London Sports Festival moves from 3×3 basketball success to pickleball at the City of London Corporation’s Guildhall Yard
King downgrades growth forecasts August 11, 2010 The UK economy faces a “choppy recovery” over the next two years Bank of England Mervyn King has warned. His comments came as the Bank lowered its economic growth forecast, and said inflation would stay higher for longer than previously forecast. The Bank now expects the economy to grow by about 2.5 per cent in [...]
Unemployment falls to 2.46m August 11, 2010 The jobless total has fallen by 49,000 to 2.46m in the three months to June, according to the Office for National Statistics. According to the figures the number of people claiming Jobseekers Allowance in July fell by 3,800 to 1.46m. Howard Archer of Global Insight said: “For now at least, unemployment continues to fall in [...]
Connaught hit after hedge fund cuts stake August 11, 2010 HEDGE fund Breeden European Partners has more than halved its stake in troubled social housing repairs group Connaught, after the value of its holding plunged by more than £13m in recent weeks. Breeden European, which was set up by former US Securities & Exchange Commission chairman Richard C. Breeden, had declared a stake of 13 [...]
Thomas Cook warns over “soft” UK economy August 11, 2010 TOUR operator Thomas Cook said it anticipated operating profit for the full year would be at the lower end of expectations following poor trading in the UK and the adverse impact of exchange rate movements. Europe’s second biggest travel firm said the weakness in the UK market had impacted margins while the costs of disruption [...]
Balfour Beatty lifted by acquisition August 11, 2010 CONSTRUCTION group Balfour Beatty said half-year pre-tax profit rose by 32 per cent on the acquisition of a US company last year and a strong performance in Britain and Asia. First-half pretax profit rose to 141 million pounds, compared to £107m last year, boosted by earnings at project management business Parsons Brinckerhoff. “Our strategy has [...]
Standard Life profit up on overseas expansion August 11, 2010 INSURER Standard Life reaped the benefits of growth at its overseas division to post higher interim profits. Operating profit before tax from continuing operations rose ten per cent from last year to £182m, helped by growth overseas in areas such as Canada and India. Net inflows rose 71 per cent to £5.3bn, while the company [...]
Jitters ahead of Bank’s Inflation Report as miners, banks and energy shares lose August 10, 2010 BRITAIN’S top shares were lower yesterday as investors nervously awaited the outcome of the Bank of England’s quarterly Inflation Report due today and commodity shares were hit by demand concerns following weak Chinese data. At the close, the FTSE 100 index was down 34.11 points, or 0.6 per cent, at 5,376.41, having ended at its [...]
Fed announcement helps curtail Wall Street losses August 10, 2010 US stocks fell yesterday but closed off their lows after the Federal Reserve said it would take new steps to counter a weak recovery. The Dow, which was down about 100 points before the Fed’s announcement, briefly turned positive, though buying interest waned on the Fed’s more pessimistic assessment of the economy. The Dow Jones [...]
A new dollar safe haven August 10, 2010 WITH Singapore’s GDP forecast to grow 11 per cent this year according to Standard Chartered, the Singaporean dollar could be the closest to a “safe haven” that traders are likely to find. Although the currency does not move freely, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has recently signalled that in order to combat the risks [...]
STRONG YEN IS FUELLED BY AMERICA August 10, 2010 DIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT IN AMERICAN baseball when a pitcher hurls the ball within inches of a batter’s face, the move is known as a “brushback pitch” and is meant to convey fear and respect. As the week started in the currency market, Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda practiced his own version of a [...]
