European markets remain calm in wake of US gridlock October 1, 2013 As the US approaches the pivotal date of October 17 when the debt ceiling needs to be passed, pressure is mounting on politicians to reach an agreement. Ishaq Siddiqi, market strategist at ETX capital writes: At the moment, financial markets are attempting to work out what sort of agreement this could be? We know a [...]
Fitch says gold price rebound unlikely while fall to $1,000/oz may hit miner ratings October 1, 2013 Gold prices are unlikely to rebound according to ratings agency Fitch (release). That comes after a large sell off in precious metals today. The anticipated unwinding of US quantitative easing and expectations of improving but unspectacular economic growth leave little room for a rebound in gold prices over the next few years, while a further [...]
US manufacturing outlook beats expectations in September October 1, 2013 New figures showing that US manufacturing sector is performing better than expected in September. The ISM manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) is in higher, at 56.2 from 55.7. Analysts had expected a drop to 55. Subcomponents also better. Prices paid rise to 56.5 from 54 (55 expected) and jobs at 55.4 from 53.3. That conflicts [...]
US manufacturing growth sinks to three month low October 1, 2013 The US manufacturing sector is still expanding according to new private sector data. Markit's purchasing managers' index (PMI) has stayed at 52.8 in September from a flash estimate, implying that the sector is expanding (any number above 50 suggests growth). Analysts had been expecting a rise to 53.1, so this is a little disappointing, and [...]
Standard & Poor’s warns against prolonged US government shutdown October 1, 2013 Standard & Poor's has set out its analysis of the consequences of the US government shutdown and the implications for the credit rating of the US. In our opinion, the current impasse over the continuing resolution and the debt ceiling creates an atmosphere of uncertainty that could affect confidence, investment, and hiring in the U.S. [...]
Precious metal sell off sees gold, platinum and silver prices plummet October 1, 2013 Big price falls in commodities this afternoon as gold futures move below $1,300/oz and silver prices are down below $21/oz. Platinum getting slammed too. Not sure what's driving it yet, but we did see some precious metal buying in the run up to the government shutdown – it's possible that markets think a deal is [...]
Siemens tells employees no further restructuring October 1, 2013 Siemens chief executive Joe Kaeser has said that there would be no further restructuring of the company following £4.9bn of cuts ending next year, in a letter obtained by Reuters. The news will come as a relief to workers who will already see their numbers drop by 15,000 by the end of 2014. Kaeser wrote: [...]
GTA V plagued by problems at online launch October 1, 2013 GTA V has already broken records for Rockstar – netting $1bn (£620m) of sales in the first three days after launch – and now it seems to be breaking their servers. Keep on getting failed to host GTA ONline session. This was bound to happen — Sir Dean Veritiero~ (@SirCroftScion) October 1, 2013 The GTA [...]
Google backs down in face of EU anti-trust regulators October 1, 2013 Google has made a number of concessions to EU antitrust regulators, including displaying competitors logos on its search display results page. The EU investigation into Google began in 2010, seeking to find out whether Google was stifling competition. Google's proposals are intended to answer the problems that were highlighted under EU antitrust rules. 1) The [...]
Italian instability is hiccup not crisis says Berenberg October 1, 2013 The instability in the Italian political system means Italy is heading for only a modest hiccup and not a new full-blown crisis according to economists at Berenberg. Berenberg's Italy update highlights the many dangers facing the Italian economy, which include the possibility of missing it's deficit target of 2.9 per cent of GDP. Should this [...]
