It’s true: There’s a real danger that fracking will cause a major boom April 17, 2012 A REPORT commissioned by the government and released yesterday has given the green light to the extraction of shale gas. The report concludes that hydraulic fracturing (fracking), a technology that pumps water and chemicals underground to fracture shale formations in order to release trapped gas, is safe but requires tight regulation and seismic monitoring. The [...]
UK inflation rises April 17, 2012 British inflation ticked up in March, driven by higher food and clothing prices and reinforcing expectations the Bank of England will not inject more stimulus into the economy next month. The Bank of England and the government have been hoping that falling price pressures will ease the squeeze on Britons’ budgets and boost consumer spending. [...]
Good earnings help US shares bounce back April 11, 2012 AN encouraging start to earnings season helped US stocks rebound yesterday five days of losses that pushed the S&P 500 below a key technical level. Equities cut gains late in the session after the Federal Reserve said rising energy costs were a concern for economic growth. Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said the economy would [...]
Consumers hit as oil inflates UK food prices April 4, 2012 FOOD price inflation started rising again in March after five months of falls, according to data published today, as increased oil and fuel costs pushed up transport expenses. However, non-food prices were lower than in the same month of 2011, as weak consumer demand forced firms to cut prices to battle for attention on the [...]
US DATA KEY TO CONTEST AMONG BULLS AND BEARS April 2, 2012 FX 360 ONE of the more astounding aspects about the recent price action in the currency market is the absolute lack of direction in euro-dollar. Over the past week the pair has traded in a miniscule 150 point range – its narrowest swing in more than four years. With the Greek saga now behind us [...]
BEST of the BROKERS April 1, 2012 GDF SUEZ UBS rates the energy group “buy” and has a 12-month price target of €23. The broker thinks GDF’s bid for the remainder of London-listed peer International Power has come earlier than expected, although the offer itself is hardly surprising. UBS reckons the offer price of 390p per share is likely to rise, and [...]
Give your finances a spring clean: A guide to tidying up all the mess April 1, 2012 SAVINGS Tom Stevenson, investment director, Fidelity WITH a new tax year approaching, the sun shining and a string of bank holidays ahead, spring is certainly in the air. Now is the perfect time for you to take control of your savings. The first step of any spring clean should be ensuring that your money is [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 22, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES SPAIN’S BORROWING COSTS SOAR Spain’s borrowing costs rose above 5.5 per cent for the first time since January as investors fretted about another escalation of the eurozone crisis amid signs of further economic weakening even in Germany. Investors pushed Spain’s benchmark 10-year bond yields up 14 basis points to as high as 5.53 [...]
Shake-up for ENRC’s board as profit dips March 21, 2012 MINER ENRC yesterday signalled that it would be making more boardroom changes as it reported profits which fell short of City forecasts. The FTSE 100 company said pre-tax profits fell 7.5 per cent to $2.8bn (£1.7bn) after hits due to the rising cost of labour and energy. Revenues rose 17 per cent to $7.7bn last [...]
3Legs Resources is hit by rise in administration bill March 21, 2012 OIL and gas group 3Legs Resources – whose non executive chairman is former energy minister Tim Eggars – posted pre-tax losses of £2.3m for the year to the end of December. For the same period the year before it reported a £2.5m profit. The company said the loss was triggered by rising administrative expenses associated with [...]