investors don't appreciate that news. They identified ongoing weakness in own account income and more recent pressure in financial markets as the "main drags" to overall performance this year. Peter Sands, [...]
Sage Group shares jump on raised dividend December 4, 2013 Sage Group reported four per cent growth in underlying revenue, to £1.42bn, buoyed by its cloud-based computer services and in line with forecasts. Sage invested 32 per cent more in its cloud and connected services strategy than last year. The company's investment is timely. The infrastructure-as-a-service battle is heating up. On Monday, Google announced “general availability” [...]
What you need to know before the open – 04/12 December 4, 2013 US markets saw a third day of losses yesterday, vindicating the assessment that investors have been keen to lock in some gains before a slew of key data over the second half of the week. Most shares in Asia slumped in Wednesday trading as tapering fears saw investors cash in gains from recent rallies. However, calls [...]
Tesco sees UK sales drop 1.5 per cent in third quarter December 4, 2013 Tesco has announced a 1.5 per cent fall in like-for-like sales in the three months to 23 November, which it says is down to a weaker UK grocery market. Underlying sales fell in every country in which it operates. The sobering news is in line with predictions from Citi analysts. It doesn't bode well for [...]
Insurers’ £25bn growth pledge December 3, 2013 SIX CITY insurers have today announced a major investment into UK infrastructure projects, committing £25bn over the next five years. The money, which does not include finance for existing schemes, signals a commitment to new large-scale projects, following the successful negotiation of changes to EU insurance regulation that had been holding back investment. Changes to [...]
Europe hands out hefty fines to global banks December 3, 2013 THE EUROPEAN Commission is set to impose heavy fines on a number of global banks including Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and RBS later this morning, over allegations that they rigged key interest rate benchmarks. The fines could break European antitrust enforcement records and run to several hundred million euros each, based on the level of involvement [...]
More nations beating UK’s stagnant school system December 3, 2013 VIETNAM, Poland and South Korea are among the countries ranked higher than the UK in a major survey of the world’s education systems, released by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) yesterday. Out of 65 countries, the UK ranks just 26th in maths and 23rd in reading. In science the UK managed 21st [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 04 December 2013 December 3, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES IBM legal challenge to India tax claim IBM has launched a legal challenge over an estimated $800m tax demand from India’s revenue department – becoming the latest major western multinational to find itself ensnared in a payment dispute in Asia’s third-largest economy. The company’s move follow a series of recent high profile tax rows [...]