Betting on England weak says top bookmaker June 8, 2012 Betting fans have abandoned England in the run-up to this year’s European Championships, according to a top bookmaker. Despite two successive English victories against Norway and Belgium, England fans seem to have little faith in their team’s ability to clinch the European title. Coral have received ‘very few’ bets on England triumphing this summer whilst [...]
John Lewis boosted by Jubilee June 8, 2012 John Lewis enjoyed a sharp rise in weekly sales as shoppers splashed out on food and fashion to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and take advantage of better weather. The employee-owned retailer has had a run of strong weekly sales increases, albeit at slower rates in recent weeks, even though official data showed overall UK [...]
Banks and miners lead FTSE lower June 8, 2012 Miners and banks led the FTSE down in early trading as investors shunned riskier assets and ran for cover as global economic growth stutters. The fall tracked losses on Wall Street yesterday and Asia overnight despite an initial boost after China cut its interest rates in an attempt to accelerate its growth. But US Federal [...]
M&S to introduce in-store banking service June 8, 2012 Retailer Marks & Spencer said it plans to launch an in-store banking service next month, backed by Europe’s biggest bank HSBC. The group said 50 M&S Bank branches will open in M&S stores across the UK over the next two years, with the first branch scheduled to open in July at its flagship Marble Arch [...]
Rolls-Royce to buy out Goodrich June 8, 2012 Rolls-Royce said it would buy out partner Goodrich Corp in its engine controls joint venture, gaining full ownership of its fuel pumps and metering units business. The two companies combined their controls businesses in 2009 to form Aero Engine Controls. The joint venture employs about 1,400 people in Birmingham, Derby and Belfast in Britain and [...]
Bonuses slashed at Sainsbury’s and M&S June 7, 2012 The chief executives of major retailers J Sainsbury and Marks & Spencer have both taken cuts in their bonuses after failing to meet targets and as recession forces them to scale back growth plans. Philip Clarke, head of rival Tesco, last month forewent his annual bonus, paying the price for a weak performance in the [...]
China cuts interest rates in bid to accelerate growth June 7, 2012 China has cut its key interest rates in a move to try to increase the pace of growth in its economy. The one-year loan rate – seen as a benchmark – was cut by a quarter of one per cent to 6.31 per cent. The People’s Bank of China also cut deposit rates from 3.5 [...]
Interest rates and QE left unchanged June 7, 2012 The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has kept interest rates unchanged while no further quantitative easing will be pumped into the economy this time round. The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has held rates at its current record low for more than three years. Meanwhile the bank’s QE stands at £325bn.
Spain sees strong demand at bond auction June 7, 2012 Spain met strong demand when it sold 2.1bn euros (£1.68bn) of medium- and long-term bonds, passing a key test of its ability to tap investors after a minister said earlier this week the country was being cut off from the markets. The Treasury sold 638m euros of a two-year bond, 825m euros of a four-year [...]
House price rise 0.5pc in May June 7, 2012 House prices rose by 0.5 per cent in May, rebounding from a 2.3 per cent decline in April, but prices were still slightly lower on the year, figures from mortgage lender Halifax showed on Thursday. The Halifax house price index showed house prices were 0.1 per cent down in the three months to May compared [...]
