Crossrail construction digs up Roman skulls October 2, 2013 About 20 Roman skulls have been unearthed near Liverpool Street station during work on the Crossrail project. Workers, under the direction of Crossrail's achaeologists, removed the human skulls and Roman pottery, found in the sediment of the historic channel of the River Walbrook. Construction on the site has already unearthed remains from other periods, with [...]
Berlusconi in possible U-turn over no confidence vote October 2, 2013 In a dramatic turn of events Silvio Berlusconi and his PDL party may back prime minister Letta in today's confidence vote. Letta's speech was well received both in the Senate chamber and in the markets as the Italian stock market reached a two year high at the end of Letta's speech. Commentators are increasingly confident [...]
Abu Dhabi and Dubai stock exchanges merger on the cards October 2, 2013 As first reported by Reuters, Dubai and Abu Dhabi are contemplating a merger of their two main stock exchanges and have hired banks to advise them in the state-backed deal. Abu Dhabi has hired investment bank J.P. Morgan Chase and First Gulf Bank to advise on the merger of the two bourses (the Dubai Financial Market [...]
Russia cuts stake in world’s largest diamond producer Alrosa October 2, 2013 The Russian government will be selling a 14 per cent stake in Alrosa, the world's largest diamond producer. Wargan Holdings Limited, a subsidiary of Alrosa will sell an additional two per cent of shares. The deal which has been int pipeline for more than a decade is expected to be worth over £600m. The Russian [...]
UK investment expenditure hits 1950s low October 2, 2013 The Office for National Statistics' (ONS) monthly Economic Review reiterated that the economy grew by 0.4 per cent in July and output is now 1.5 per cent higher than at the beginning of the year. (Release) But the October report also highlighted the surprising fact that the total expenditure accounted for by spending on investment [...]
Can you guess the top seven items sold at Tesco in the last six months? October 2, 2013 In a week where London mayor Boris Johnson has been tripped by on milk prices, and Prime Minister David Cameron couldn't tell us the price of a loaf of bread – can you guess which items Tesco sold most of in the 26 weeks to 24 August? Answers here. You can read more on Tesco's [...]
Italy’s Letta dreams of United States of Europe October 2, 2013 Italian prime minister Enrico Letta is battling for the survival of his government in the Italian Senate this morning. He has defended the governments economic record and reaffirmed its commitment to ensure that the deficit falls below three per cent of GDP at the end of 2013. With several members of Berlusconi's PdL indicating they [...]
Residential construction activity increases at fastest pace in nearly a decade October 2, 2013 The construction sector is expanding more slowly, but we're still seeing a strengthening of activity. Markit's purchasing manager's index (PMI) came in at 58.9 in September, from 59.1. But economists had forecast a rise to 59.5 this month. That's the five consecutive month of growth, and the latest figure is the second highest since September [...]
Markets look towards private labour market estimates as government shutdown hampers releases October 2, 2013 With the US government still in shutdown (well, more of a slimdown, around 80 per cent of federal employees are still at work), we're probably not going to see nonfarm payroll (NFP) estimates this Friday. Markets are so hungry for jobs data because Federal Reserve decision making over when to begin scaling back asset purchases [...]
Buy out of Peruvian assets for Hochschild Mining October 2, 2013 Precious metals company Hochschild Mining has announced its plan to raise up to $96m (£60m) to fund buying the remaining 40 per cent stake in its Peruvian assets. (Release) The full cost of the acquisition stands at about $280m. Latin American Hochschild has a 60 per cent interest in the Peruvian Pallancata mine and the [...]