US consumer confidence falls unexpectedly August 16, 2013 Consumer confidence to spend in the US fell unexpectedly in August, according to a survey by Reuters and the University of Michigan. The consumer sentiment index was 80.0 in August, down from 85.1 in July, when the index rose to its highest point in six years. Analysts had expected to see a further rise to [...]
Gap between Spanish and German bond yields hits two year low August 16, 2013 Spain’s 10-year government bond yield premium over benchmark German bunds has fallen to a two year low as recent data fuelled optimism about the global economy. Ten-year German bond yields stabilised yesterday after rising sharply as US investors moved their money into safe havens. Yields fell one basis point (bp) to 1.87 per cent after [...]
Samsung to launch wristwatch-style smartphone next month August 16, 2013 Samsung will launch a wearable wristwatch-style smartphone device next month, sources close to the matter have reportedly told Bloomberg. The widely-anticipated Galaxy Gear will be shaped like a wristwatch, and will be able to make phone calls, surf the internet and handle emails. It won’t, however, have a flexible display, which Samsung and rivals including [...]
World’s richest self-made woman dies on holiday August 16, 2013 The world’s richest self-made woman Rosalia Mera has died on holiday aged 69. Mera, who left school at 11 to work as a seamstress and went on to co-found fashion giant Zara, fell ill while holidaying on the Balearic island of Menorca with her daugher Sandra. She was taken to the San Rafael hospital in [...]
US labour costs rising faster than productivity August 16, 2013 Productivity per non-farm worker in the US increased by 0.9 per cent in the second quarter, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This beat expectations of a 0.6 per cent increase and a vast improvement from a downwardly revised 1.7 per cent fall the quarter before. However, productivity was unchanged year-on-year. Paul [...]
Housing starts and building permits increase below expectations August 16, 2013 The US housebuilding industry improved again in July, with more housing starts and building permits awarded on a monthly and annual basis. Housing starts in the month hit 896,000 in the month, up 5.9 per cent (±14.5 percentage points) from an upwardly revised 846,000 the month before and 20.9 per cent (±12.9 percentage points) above [...]
Anglo American promotes insider to head of copper mining August 16, 2013 Anglo American has appointed Hennie Faul as chief executive of its copper business. He will replace John MacKenzie, who is leaving the company. Faul is currently head of mining at Anglo American, a position he has held for two and a half years, and has been with the company for nine years. He will take [...]
Economic recovery prompts hope for European car market August 16, 2013 Registration of new cars in Europe rose at an annual rate of 4.8 per cent in July to 1.02m vehicles – only the second increase this year. Over the first seven months of the year, new car registrations are down 5.2 per cent to 7.46m vehicles, and the European car market is heading for its [...]
Germany caps Eurozone bailout liabilities August 16, 2013 Germany has capped its liabilities for Eurozone bailouts at €310bn (£265bn), the German finance ministry has said. This comes amid growing political pressure on chancellor Angela Merkel over exposure of the German taxpayer to funding the rest of the Eurozone in the run up to elections next month. Finance minister Wolfgang Schauble recently reported that [...]
L’Oreal targets Chinese skincare market with £540m acquisition August 16, 2013 Paris-based beauty company L’Oreal has offered to buy Chinese facial mask maker Magic Holdings International for HK$6.54bn (£540m). L’Oreal is hoping its HK$6.30 per share offer will allow it to take advantage the Chinese company’s leading market share of the fastest growing sector in China’s $15bn skincare market. The facial mask market is projected to [...]