All eyes on ECB as Eurozone inflation hits 27-month high January 31, 2011 THE euro jumped to a session high against the dollar yesterday, after surprisingly high inflation data increased the risk of a hike in interest rates. Consumer price inflation across the Eurozone hit 2.4 per cent in January, according to a “flash” estimate by Eurostat, the EU’s statistics office. Inflation in the single currency area had [...]
House prices still falling yet London defies trend January 31, 2011 HOUSE prices in England and Wales fell for the fourth consecutive month in December, yet in London prices ticked up sharply, official data showed yesterday. Overall house prices dropped by 0.2 per cent compared to November, yet in London month-on-month prices were up by one per cent, and 6.2 per cent higher than in December [...]
Debt concerns business heads January 31, 2011 Over 60 per cent of business executives in the UK and the US believe their governments’ debt is growing at an unsustainable rate, a survey revealed yesterday. Respondents in the UK were among the most pessimistic about government debt, ranking alongside troubled Eurozone economies such as Ireland, Portugal and Spain. “The debt that hangs over [...]
Ireland slashes growth forecast January 31, 2011 Ireland’s central bank yesterday more than halved its growth forecast for 2011 following the austerity budget in December. The central bank’s latest quarterly economic forecast, published yesterday, expects gross domestic product to grow this year by one per cent, compared with the 2.3 per cent predicted in its October forecast.
Consumer spending up in the US January 31, 2011 American consumer spending jumped higher than expected in December, official data showed yesterday. Spending was up 0.7 per cent, while personal income grew by 0.4 per cent. “This represents a very solid end to the year,” commented Peter Newland of Barclays Capital. With spending increasing at a greater rate than income, the savings rate fell [...]
Shock drop for German retailing January 31, 2011 German retail sales posted a surprise fall in December. Economists had expected a strong rise in retail sales of two per cent, yet the federal statistics office posted a fall of 0.3 per cent compared to November. On an annual basis, sales declined by 1.3 per cent against expectations for a 1.1 per cent increase. [...]
FED EASING SET TO CONTINUE: LOCKHART January 31, 2011 UNEMPLOYMENT in the US is “nowhere near acceptable levels,” a senior Federal Reserve policy-maker said last night. “Accommodative Fed policy is still required,” said Dennis Lockhart CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta, suggesting that the Fed’s $600bn (£375bn) asset-purchasing scheme (QE2) will continue, along with historically low interest rates. Joblessness in the US [...]
Telenor seeks to block deal by Vimpelcom January 31, 2011 NORWEIGAN communications group Telenor is taking mobile group Vimpelcom to arbitration over its planned $6bn (£3.8bn) purchase of telecoms groups Wind and Orascom, a move likely to mire the deal in a lengthy legal tussle. Telenor, which owns nearly 40 per cent of Russia’s Vimpelcom, said yesterday it had requested an arbitration tribunal over a [...]
Phone chip boost for Toshiba January 31, 2011 JAPAN’S Toshiba more than doubled its quarterly operating profit on booming sales of NAND flash memory chips and robust demand for LCD panels used in smartphones and tablets. But the sprawling conglomerate cut its full year sales forecast and left its operating profit outlook unchanged for the year to March, citing a strong yen and [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 31, 2011 HSBC HSBC today announces the appointment of Richard Jablonowski as managing director and head of investment counsellors to its private banking division. Based in London, he will report to Daniel Ellis, managing director and head of the investment group at HSBC private bank. Jablonowski joins from Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management where he spent 11 [...]
