Positive Chinese data sees the FTSE grow to highest level since March October 18, 2012 BRITAIN’S top share index rose to a seven-month closing high ysterday, bolstered by mining stocks on a reassuring economic outlook from top metals consumer China. Chinese economic growth slowed to 7.4 per cent year-on-year during the third quarter, as expected, but industrial output and retail sales data for September beat forecasts, paving the way for [...]
What the other papers say this Morning October 16, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Apple set to unveil iPad Mini Apple hopes to maintain its dominance in the tablet market despite competition from Microsoft, Google and Amazon with a cheaper, smaller iPad, which is expected to be unveiled next week. The California-based technology group has sent out invitations to a press launch next Tuesday. Months of leaks [...]
Luxury goods market is braced for a slowdown October 15, 2012 GROWTH in the global luxury goods market is set to slump by more than half this year as Chinese shoppers cut back on spending and tough economic conditions take their toll on consumers in the Eurozone. A report by business consultancy Bain and the Italian luxury goods trade body Altagamma yesterday predicted that sales will [...]
ZTE slumps to first loss as firm is blighted by US security fears October 15, 2012 CHINESE telecoms equipment maker ZTE sank to a first quarterly loss yesterday due to project delays in a slowing global economy. ZTE blamed delays in overseas projects, which count for around half of its revenue, for a 2bn yuan (£198m) loss in its third quarter, which compares with a profit of 299.3m yuan for the [...]
What it takes to move the FTSE out of its thin range October 15, 2012 FOR the last five weeks, we’ve seen the FTSE trade in a tight range of a couple of hundred points. It would seem that the days of 100 plus point gains and losses are over. So what would it take to drive a breakout from the 5,700-5,900 range? DIRECTION FROM ACROSS THE POND Third quarter [...]
Copper in need of a health check October 15, 2012 COPPER was yesterday given a short boost. Economic data coming out of China indicated that its inflation rate fell to 1.9 per cent in September, from 2 per cent the month before. However, this news was not enough to dispel worries of a Chinese hard landing, and the metal closed flat at $8,132.4 (£5,060.84) a [...]
Volkswagen reports jump in sales October 12, 2012 German car maker Volkswagen today said global sales increased by 9.7 per cent for the first three quarters of the year. The company announced a 6.6 per cent increase in group sales, 801,000 vehicles, in September. The German firm delivered 2.8m vehicles over the European market, while deliveries in North America for the nine months [...]
Japan’s mobile giant Softbank mulls £7.9bn Sprint Nextel deal October 11, 2012 US MOBILE operator Sprint Nextel said yesterday it was in talks with Softbank, the Japanese telecoms giant, over selling a majority stake to the firm in what would be the biggest ever US investment from a Japanese firm. Sprint, the US’s third-most popular operator with around 56m subscribers, said it was negotiating with Softbank on [...]
UK firms hit three year low for overseas M&A October 9, 2012 BRITAIN is close to losing its crown as the second largest buyer of foreign companies in the world amid plunging overseas volumes for UK firms, figures out yesterday show. Mergers and acquisition deals involving a British firm buying an overseas company fell 35 per cent to 63 in the first three quarters of this year [...]
Rio Tinto gives a wary outlook on China future October 9, 2012 GLOBAL miner Rio Tinto yesterday cut its growth forecast for China and said it was stepping up efforts to cut costs, having already slashed $500m (£312m), faced with an uncertain global outlook. Rio Tinto, the world’s second-largest iron ore miner with more than 80 per cent of its earnings in 2012 expected to come from [...]