Slowing Chinese inflation opens door to more fiscal and monetary stimulus November 9, 2011 CHINESE industrial output grew at its slowest rate for a year and inflation fell sharply in October, statistics from the country’s National Bureau of Statistics showed yesterday. Consumer price inflation fell to 5.5 per cent, down from 6.1 per cent in September and well below July’s three-year peak of 6.5 per cent. Inflation in producer [...]
Business sentiment falls in France November 9, 2011 French business confidence slipped again last month, according to Bank of France data released yesterday. The business sentiment indicator of industry dropped from 97 in September to 96 in October, below the long-term average of 100. Confidence in the French service sector fell to 95, down from 96 in September.
US wholesale inventories drop November 9, 2011 Wholesale inventories at American retailers fell 0.1 per cent in September, the US Commerce Department said yesterday, despite analysts expecting a 0.5 per cent gain. Sales growth was also lower than forecast, going to 0.5 per cent from one per cent in August. The inventory slip was the first since December 2009. August’s level was revised [...]
Japanese morale index improves November 9, 2011 Japan’s service sector sentiment index improved slightly for the first time in three months in October, a Cabinet Office survey showed yesterday. The sentiment index rose to 45.9, yet the outlook index fell to 45.9 from 46.4 the month before, indicating the loss of confidence in future conditions.
American mortgage demand rises November 9, 2011 US mortgage applications increased 10.3 per cent in the week ending 4 November, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The increase was driven by increased refinancing demand as interest rates dropped, the report said. The rise was a significant increase in comparison to the previous week when there was a more modest 0.2 per cent [...]
Energy firms sign carbon capture deal November 9, 2011 ENERGY giants Shell and Scottish and Southern Energy have teamed up on a project to build a carbon storage facility aimed at stopping harmful gases from entering the atmosphere. The carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology would be built at Scottish and Southern Energy’s gas-fired plant in Peterhead, Scotland. It will allow gases to be [...]
WHAT IS CARBON CAPTURE? November 9, 2011 Q.HOW DOES IT WORK? A.It is a strategy to prevent carbon escaping into the atmosphere. Power plants collect the carbon and store it in old gas and oil fields, the ocean or coal seams. Q.CAN IT GENERATE PROFITS? A.As companies exceed carbon quotas they could be forced to pay companies like SSE to offload some [...]
E.ON profits take a tumble November 9, 2011 Germany’s biggest power supplier E.ON said yesterday its profits dropped in the first nine months, a fall triggered by the shutdown of power plants as part of Germany’s policy to abandon nuclear energy. E.ON said in a statement its bottom-line net profit plummeted to €864m (£737m) in the period from January to September from €3.522bn [...]
Fenner does well from miners November 9, 2011 British industrial conveyor belt maker Fenner posted a rise in full-year profit, helped by strong demand and acquisitions, and said trading in its core businesses remained in line with its expectations. The company, whose belts are mainly used in the mining industry, said growing global electricity demand is leading to an increase in the amount [...]
Tullow hit as Liberia well disappoints November 9, 2011 TULLOW Oil downgraded its production forecasts for 2011 and said a well off the coast of Liberia would not provide oil in commercial quantities, disappointing investors on two fronts. Tullow, which has a reputation for opening up new oil basins, is yet to establish this frontier part of West Africa as a potential new producing [...]
