‘Bond market tantrum risks’: Gilt traders brace for Labour leftward pivot as Starmer future uncertain
Italy’s borrowing costs drop at auction January 13, 2012 Italy’s three-year debt costs fell below five per cent at the first bond auction of the year spurring hopes the troubled borrower would be able to make it through a refinancing hump in the first months of the year. Domestic demand fuelled by cheap European Central Bank funds allowed Italy to raise the maximum planned [...]
Factory gate inflation lower than expected in December January 13, 2012 Factory gate inflation fell more than expected in December, official data showed, boosting expectations that the Bank of England will inject more stimulus into the struggling economy soon. The Office for National Statistics said producer output price inflation slowed to 4.8 per cent on the year from 5.4 percent in November, a bigger drop than [...]
Ted Baker reports strong Christmas January 13, 2012 British designer brand Ted Baker said it would meet forecasts for year profit after a sharp rise in sales over the Christmas period put it firmly in the festive winners’ camp. The group said on Friday its retail sales increased 15.7 per cent in the eight weeks to 7 January driven by a 7.3 per [...]
China’s foreign exchange reserves slip January 13, 2012 China’s official reserves slipped to $3.18 trillion in the final quarter of 2011, signalling that the days of rampant export-led accumulation of foreign currency are numbered and that new monetary policy steps may be needed to counter capital outflows. The People’s Bank of China published data on Friday showing a $20.6bn, or 0.6 per cent, [...]
Invensys issues profit warning January 13, 2012 Invensys said its profit for the year would be hit by higher costs in its rail signalling division and in work on control and safety systems in eight nuclear reactors under construction in China. The group said as a result of the operational issues, its operating profit for the year to end-March 2012 would be [...]
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 [...]
