Anglo American eyes expansion March 20, 2012 Miner Anglo American is looking to acquire iron ore assets in Australia and Africa to increase its footprint in the sector. “We are on the lookout for value-adding iron ore opportunities,” James Harman, head of business development for iron ore and coal for Anglo American told an industry conference, adding that Australia and Africa were [...]
Xstrata lawsuit gets go-ahead March 20, 2012 A Canadian court has given the green light to a $1.8bn environmental class action lawsuit against London-listed mining group Xstrata. The claimants are arguing that a subsidiary of Xstrata released a toxic cloud from a sulphuric acid plant in 2004 and are asking for damages for a range of medical complaints, lawyers said in a [...]
Mortgage lending sticks to upward path March 20, 2012 MORTGAGE lending has increased for the seventh consecutive month, on a year-on-year basis, new figures showed yesterday. Gross lending stood at £10.7bn, up slightly from £10.65bn in January and 14 per cent higher than the £9.4bn last February, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) revealed yesterday. That is lower than the £12.22bn in December and [...]
Fed says US will grow as crisis ends March 20, 2012 AMERICA faces “important challenges” in the short run but still has “very good” longer term prospects, the head of the Federal Reserve said yesterday. Ben Bernanke was speaking before a lecture at the George Washington business school, in which he criticised the gold standard and said that the Fed had failed to prevent deflation during [...]
Factory boom eases fears of deeper slump March 20, 2012 STRONG manufacturing figures for the whole first quarter have bolstered hopes that the UK will avoid a second recession. Output expectations grew in each of the three months, the Confederation of British Industry’s industrial trends survey showed yesterday, and the proportion saying order levels were “below normal” fell over the quarter. A net balance of [...]
CITY VIEWS: HAS THE ECONOMY TURNED A CORNER FOR THE BETTER?* March 20, 2012 TONY HOPSON | BUZZACOTT “Property prices are back up in the US and UK, and stock markets have stabilised – even with all the uncertainty surrounding Greece. But it’s difficult to say, living in the micro-climate of London, which is doing relatively well.” ELLIOT BISHTON | MHP “It’s in a better position today than it [...]
Greek bailout begins to pay central banks March 20, 2012 GREECE received the first tranche of its second bailout yesterday, as the German cabinet prepared to approve the permanent European Stability Mechanism (ESM) rescue system. The EU and International Monetary Fund (IMF) paid Greece the first €7.5bn (£6.26bn) of its latest bailout, with the bulk of the payment going to repay bonds held by the [...]
IMF puts pressure on Swiss currency March 20, 2012 SWITZERLAND should allow its currency to trade freely once deflationary pressures ease and growth picks up, the IMF has said, though it did not say when the cap should be lifted. As part of its annual evaluation of the Swiss economy, the results of which were published yesterday, the International Monetary Fund also recommended that [...]
TECHNOCRAT PM MARIO MONTI TAKES ON ITALY’S TRADE UNIONS March 20, 2012 Prime Minister Mario Monti began a final push yesterday to forge a deal with trade unions on labour reform that is a crucial test of his ability to revive Italy’s chronically uncompetitive economy. A deal on labour reforms would bolster confidence in Monti’s ability to push through the kind of far-reaching changes that are needed [...]
Low rates for Spanish debt March 20, 2012 THE OUTLOOK for Spain’s public finances received a boost yesterday as it sold €5.04bn in bills at the lowest borrowing rates in nearly two years. Yields on 12-month notes declined to just 1.418 per cent, raising the majority of the funds. On 18-month bills, the yield came in at just 1.711 per cent. Spanish authorities [...]