Germany’s Dax hits new record high as Chinese reforms lift global markets November 18, 2013 Germany's Dax just hit a fresh high of 9228.16, hours after world markets reached their highest levels since Janaury 2008. The positive sentiment in markets comes after the Chinese government announced its Third Plenum reforms. Ishaq Siddiqi, market strategist at ETX Capital says that traders have "welcomed reform plans", and are "enthused that the country’s [...]
Jammie deal for Canadian teachers as pension fund buys dodger maker Burton’s November 18, 2013 The maker of Jammie Dodgers and Maryland cookies is to be bought by a Canadian teachers' pension fund. The deal will see the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP), become the owners of Burton's Biscuits and is expected to be concluded by the end of the month. The second largest biscuit manufacturer in the UK, Burton's [...]
Bitcoin breaches $600 barrier November 18, 2013 Crypto currency Bitcoin has breached the $600 barrier this morning, having passed $500 yesterday. In April the digital store of value crashed from $220 – then thought spectacularly high – to fall below $100. While many thought that this may herald the end for the currency, its value has continued to rise since then (although [...]
Prosecco demand sees Majestic Wine profits sparkle November 18, 2013 Majestic Wine has posted a rise in pre-tax profits of 4.2 per cent to £9.2m, in the six months to September. Total sales for the period were up by 3.3 per cent to £130.2m. A significant proportion of that increase came from a spike in sales of sparkling wine of 39 per cent. The company [...]
Global shares at highest levels since January 2008 November 18, 2013 One index of global equities has gone higher this morning as Asian markets swell. The announcement of Third Plenum reforms has seen the Hang Seng up over 2.7 per cent and Sensex up by more than 1.6 per cent. MSCI's World index has climbed to 401.12 – it highest level since January 2008. Mike van [...]
US service sector defies analysts as growth ramps up November 5, 2013 One measure of US service sector growth – the ISM non-manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) – just showed an increase in October. Analysts had forecast a fall from 54.4 to 54.0, but instead the headline PMI number rose to 55.4. Any number above 50 implies an expansion in non-manufacturing activity, so this higher number suggests [...]
RSA shares fall in wake of post storm profit warning November 5, 2013 Shares in insurance group RSA have fallen by nearly six per cent after warning of lower profits in the wake of the St Jude storm, as well as flooding in Canada. The group now expects return on equity for 2013 to be below 10 per cent and payouts to be "materially above assumption." Simon Lee, [...]
Man arrested for throwing coins at IMF’s Poul Thomsen November 5, 2013 A man has been remanded in custody after hurling coins at the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) deputy director of the European department, Paul Thomsen. The IMF inspector managed to avoid the hail of coins as he arrived at the Greek finance ministry on Tuesday. Thomsen was accompanied by officials from the European Commission and the [...]
Acer CEO resigns as profits fall November 5, 2013 Acer chief executive J.T Wang has resigned in the wake of the company posting a £292m loss in the third quarter of 2013. Wang became chief executive in 2005 and has worked at Acer for 23 years. The company announced that president Jim Wong well be taking on the role of CEO. The company, which [...]
EU Commission warns against regulating energy prices and subsidies for renewables November 5, 2013 The European Commission has said that member states should remove distortions from the energy market, such as regulated prices and high subsidies for renewables. The Commission said that such measures may prevent the market form delivering the correct incentives for generation capacity and therefore lead to higher prices for consumers. The approach was one of [...]
