China’s inflation slows as authorities hope to loosen January 12, 2012 CONSUMER price inflation in China has slowed to its lowest level in 15 months, giving the government more room to tilt economic policy away from restraining prices and towards supporting sagging growth. Prices rose by 4.1 per cent in the 12 months to December, down from 4.2 per cent in November. The December figures was [...]
US recovery knocked by bearish data January 12, 2012 US RETAIL growth slowed in December and unemployment benefit claims rose last week, according to data published by the Commerce Department and Labor Department. Sales increased by 0.1 per cent in the month, down from 0.4 per cent in November, yesterday’s figures showed. The rise represents the slowest pace for seven months. Almost all sales [...]
Provident upbeat despite Britons looking cautious January 12, 2012 SHARES in sub-prime lender Provident Financial bounced nearly five per cent yesterday after it reported a dip in impairments. The stock closed up 4.84 per cent at 995.5p after Provident said impairments in the consumer credit division were running below the 2010 level. Collections were “strong” as customers’ behaviour remained cautious in the fourth quarter. [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 12, 2012 Association of British Insurers The ABI board has appointed Robert Talbut, chief investment officer of Royal London Asset Management, as chairman of the ABI investment committee. Previously the committee’s deputy chairman, he takes over from Alain Dromer, CEO of Aviva Investors. Talbut is a member of the Listing Authority advisory committee and an alternate on [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS January 12, 2012 UNILEVER Morgan Stanley rates the consumer goods group “equal-weight”, down from “overweight”, and has a target share price of €28 (£23.43). The broker notes that Unilever shares are at all-time highs and that investors should aim to take profits. Morgan Stanley also sees very limited scope for any earnings upgrades in 2012, leaving the shares [...]
ECB says Eurozone banking woes easing January 12, 2012 The European Central Bank’s flood of cheap three-year money is helping the Eurozone’s banking system substantially and supporting confidence in the bloc’s economy which is showing some signs of stabilisation, its president said. The ECB left interest rates on hold, pausing to assess the impact of back-to-back cuts and a slew of other measures it [...]
Interest rates held January 12, 2012 The Bank of England today held interest rates on hold at their record low of 0.5 per cent and did not trigger any more quantitative easing. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will keep its quantitative easing programme at £275bn.
Banks steady FTSE but retailers dive January 12, 2012 The FTSE 100 index saw modest rises this morning as banks performed well in stark contrast to the retail sector which was pulled down by a string of poor results from heavyweights including Tesco. Investors were also digesting the results of a Spanish sovereign debt auction which showed yields going in a positive direction. Spain [...]
British Gas cuts price by 5 per cent January 12, 2012 British utility Centrica said it will cut household electricity prices by five per cent with immediate effect, one day after rival EDF Energy announced plans to slash gas bills, also by five per cent. The utility, which owns Britain’s largest gas supplier British Gas, said it was unable to cut gas bills as long-term costs [...]
Spain’s borrowing costs drop January 12, 2012 Spain’s borrowing costs fell at an auction of government bonds on Thursday that saw solid demand in 2012’s first real test of appetite for debt from the euro zone’s bruised periphery. But Spain still faces huge challenges this year to meet tough European deficit targets after the government missed its 2011 cost-cutting goal and the [...]