Asian markets head for best week since last April March 28, 2014 Asian stocks are heading for their biggest weekly advance in 11 months, with the MSCI Asia Pacific index gaining 0.7 per cent. Copper's pared a quarterly decline and investor confidence growing on hopes of further economic stimulus from the Chinese authorities. Chinese premier Li Keqiang has stated that the country does have policies in reserve [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 28 March 2014 March 28, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Facebook works on drones and lasers Facebook is working on drones, satellites and lasers to deliver the internet to far flung corners of the world, in its second big bet on future technology in a week. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and chief executive, said yesterday that the company is working with leading experts [...]
UK retail sales grow for 12th straight month March 28, 2014 RETAIL sales bounced in February, with the quantity of purchases jumping by 3.7 per cent against the same month last year, marking the 12th month of continuous growth. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the UK economy’s recent upturn has prompted the longest unbroken run of monthly retail sales growth since the end [...]
Jaeger boosted by further £7.5m investment from Better Capital March 28, 2014 JAEGER, the high end fashion brand and retailer, has received an additional £7.5m investment from its private equity owners Better Capital it announced yesterday. The investment comes two years after Better Capital bought Jaeger out of administration after a difficult autumn and winter in 2011 hurt sales. “We have a clear strategic and creative vision [...]
City Moves for 28 March 2014 | Who’s switching jobs March 28, 2014 Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management The wealth management firm has announced the appointment of David Esfandi as chief executive for the UK. He was most recently at Ashcourt Rowan, where he was a senior leader in its asset management division. AllianceBernstein The investment management firm has appointed Mike Fullalove as product development manager for Europe, the [...]
Letters to the Editor – 28/03 – Crossrail 2, Virtual future, Best of Twitter March 28, 2014 Crossrail 2 [Re: London will come to a standstill if we delay Crossrail 2, yesterday] Far from demonstrating a lack of political will on Crossrail 2, the mayor has long been the driving force behind getting this vital project moving. He strongly believes it is critical to boosting capacity and galvanising economic growth, which is [...]
What you need to know before the US open March 27, 2014 US GDP fourth quarter results showed the economy grew a bit more quickly than expected in the fourth quarter (by 2.6 per cent), bolstered by stronger consumer spending. Futures were up ahead of the numbers, which will no doubt boost investor sentiment. Separate data releases show that initial jobless claims fell to 311,000 in the week [...]
Retail sales growth beats expectations in February March 27, 2014 Latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics show some strong numbers for retail this February. Up 1.7 after growth of -2.0 per cent last month, that's much higher than economists had expected. Consensus estimates suggested we'd see growth of just 0.5 per cent this month. HSBC say that while recent lower growth might look [...]
H&M sees sales jump 12pc in March March 27, 2014 High street favourite H&M has said this morning that pre-tax profit rose eight per cent in the first quarter of this year from a year ago. The Swedish company saw sales go up 12 per cent this month – it’s already reported revenues up 13 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter. Expansion work will [...]
What you need to know before the open March 27, 2014 A lower open’s expected for European markets this morning, following the slightly surprising selloff seen in US markets yesterday. It’s unclear quite how the selloff came about, but President Obama’s criticisms of Russia’s actions in Crimea probably didn’t help. Meanwhile, weak underlying durable goods numbers yesterday point to still-listless demand on the US consumer front. [...]