ANALYSTS’ VIEWS: WHAT WILL TOMORROW’S INFLATION DATA SHOW? February 12, 2012 VICKY REDWOOD | CAPITAL ECON “Inflation now appears to be on a clear downward trend. As the VAT effect drops out, knocking 0.7 per cent or so off inflation, we predict a fall to 3.2 per cent in January – high enough to prompt an explanatory letter to the Chancellor. We expect inflation to be [...]
Chinese prices hit easing hopes February 9, 2012 China’s annual inflation spiked to a consensus-busting 4.5 per cent in January as spending jumped during the Lunar New Year holiday season, breaking a five-month softening trend and forcing a market rethink of policy easing expectations. The size of the seasonal distortion makes the January data particularly hard to read, but economists say it is [...]
Miners buoy FTSE as Greece remains on knife edge February 8, 2012 The FTSE 100 opened on the front foot this morning as investors continued to cling onto hopes that Greece could be steered away from financial meltdown. Greek party leaders were set to meet again today to hammer out a reform deal in return for the new €130bn rescue from the IMF and EU. Leaders of [...]
Inflation slows as shops keep cutting prices February 7, 2012 SHOP PRICE inflation dropped in January, figures out today from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) showed, as last year’s VAT rise fell out of the calculation. Overall, inflation dropped to 1.4 per cent from 1.7 per cent in December, helped by falling commodities prices and declining freight costs, as well as ongoing promotions and discounts. [...]
Tesco’s slice of market shrinks January 31, 2012 SUPERMARKET giant Tesco has seen its market share fall under 30 per cent for the first time in almost seven years as it struggled to recover from its dire Christmas trading performance, according to new data from Kantar Worldpanel. Tesco’s market share – based on a measure of how much money has gone through its [...]
UK slides down inflation rankings January 31, 2012 Consumer price inflation in the UK fell to 4.2 per cent in December, taking it out of the top three in the 34 advanced economies of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Prices across the OECD rose by 2.9 per cent in the year to December, with the highest rate in Turkey at 10.4 per [...]
Tesco sales growth slows January 31, 2012 Sales growth at Tesco has slowed to just half that of the broader grocery market as rivals like Wal-Mart’s Asda and J Sainsbury gain share, data showed. Market research by Kantar WorldPanel showed grocery sales in Britian climbed 4.2 per cent year-on-year in the 12 weeks to January 22 compared with 4.8 per cent in [...]
Bury bonds in tax-efficient Isas to avoid digging deep January 25, 2012 HIDDEN among the carnage following the implosion of Lehman Brothers in 2008 lay an opportunity to profit from corporate bonds. And for those who weren’t busy stocking up on water, guns and canned food, corporate bond funds have proved an invaluable hedge against volatile and broadly weak equity returns and inflation’s creeping decimation of their [...]
Inflation plummets as high street sales help the consumer January 17, 2012 CONSUMER prices increased at their slowest pace for six months in December, the Office for National Statistics revealed yesterday, with alcohol and tobacco prices down in the month and fuel rises slowing. The headline consumer price index increased by 4.2 per cent in the year to December – down from 4.8 per cent the month [...]
With the Eurozone tottering it may be time we signed up for some Norwegian lessons January 15, 2012 NORWAY is indeed a country of good fortune. Post World War II, the quality of living was relatively poor by Western standards, based upon the proceeds of an old-fashioned primary economy. Since the discovery of North Sea oil in the 1960s, this nation of only 4.9m has rocketed to fourth in the IMF’s league table, [...]