France sees slowest contraction in service sector for a year September 4, 2013 The French services sector has performed better than expected in August. While still contracting, the pace of contraction has slowed. Analysts were expecting the squeeze to bite harder. Markit's purchasing managers' index shows a rise from 48.6 to 48.9, rather than the anticipated drop to 47.7. Jack Kennedy, senior economist at Markit said: The downturn [...]
Italian service sector slump continues September 4, 2013 While we're expecting the Eurozone services sector as a whole to show growth in August, the Italian sector remains stuck in contraction. The headline purchasing managers' index number rose from 48.7 to just 48.8. Economists had forecast an increase 49.4, bringing the economy close to the end of contraction. Any number below 50 implies that [...]
Spanish service sector sees first growth in activity in 26 months September 4, 2013 The Spanish service sector just saw its first rise in activity in 26 months. According to fresh data from market, the sector's purchasing managers' index increase from 48.5 to 50.4 in August. That's above an expected increase to 50.0. 50 is the break even point, a number under 50 implies expansion. Above would suggest expansion. [...]
Before the open – 04/09 September 4, 2013 London's leading index, the FTSE 100, is expected to open flat this morning. #FTSE called flat to slightly up ahead of open, stocks to watch include Ryanair, Ashtead Group & Hargreaves Landsown. — Sales Traders CMC UK (@SalesTradersCMC) September 4, 2013 European services data is expected to show that sector order books have returned to [...]
Ryanair issues profit warning as weakness in Autumn season appears September 4, 2013 Budget airline Ryanair has issued a profit warning, announcing that it expects full year results to show profit at the lower end of the expected range of €570m to €600m (£482m to £508m). Full year traffic is also expected to come in lower at 81 million from 81.5 million previous. CEO Michael O'Leary said that [...]
Regulator announces redress for rate swap mis-selling now totals £500,000 September 4, 2013 Regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that payments for mis-selling by banks have begun. The FCA found that banks selling products designed to protect small companies, but as rates fell, they had to pay bills running into the tens of thousands and faced larged exit penalties. By the end of August, 10 offers [...]
Barclays will start £5.8bn rights issue on 13 September September 4, 2013 Bank Barclays has announced that its £5.8bn rights issue is expected to take place of 13 September (release). It is anticipated that the record time for Ordinary Shareholders' entitlement to participate in the Rights Issue shall be the close of business (London time) on 13 September 2013. As a result (and as outlined in the [...]
Exclusive: Walkie Scorchie melted my Jag | Morning Wire September 4, 2013 THE WALKIE Talkie skyscraper in the City has caused extensive damage to a Jaguar parked on a nearby street – as other drivers come forward to say it has also melted parts of their vehicles. As revealed in Morning Wire last week, the building’s unusual shape is reflecting an ultra bright light onto Eastcheap, with [...]
Syrian parliament invokes strange Shakespearean allegory in letter to UK MPs September 4, 2013 (Salanio and Salarino encounter Shylock) The Syrian parliament appears to have dropped a reference to Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice” in a letter to UK MPs. In the second paragraph of a document obtained by Sky News, Mohammad Jihad al-Laham, speaker of the people’s assembly of Syria, writes: We write to you as fathers and [...]
It’s time our qualifications system broke free from the A-Level stranglehold September 4, 2013 AS STUDENTS collect their A-Level results, we should ponder why Britain continues to have state-mandated qualifications in the first place. Why is it that the government continues to promote A-levels, and to prescribe their structure and method of assessment, when there are useful and valued alternatives such as the International Baccalaureate (IB), the City and [...]