Letters to the Editor – 07/04 – The establishment, Best of Twitter April 6, 2014 The establishment [Re: It’s not just Clegg who’s lost contact with reality – it’s the whole establishment, Friday] Great article. This is the reason why the other leaders don’t want Nigel Farage in a pre-general election TV debate. They would all lose. They are completely disconnected from the real world, and think they know better [...]
Emerging markets come to a halt April 3, 2014 The HSBC emerging markets index hovered barely above the neutral 50 mark in March, at just 50.3, the fourth month in which firms in developing economies have reported slower growth in activity. Output fell marginally in China and India, according to the index, with a minor improvement for Brazil and the most severe drop for [...]
Russia’s heading for low growth warns central bank April 2, 2014 Russia’s central bank has warned today that economic growth in the country would “most probably” slide below one per cent this year, below the previously-forecast range of 1.5-1.8 per cent. It also raised concerns over the above-target inflation which limits its ability to cut interest rates. Central bank governor Elvira Nabiullina (pictured) said the bank’s [...]
Gazprom and the EU agree “mutually beneficial relations” April 2, 2014 The chief executive of Russian state-controlled gas producer Gazprom has agreed with the EU that they have a shared interest in maintaining “mutually beneficial relations”. The giant supplier announced in a statement that boss Alexei Miller met with Guenther Oettinger, European energy commissioner, and discussed a "wide range of issues of bilateral cooperations". The news [...]
Marks & Spencer plans to open 250 new shops overseas April 1, 2014 MARKS & Spencer (M&S) is gunning for a 40 per cent boost in profits from international stores and hundreds of new outlets abroad in just three years, as the firm lays out a major expansion plan. Announced in Paris yesterday, the fresh strategy will mean a huge jump in the number of M&S stores outside [...]
What you need to know before the US open April 1, 2014 Stocks across the globe have been given a boost after positive remarks by Janet Yellen yesterday on the Fed’s attitude towards a rate hike – soothing worries one would come earlier than expected. Futures point towards a positive open, as markets continue the moderate gains seen in the first quarter. Investors will also have the [...]
How the EU’s relaxing of visa rules could bring €130bn of gains April 1, 2014 The European Commission has proposed a host of measures to liberalise visa rules for non-EU nationals that could lead to €130bn in direct spending and 1.3m jobs over the next five years. The Commission believes its package of reforms will boost tourism and bring researchers, students, artists and other professionals to European shores. Demand for [...]
Letters to the Editor – 01/04 – European debate, Globalisation fears, Best of Twitter March 31, 2014 European debate [Re: Why both sides of the debate must up their game on Europe, Friday] Of course politicians are throwing around dodgy statistics. Why? Because both sides of the EU debate lack any comprehensive vision for what Britain’s global position will look like in the future. The Outers want either an expanded Commonwealth, a [...]
London Report: FTSE records its first quarterly drop since June March 31, 2014 BABCOCK was the star performer among Britain’s top shares yesterday as a nuclear contract win helped it outperform a lacklustre showing on the broader blue-chip index, which suffered its first quarterly drop since June. The FTSE 100 ended down 17.21 points, or 0.3 per cent, at 6,598.37 points, after a see-saw session which saw it [...]
What you need to know before the US open March 31, 2014 US futures have risen ahead of Janet Yellen’s speech later today. Over here in Europe, stocks have suffered some losses after weaker-than-expected Eurozone inflation data. The headline figure dropped to a 2009-low of 0.5 per cent, piling pressure on the ECB to invoke policy tools to help the region. When it comes to the Ukraine-Russia [...]