Unemployment down across US December 20, 2011 American joblessness fell to 8.6 per cent in November, and the decline was very broadly based, figures out yesterday from the US Department of Labor revealed. Unemployment rose in three states last month and declined in 43 – the largest number to record declines in a single month for eight years. North Dakota continues to [...]
American housing market jumps December 20, 2011 US housing starts soared 9.3 per cent in the month to November to hit an 18-month high, according to figures out yesterday from the Commerce Department. New residential building permits rose to an annualised level of 681,000 in the month, up from 644,000 in October. Multifamily starts reached an annualised rate of 190,000, their highest [...]
Increase in UK empty homes December 20, 2011 The number of empty homes in England increased by 1.8 per cent in 2011, according to data published today by Halifax. The total jumped from 650,127 in April 2010 to 662,105 in the same period of this year. Forty-four per cent of those have been empty for more than six months, accounting for 1.6 per [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS December 20, 2011 Barclays Wealth Wellian Wiranto has been appointed as Asia economist at Barclays Wealth’s Singapore office. As a member of the Barclays Wealth global investment strategy group, Wiranto will also focus on interpreting market economics for private banking clients in the region. Prior to joining Barclays Wealth, Wiranto worked at HSBC Bank in Singapore as its [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS December 20, 2011 AGGREKO After yesterday’s trading statement and a meeting with management, JP Morgan rates the temporary power provider as “neutral” with a target price of 1850p. The broker says trading seems to be strong, and upgrades its estimates from 2012 by two per cent to account for lower tax. It expects a reasonable margin on work [...]
Prudential’s Harvey McGrath to quit December 20, 2011 Harvey McGrath, chairman of Prudential, is to step down next year after bearing the brunt of shareholder criticism over the group’s costly failed bid for Asian rival AIA. “I feel the time is coming when my other commitments deserve more of my time and energy,” McGrath, 59, said in a statement. More than a fifth [...]
Pharmaceuticals drag FTSE down December 20, 2011 Pharmaceuticals pegged the FTSE 100 index back early in trading today after AstraZeneca announced pipeline problems and lowered its earnings per share outlook. AstraZeneca, down 2.8 per cent, said it will take a $381.5m (£244m) pre- tax hit in the fourth quarter. The problems have arisen because a cancer treatment and antidepressant had failed tests. [...]
Retail sales rise as prices slashed December 20, 2011 Retail sales unexpectedly rose at their fastest pace since May in December, as retailers slashed prices to lure in shoppers, a survey by the Confederation of British Industry showed. The CBI distributive trades survey’s reported sales balance jumped to +9 from -19 in November, the highest since May. Analysts had expected a more modest improvement [...]
Shell hit by Gulf of Mexico oil spill December 20, 2011 The US Coast Guard was investigating a 13,000-gallon spill from an oil rig leased to Shell, operating about 26 miles southeast of last year’s BP Plc Macondo oil well disaster, a Coast Guard spokesman said on Monday. The spill of either drilling fluid or oil mixed with drilling fluid was reported Sunday by Transocean Ltd’s [...]
AstraZeneca hit by double blow to drug pipeline December 20, 2011 AstraZeneca will take a $381.5 million (£24m) pre-tax charge in the fourth quarter following a double blow to its new drug pipeline, Britain’s second-biggest pharmaceuticals company said. Cancer drug olaparib will not progress into final Phase III testing for ovarian cancer due to disappointing results in a mid-stage clinical trial, while the experimental antidepressant TC-5214 [...]