France sees slowest contraction in service sector for a year September 4, 2013 The French services sector has performed better than expected in August. While still contracting, the pace of contraction has slowed. Analysts were expecting the squeeze to bite harder. Markit's purchasing managers' index shows a rise from 48.6 to 48.9, rather than the anticipated drop to 47.7. Jack Kennedy, senior economist at Markit said: The downturn [...]
Italian service sector slump continues September 4, 2013 While we're expecting the Eurozone services sector as a whole to show growth in August, the Italian sector remains stuck in contraction. The headline purchasing managers' index number rose from 48.7 to just 48.8. Economists had forecast an increase 49.4, bringing the economy close to the end of contraction. Any number below 50 implies that [...]
Spanish service sector sees first growth in activity in 26 months September 4, 2013 The Spanish service sector just saw its first rise in activity in 26 months. According to fresh data from market, the sector's purchasing managers' index increase from 48.5 to 50.4 in August. That's above an expected increase to 50.0. 50 is the break even point, a number under 50 implies expansion. Above would suggest expansion. [...]
Before the open – 04/09 September 4, 2013 London's leading index, the FTSE 100, is expected to open flat this morning. #FTSE called flat to slightly up ahead of open, stocks to watch include Ryanair, Ashtead Group & Hargreaves Landsown. — Sales Traders CMC UK (@SalesTradersCMC) September 4, 2013 European services data is expected to show that sector order books have returned to [...]
Ryanair issues profit warning as weakness in Autumn season appears September 4, 2013 Budget airline Ryanair has issued a profit warning, announcing that it expects full year results to show profit at the lower end of the expected range of €570m to €600m (£482m to £508m). Full year traffic is also expected to come in lower at 81 million from 81.5 million previous. CEO Michael O'Leary said that [...]
Regulator announces redress for rate swap mis-selling now totals £500,000 September 4, 2013 Regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that payments for mis-selling by banks have begun. The FCA found that banks selling products designed to protect small companies, but as rates fell, they had to pay bills running into the tens of thousands and faced larged exit penalties. By the end of August, 10 offers [...]
Barclays will start £5.8bn rights issue on 13 September September 4, 2013 Bank Barclays has announced that its £5.8bn rights issue is expected to take place of 13 September (release). It is anticipated that the record time for Ordinary Shareholders' entitlement to participate in the Rights Issue shall be the close of business (London time) on 13 September 2013. As a result (and as outlined in the [...]
Microsoft’s Nokia deal dents hedgies September 3, 2013 US COMPUTING giant Microsoft’s surprise deal to buy Nokia’s mobile devices arm for €5.33bn (£4.5bn) yesterday delivered a nasty shock to the hedge funds who had been short selling the Finnish firm’s stock. Nokia’s share price rose 40 per cent after the announcement yesterday, a jump caused by the high number of short sellers, typically [...]
Sunscreen goes up to block rays from Walkie Scorchie skyscraper September 3, 2013 THE DEVELOPERS behind the Walkie Talkie skyscraper last night began erecting an enormous screen in an attempt to block the building’s ultra-bright reflections – but not before City A.M. harnessed the power of the beam to fry an egg. Exactly 347 years after the Great Fire of London ravaged the City, we took advantage of a hotspot [...]
Growth forecast hiked for UK as recovery emerges September 3, 2013 THE BRITISH economy is expected to expand almost twice as quickly this year as previously thought, according to new forecasts from a major international agency. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the UK’s GDP is likely to grow by 1.5 per cent this year, up from the 0.8 per cent it [...]