Begbies warns over companies on the brink April 13, 2011 The number of British companies in serious financial distress soared in the first quarter with restaurants, professional services businesses and the leisure industry in particular difficulty, a report showed. Begbies Traynor, a corporate recovery company that helps wind up or restructure firms, said its Red Flag Alert database showed 186,554 UK businesses were facing significant [...]
Inflation dips on food prices April 12, 2011 INFLATION surprisingly slowed to four per cent in March, down from February’s 28-month high of 4.4 per cent, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said yesterday. Consumer prices rose 0.3 per cent from February to March, yet compared to the same months last year inflation slowed by 0.4 per cent. Food discounts by the UK’s [...]
UK rate rise delay now expected by markets April 12, 2011 YESTERDAY’S drop in the consumer price index (CPI) inflation figure for March, from 4.4 to 4 per cent, surprised the markets. This sent sterling tumbling as expectations of a May rate rise evaporated. Weak retail figures compounded the gloomy outlook for the pound. Many traders seem to have been tipped off prior to the announcement, [...]
Inflation in surprise drop April 12, 2011 Consumer price inflation fell unexpectedly in March, after a month-on-month decline in the cost of food and drink outweighed higher housing and utility costs, the Office for National Statistics said on Tuesday. The first fall in the CPI rate since July last year will provide much-wanted reassurance for the Bank of England that inflation is [...]
UK high street sales drop at record rate April 11, 2011 SPENDING on the UK high street plummeted at a record rate last month, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said today. The year-on-year drop was partly due to the Easter holidays switching to April this year, which delayed a traditional boost in spending. “This year’s later Easter is a factor but this fall goes way beyond [...]
RISING COSTS CAST SHADOW ON EARNINGS April 11, 2011 CFD MARKET STRATEGIST, GFT AFTER months of pressure, Portugal finally gave in last week and approached the European Commission for financial aid. This caused widespread relief, as the EU has been desperate to create a firewall between Greece, Ireland and Portugal and the rest of the Eurozone. The consensus is that this latest bailout will [...]
Egypt inflation hits 11-month high April 10, 2011 Urban consumer inflation in Egypt accelerated in the year to March to an 11-month high, pushed up by soaring food prices that contributed to the mass protests that eventually toppled president Hosni Mubarak. Urban consumer inflation in Egypt rose to 11.5 per cent in the 12 months to March, its highest level since April 2010, [...]
Factory gate inflation in surprise rise April 8, 2011 Factory gate inflation unexpectedly accelerated in March to its highest since October 2008 after strong rises in the cost of petroleum and food, official data showed. The Bank of England kept interest rates at a record low this week but evidence of building price pressures is a worry at a time when consumer price inflation [...]
Gold hits new record high against dollar April 6, 2011 GOLD soared to a fresh record high in New York yesterday, explained widely by spiralling inflation and tumbling confidence in the US dollar. Silver also spiked, to a 31-year high, with investors turning to both metals as “safe havens” amid economic uncertainty and historically accommodative monetary policy. “The record price of gold is only coming [...]
FTSE nears seven-year high as M&S boosts retail sector April 6, 2011 BANKS helped drive Britain’s top shares to a near seven-week high yesterday following a Portuguese debt auction, while Marks & Spencer rose on better-than-expected sales, lifting sentiment in retailers. The FTSE 100 ended up 34.07 points, or 0.6 per cent, at 6,041.13, its highest closing level since 18 February. Lex van Dam, hedge fund manager [...]