Deflation fears for Eurozone June 29, 2009 EUROZONE inflation is forecast to have slipped into negative territory for the first time in the trading bloc’s history in June, dragged down by lower energy and food prices, data are expected to show today. A Reuters poll of 37 economists showed inflation at -0.2 per cent year-on-year this month, after prices remained flat in [...]
Careful not to cut spending too soon August 11, 2009 ANOTHER day and further signs there is some life left in the poor battered UK economy.. Yesterday it emerged that house prices rose for the third month in a row in June, according to government figures. And takeovers are back, it would seem, with the blue-chip insurer Friends Provident succumbing to an increased £1.85bn bid [...]
Budget goods boost Asda’s market share August 13, 2009 WAL-MART owned Asda yesterday said it was stealing market share from other supermarkets as customers shopped around for low prices during the downturn. Asda said over three months to 31 July it had grown its market share of the grocery sector to 17 per cent, up from 16.7 per cent the quarter before. Tesco continues [...]
Inflation falls below Bank’s 2pc target July 14, 2009 CONSUMER price inflation fell below the Bank of England target of two per cent for the first time since September 2007, official data showed yesterday. Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) indicated that the consumer prices index (CPI) fell to 1.8 per cent in June, on an annual basis while the broader retail [...]
Wetherspoon is boosted by cheap booze July 15, 2009 PUBS group JD Wetherspoon yesterday said it expected its pre-tax profit for the year to 26 July to come in towards the top end of market expectations, after cost cutting improved margins. The pub chain, known for its low-cost food and bargain booze said in a trading update that like-for-like sales in the financial year to [...]
Rise in US inflation lower than forecast as slump takes its toll June 17, 2009 US consumer prices edged up in May on higher petrol prices, but fell over the past 12 months by the most since 1950, in a sign that inflation was not a threat for now as the country fights a brutal recession. The Labour Department yesterday said its Consumer Price Index (CPI) edged up 0.1 per [...]
Economy fears hit oil, miners and banks but defensives fly June 16, 2009 THE FTSE 100 closed 0.1 per cent higher yesterday, recovering only a small part of Monday’s sharp falls as strength in defensive stocks was countered by falls in oils, miners, and banks. At the close the FTSE 100 was up 2.56 points at 4,328.57, rallying slightly after hitting a six-week closing low on Monday when [...]
Economy fears hit oil, miners and banks but defensives fly June 16, 2009 THE FTSE 100 closed 0.1 per cent higher yesterday, recovering only a small part of Monday’s sharp falls as strength in defensive stocks was countered by falls in oils, miners, and banks. At the close the FTSE 100 was up 2.56 points at 4,328.57, rallying slightly after hitting a six-week closing low on Monday when [...]
Pay cuts loom as prices fall to 61-year low May 19, 2009 AN ESTIMATED 80 per cent of workers face the prospect of a pay freeze or cut, after the measure of inflation used for the majority of wage settlements plunged last month. The Retail Prices Index (RPI), which is used for workers’ wage settlements and includes mortgage and rent payments, shrank to -1.2 per cent year-on-year [...]
Mix banging techno with minke whales in spectacular, friendly Iceland August 9, 2009 THE high cost of a pint of beer used to mean that Iceland was out of bounds for all but the most well-heeled traveller. But the financial catastrophe the country has suffered in the wake of the credit crunch, while devastating for its population, has made it far more accessible, and tourism is expected to [...]