UK’s economic outlook is increasingly weak September 5, 2011 THE UK’s economy is sick and the cheap fix of quantitative easing (QE) is being touted as the cure. The broad consensus was that yesterday’s Markit/Cips services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) was going to come in at around 54.0. It instead dropped off a small cliff, declining from 55.4 in July to 51.1 in August. [...]
HOPES OF QE3 CAN’T DISPEL THE US GLOOM September 5, 2011 AT THE beginning of last week, investors appeared to have regained their risk appetite. Although trading volumes were light, equities continued their recovery following the sharp sell-off in early August. As we approached month-end, buyers appeared confident that a near-term bottom for the major stock indices was in place. Yet most economic data releases continued [...]
Markets on look out for Federal Reserve easing September 4, 2011 STUBBORN unemployment is expected to prompt US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke into taking further action to stimulate the economy later this month – which might include a further round of quantitative easing. In the weakest payroll stats since last September, August’s figures showed no fall in unemployment, with July’s job creation numbers revised down [...]
WALL STREET WEEK AHEAD September 4, 2011 Friday’s jobs report that showed hiring in the US unexpectedly ground to a halt in August is increasing speculation the Federal Reserve will move to stimulate the economy. But will it help stocks? Fed action – if it happens – is no longer viewed as the elixir for the stock market it once was. Wall [...]
US shares plunge as job creation falls to zero September 2, 2011 US stocks have slumped on renewed fears for the economy’s prospects after grim employment data showed zero job creation in the 400m-strong country in August. Official non-farm payroll data showed the US economy added no net new jobs in August, far below analyst expectations for an extra 70,000 jobs. The news sent the Dow down [...]
Goldman pays US homes fine September 1, 2011 GOLDMAN Sachs was hit by more US government action yesterday as it agreed to pay a fine and reform some of its mortgage management practices after wrongfully repossessing borrowers’ homes in 2009 and 2010. The Federal Reserve said Goldman, through its former subsidiary, US mortgage lender Litton, had agreed to pay the unspecified fine over [...]
Chief dove calls for more QE across G7 countries August 31, 2011 THE BANK of England’s chief dove, Adam Posen, yesterday urged authorities across the G7 to throw themselves into a last ditch programme of quantitative easing, designed to stimulate growth. “Additional monetary stimulus is the last line of defence for the advanced economies today, and G7 central banks should purchase more assets if we are to [...]
FTSE 100 ends August on a high despite economic fears August 31, 2011 BRITAIN’S top share index climbed 2.4 per cent yesterday as poor economic data in Britain and abroad fuelled expectations of further economic stimulus but it still recorded the worst monthly performance since February 2009. The benchmark FTSE 100 index closed up 125.87 points or 2.4 per cent at 5,394.53, on the final trading day in [...]
Wall St edges into positive territory August 31, 2011 US stocks closed out the worst month in more than a year on an up note yesterday, with sharp gains in the last several days still not enough to repair the damage from a US credit downgrade and fears of a slide back into recession. Sentiment turned dramatically in recent days on expectations the Federal [...]
Split among Fed officials August 30, 2011 DEEP divisions have appeared among senior Federal Reserve officials, the minutes to the Fed’s August meeting exposed last night. The minutes revealed “a few” members pushing for “a more substantial” loosening of policy — widely assumed to be a third period of quantitative easing known as QE3. Yet the hawkish side of the committee are digging [...]