US joblessness rises once more March 8, 2012 The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits rose last week, a government report showed yesterday, but not enough to change perceptions that the labour market was strengthening. Initial claims increased 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 362,000, the Labor Department said. Even with the increase, claims are still near their lowest in four [...]
Japan shrinking more slowly March 8, 2012 Japan’s economy shrank less than initially estimated in the fourth quarter, as companies ramped up spending, supporting oil prices. The revision to GDP showed a 0.2 per cent contraction as companies look to an increase in demand due to reconstruction of the country’s tsunami-battered northeast coast. However, the country’s trade balance swung further into the [...]
British banks performing well March 8, 2012 A new report from ratings agency Standard and Poor’s argues British banks have made good progress in strengthening their balance sheets, and are set to grow slowly but steadily in the coming years. “The stand-alone credit profiles of our rated UK banks remain adequate, predominantly in the A minus to triple-B range,” the agency said.
Services help to lift Balfour Beatty profit March 8, 2012 BALFOUR Beatty, Britain’s largest contractor, yesterday posted a nine per cent rise in full-year profit as growth at its professional services and infrastructure units helped offset weakness at its British and US construction businesses. Balfour, which operates in some 80 countries and offers a range of infrastructure services, revealed an underlying pre-tax profit of £334m [...]
Xstrata in $500m deal to expand coking coal March 8, 2012 MINER Xstrata, which has agreed to a merger with trader Glencore, expanded its coking coal operations in Canada’s British Columbia yesterday with the $500m (£316.6m) purchase of assets from oil explorer Talisman Energy. Xstrata has been building its presence in the Peace River coalfield, in northern British Columbia, since acquiring First Coal last August. The [...]
Premier Oil abandons its North Sea oil well March 8, 2012 PREMIER Oil’s Bluebell exploration well in the North Sea will be plugged and abandoned after the project was hit by technical difficulties, the UK explorer said yesterday. The next exploration wells to be drilled in the region are the Stingray and Carnaby wells. Both wells are planned for the commencement of drilling in early April [...]
London 2012 IMAGE OF THE WEEK March 8, 2012 OLYMPIC SITE | ORBIT The ArcelorMittal Orbit, designed by Anish Kapoor and now the UK’s largest piece of public art, continues to take shape next to the Olympic Stadium. This week’s image was sent in by Andy Wilkes, a contractor on the site and a BT Olympic storyteller. Photo: Andy Wilkes Between now and the [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS March 8, 2012 AFC Energy The developer of low-cost alkaline fuel cell technology has announced the appointment of Sir John Sunderland as non-executive director of the company. Sunderland has spent 40 years in leadership roles, best known as the former chief executive and later as chairman of Cadbury Schweppes. Currently Sunderland is a non-executive director of Barclays Bank, [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS March 8, 2012 ARM HOLDINGS Morgan Stanley has upgraded the Cambridge-based chipmaker from equal-weight to “over-weight” with a target price of 650p. The broker says fears of Intel taking market share and uncertainties around Windows8 mean the company’s shares have been underperforming, and that the risks to earnings remain firmly on the upside. Morgan Stanley also says that [...]
FTSE books biggest rise for a month as optimism increases March 8, 2012 BRITAIN’S top share index recorded its biggest daily rise in over a month yesterday, boosted by optimism about the US economic outlook as well as the outcome of Greece’s debt negotiations, although charts indicated that momentum could falter. Cyclical stocks, which tend to perform in tandem with economic growth, rose as US jobless claims data [...]
