Shoppers face more costly food but cheaper non-food products September 4, 2012 SHOP PRICE inflation edged up in August, as non-food prices declined less than in July, according to an index released by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) yesterday. The overall index crept up to 1.1 per cent last month, up slightly from July’s one per cent – but well below the trend in the official consumer [...]
M&A activity slides further as interest in British firms drops September 4, 2012 BRITISH and foreign firms both put even less cash into UK companies in the second quarter of this year, extending the market’s long dry spell that began with the financial crisis. The volume of deals fell 39 per cent compared with the same period of 2011, according to official data. Foreign firms carried out 42 [...]
Inflation across OECD countries edges down to below 2pc mark September 4, 2012 INFLATION across the OECD bloc of rich countries fell slightly in the year to July, according to data released by the Paris-based organisation today. Prices increases were 1.9 per cent higher in July than they were a year previously, but the pace of growth was slightly down on the two per cent recorded in June. [...]
Fewer SMEs turning to credit September 4, 2012 Fewer small British companies (SMEs) are turning to external financing, according to a survey released this morning, while four in 10 respondents report personally funding their SMEs. In the second quarter of this year only 43 per cent of SMEs told BDRC Continental that they were currently using external finance – down eight percentage points [...]
Global factory dip worsens September 4, 2012 The global manufacturing downturn gathered pace in August, with output and new orders falling at their fastest in over three years, a business survey showed yesterday. The JP Morgan global manufacturing PMI fell to 48.1 in August from 48.4 in July, its lowest reading since June 2009 and dipping further below the 50 threshold that [...]
US home prices bounce back September 4, 2012 US home prices, across the country, recovered rapidly in the year to July, data from CoreLogic revealed yesterday. Prices climbed 3.8 per cent over the year, their fastest yearly growth since August 2006. The increase – which appears to bode well for an American housing market that has been stuck in the doldrums for several years [...]
City Moves | Who’s switching Jobs September 4, 2012 DAC Beachcroft Anthony Menzies has been appointed as a partner in the law firm’s London-based global insurance team. He joins from Taylor Wessing, where he was a partner in its insurance and reinsurance group. Menzies is a specialist in marine, energy and engineering law, and has also previously held roles at Clyde & Co and [...]
Best of the Brokers September 4, 2012 PETROFAC Credit Suisse upgraded oilfield services group Petrofac’s share rating to “outperform” from “neutral” with an increased target price of 1,800p, up from 1,750p. It believes Petrofac has performed poorly on a lack of project awards over the summer period but said “the next few months will be better”, and expects awards step up, thanks [...]
FTSE loses 1.5pc with investors not holding breath over ECB’s summit September 4, 2012 BRITAIN’S top share index fell yesterday reflecting investor uncertainty over whether this week’s key European Central Bank (ECB) meeting will deliver the goods on a hoped for bond-buying scheme designed to ease the euro debt crisis. The FTSE 100 closed down 86.40 points, or 1.5 per cent, at 5,672.01, ending back below the 5,700 level [...]
US markets await action in Eurozone September 4, 2012 THE S&P 500 and the Dow Jones industrial average closed slightly lower yesterday as investors continued to await clarity on European Central Bank plans to shore up heavily indebted countries, but the market ended off its lows on a rally in Apple shares. The Dow Jones was down 54.90 points, or 0.42 per cent, at [...]
