FTSE slides as miners hit by China’s cut in growth targets March 5, 2012 BRITAIN’S FTSE 100 fell yesterday, as weakness in miners and engineers outstripped strength in defensive stocks after China cut its growth forecasts, while mixed economic data in Europe and the United States dimmed the outlook for global growth. London’s blue chip index shed 36.31 points or 0.6 per cent to 5,874.82, although it held within [...]
CANADIAN DOLLAR SHOWS SOME PROMISE, AS AUSSIE DOLLAR HIT BY SLOWDOWN March 5, 2012 THE RESERVE Bank of Australia is expected to keep rates on hold at today’s meeting, but the news may prove cold comfort for the Aussie dollar-dollar pair as currency traders become increasingly concerned about the rate of economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region. As this week opened for trade, the Aussie was the weakest link [...]
ED BREWSTER MAKES A START ON HIS LATEST PR ADVENTURE February 29, 2012 FORMER Pru spinner Ed Brewster has made an appearance at giant telecoms event Mobile World Congress. Brewster is now tasked with looking after PR for Chinese behemoth Huawei as it attempts to conquer the consumer handset market. Attempting to break Apple and Google’s stranglehold over the industry may seem like a tall order but it’s [...]
Speed rules new generation of phones February 29, 2012 Mobile World Congress saw dozens of new handset releases, as the industry’s big players laid out their stall for the rest of the year. The overriding theme was power, with a new generation of quad-core processors imbuing mobile devices with speeds that were unimaginable even on desktop PCs only a few years ago. The new [...]
Hysteria over student visas is damaging our reputation and Britain’s future growth February 28, 2012 THE UK’s higher education sector is an export success story. Only the United States recruits more international students. Those from outside the European Union contribute £2.5bn each year in fees to our universities and spend a further £2.5bn while they are here. If students in further education and private sector colleges are included, the figure [...]
DOLLAR-YEN PAIR BENEFITS FROM US RECOVERY THEME AS OIL CASTS ITS SHADOW February 27, 2012 DESPITE the generally positive tone of recent global economic data, analysts remain concerned about the prospect of sustained growth in 2012. At the moment, their chief source of worry is the surging price of oil. In the US, West Texas Intermediate has risen to nearly $110 a barrel, while in Europe the price of Brent [...]
World fastest smartphone from Huawei February 26, 2012 CHINESE low-cost smartphone manufacturer Huawei is further encroaching on the territory of waning technology veterans such as HTC as it launches the world’s fastest smartphone, the Ascend D quad. The world’s number two network equipment maker specialises in sub-$200 smartphones and is swiftly stealing customers from its pricier rivals. In its 2010 financial year, Huawei [...]
Turning obstacles into business opportunities February 26, 2012 A STAGNATING economy can offer smaller businesses the room to expand – Rajesh Agrawal, founder of RationalFX, certainly believes that the recession granted his money transfers and online foreign currency payment business an opportunity. But Agrawal has been thriving for some time despite leaving his small home town at 22 to live on only 5,000 [...]
Weak house sales hit Dow February 22, 2012 US STOCKS fell back from earlier highs yesterday as weak housing figures and poor European and Chinese growth prospects dented market confidence. The Dow Jones hit a post-financial crisis record of 13,000 on Tuesday, but fell 0.11 per cent yesterday to 12,951, while the Standard and Poor’s 500 slid 0.19 per cent over the day. [...]
MEET THE ADVISERS February 22, 2012 GERALDINE Murphy heads the oil & gas advisory team at Standard Chartered Bank and is leading the team advising Cove Energy. She joined the bank in 2007 following the acquisition of Harrison Lovegrove & Co and has over 20 years of oil and gas deal experience. Prior to joining Standard Chartered she was an executive [...]