Core US prices maintain fast pace as personal income growth slows March 28, 2016 Growth in US consumer incomes slowed in February, according to figures released today. However, inflation is on course to rise toward the US Federal Reserve’s two per cent target this year, the data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis shows. Total personal incomes rose 0.2 per cent, marking a slowdown from January’s bumper 0.5 per [...]
Cosmetics group Avon Products calls a truce with activist investor Barington Capital March 28, 2016 Avon Products, the door-to-door cosmetics giant, said it has reached a peace deal with Barington Capital, allowing the activist shareholder to appoint an independent director to the board. Under the terms of the agreement, a Barington board member will have to be selected jointly by Avon and its top shareholder Cerberus Capital Management, which bought a majority stake [...]
Brent crude and WTI: Oil prices heading for biggest weekly slide in two months March 24, 2016 Global oil prices slipped under the $40 per barrel mark today, putting it on course for its biggest weekly slide in two months. Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell 1.6 per cent to $39.81 per barrel this morning. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate crude, the US benchmark, slumped 1.9 per cent to $39.05. The oil price [...]
Dollar advance during Thursday trading puts pressure on Asian shares and commodities March 24, 2016 The dollar rose for a fifth straight session on Thursday, putting pressure on Asian shares and commodity-rich markets such as Australia. The dollar advance, seeing it up around 0.47 per cent against other major currencies during Thursday trading, was prompted by another Federal Reserve official indicating there could be more than one increase in US interest [...]
Asian shares mixed on Tuesday as Chinese stocks dip modestly while Nikkei buoyed by weaker yen March 22, 2016 Chinese stocks slid on Tuesday as a weaker yen buoyed Japanese stocks after a public holiday on Monday. On a mixed day for Asian markets, Chinese decreased gains they made on Monday with the Shenzen composite down 0.41 per cent and the Shanghai composite lower at 0.78 per cent. Hawkish comments from two US Federal Reserve officials [...]
Share price in FedEx up in after-hours trading after courier company announces revenue rise in third-quarter results March 16, 2016 Share price in FedEx rose in after-hours trading after the courier company reported its third-quarter results for the period ended February 2016. The company reported revenues of $12.7bn (£8.9bn), up 8.5 per cent from $11.7bn the year before, although net income dropped to $507m, down 19.3 per cent from $628m. "Our strong financial performance was driven by increasing demand [...]
Dollar dips as US Federal Reserve holds interest rates and cuts forecasts March 16, 2016 The US Federal Reserve kept it's main policy interest rates on hold today. The target rate for the federal funds rate was kept at 0.25 to 0.5 per cent. It marks the second meeting since December that the federal open market committee has held rates after rising them for the first time since the 2008-9 recession in [...]
FTSE 100 edges up ahead of Budget and Fed meeting – but pound falls for the third day in a row March 16, 2016 Calloo, callay, it's Budget day – but equities investors kicked the day's trading off on a cautious note, ahead of George Osborne's big reveal, as well as a crucial meeting of the Federal Reserve later today. The FTSE 100 edged up 0.4 per cent to 6,166 points in early trading, pushed up by miners including [...]
Has ECB president Mario Draghi’s big bazooka forged a currency war ceasefire? March 15, 2016 It has been a brutal race to the bottom for currencies, with interest rates slashed, the lower bound tested through negative deposit rates, and monetary policy re-written to explore more inventive options. But in the latest chapter, as the ECB gets more abstract, action has swung to credit easing rather than rate cuts, which maybe – just [...]
Morgan Stanley hikes risk of global recession to 30 per cent amid low growth and lack of faith in central banks March 14, 2016 Economists at Morgan Stanley are becoming increasingly worried the global economy is teetering on the brink of recession. They've placed the likelihood of the world economy falling back into recession at 30 per cent in 2016, blaming low oil prices and decreasing effects of central banks' extraordinary monetary stimulus measures to support economies. Experts at the US investment bank [...]