Construction output jumps as orders rise – but contraction looms in 2012 January 4, 2012 BUILDING work expanded in December, in contrast to the UK’s weaker manufacturing performance, Markit’s purchasing managers’ index revealed yesterday. For the first time in nine months output in all three categories in the sector – civil engineering, housing, and commercial – made gains. The sector as a whole registered a PMI of 53.2 in December, [...]
Billions-worth of flaws in Chinese local state debt January 4, 2012 CHINA’S state audit office has uncovered 530 billion yuan (£54bn) worth of irregularities with local government debt, leaving investors wondering how much work remains to be done to clean up after 2008’s stimulus-fuelled credit binge. The findings of the National Audit Office report published yesterday reveal a litany of bad practice. However, the figure is [...]
ROMNEY EDGES TO VICTORY IN IOWA… …WHILE BACHMANN PULLS OUT January 4, 2012 MITT Romney, seen as the most moderate Republican candidate to face Barack Obama in this November’s Presidential election, has won the Iowa caucus — narrowly beating Rick Santorum and the self-styled libertarian candidate Ron Paul. The caucus resulted in the exit of Michelle Bachmann from the race, after she finished last among the six candidates [...]
US CAR MANUFACTURING JUMPS January 4, 2012 US CAR sales jumped in December, suggesting growth in consumer confidence. Chrysler’s sales are up 37 per cent, Ford’s rose by 10 per cent and Nissan’s increased by 7.7 per cent. Meanwhile, factory output rose in November, according to US commerce department data also released yesterday. New orders rose by 1.8 per cent to $459.2bn [...]
London house prices beat North January 4, 2012 Average house prices in Britain finished 2011 at £221,331, down a modest £854, or 0.23 per cent, from the same time one year ago. In London the average home is now worth £416,890, up £9,283 (2.28 per cent) from a year ago, Zoopla.co.uk said. The North East was the worst performing region over the past [...]
Service sector profitability up January 4, 2012 Firms in the services sector were more profitable in the third quarter of 2011 than at any time since late 2008, according to figures out yesterday from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). However, manufacturing firms’ profitability fell to its lowest since records began in 1997. The rate of return for non-financial services firms hit [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 4, 2012 National Savings & Investments The commercial secretary to the Treasury, Lord Sassoon, has appointed James Furse (pictured) as non-executive director on the board of National Savings & Investments. Furse joined the NS&I board on 1 January and replaces Sir John de Trafford MBE, who became NS&I’s chairman on the same date. Furse joins NS&I after [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS January 4, 2012 AFREN JP Morgan Cazenove rates the oil and gas company as “overweight” with a target price of 98p after it announced earlier in the week it had achieved an exit rate production level of 55,400 barrels a day, ahead of target. The broker says even at lower production levels Afren is still in a reasonably [...]
Indices hold gains even as euro falls January 4, 2012 MAJOR US stock indices were little changed in a low-volume session yesterday, but some investors were encouraged to see equities avoid a sell-off amid lingering Eurozone debt problems. Indices held on to the previous day’s large gains even as the euro dropped sharply against the dollar. Notably, US banks held up well, even though bad [...]
Banks drag FTSE down as UniCredit prices at discount January 4, 2012 CONCERNS over the Eurozone sent Britain’s top shares into reverse yesterday after the previous session’s sharp gains, as Italian lender UniCredit priced a rights issue at a huge discount, and a German bond auction failed to excite. The FTSE 100 fell 31.46 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 5,668.45, albeit in light volume, at 79 [...]
