Eurozone trade surplus boost on faster exports growth August 16, 2013 The Eurozone trade surplus grew by less than expected in June, according to official figures from Eurostat (release). Seasonally adjusted, the difference between exports and imports in the Eurozone rose to €14.9bn from €13.8bn the month before. Analysts had expected to see a rise to €15.3bn. Compared with May 2013, seasonally adjusted exports rose by [...]
Fruit, veg and tobacco holds Eurozone inflation steady August 16, 2013 The annual rate of inflation in the Eurozone remained steady in July at 1.6 per cent, as analysts had expected. The largest upward pressures came from fruit (up 0.12 percentage points), vegetables (up 0.09 percentage points) and tobacco (up 0.08 percentage points), while the largest downward pressures came from telecommunications (down 0.18), medical and paramedical [...]
Household energy consumption falls by a quarter since 2005 August 16, 2013 Average household energy consumption in England and Wales fell by nearly a quarter between 2005 and 2011 according to the Office for National Statistics. Energy consumption fell by 24.7 per cent over the period. There was significant regional variation, with the East Midlands posting the highest consumption every year measured. However, the difference in average [...]
Unexpectedly large fall in Eurozone current account not enough to hinder annual goods surplus growth August 16, 2013 The Eurozone current account surplus dropped unexepctedly in June, but continues to show strong growth on an annual basis thanks largely to the goods surplus. The European Central Bank posted a current account surplus of €16.9bn (£14.4bn) in June, seasonally adjusted. This was down from May’s €19.5bn surplus, and missed analyst forecasts of €19.0bn. The [...]
Department for Health defends against Labour’s NHS attacks August 16, 2013 Waiting lists at the NHS have hit a five-year high, official figures have revealed. The number of people waiting to be admitted for operations or other treatment rose from around 2.5m in recent years to 2.88m in June – the highest level since May 2008. The Labour party has blamed over-burdended A&E departments and government [...]
Atkins pays £2.6m to ditch US construction business August 16, 2013 Engineering consultancy Atkins has paid £2.6m to dispose of its loss-making US construction management firm Peter Brown to Florida-based construction frim Moss & Associates. Peter Brown, which currently employs 50 staff, reported an operating loss of £6.5m, on revenue of £24.4m, in the year to 31 March 2013. This included losses on the completion of [...]
Swiss National Bank approves UBS buyback of toxic fund August 16, 2013 UBS has come a step closer to buying back the stabilisation fund used to offload its toxic assets when it was bailed out five years ago. The Swiss National Bank said UBS had paid back the bailout loan it was granted five years’ ago and is now free to exercise its option to acquire the [...]
Everbright investigating trading error related to Shanghai spike August 16, 2013 Major Chinese brokerage firm China Everbright Securities suspended its trading in domestic A shares yesterday after a trading error potentially resulted in a sudden spike on the Shanghai Composite Index. Rumours are circulating that the issue derived from an Everbright broker mistakenly switching a mock trading session into a live one. Everbright lost over eight [...]
Morgan Stanley sees the pound falling to June 2010 lows August 16, 2013 Morgan Stanley has forecast that the pound will weaken by five per cent to $1.48 in just three months, based on the prediction that Bank of England governor Mark Carney will keep interest rates low despite data suggesting the UK economy is improving. The pound jumped to an eight week high yesterday after it was [...]
Before the open – 16/08 August 16, 2013 The Shanghai Composite Index posted the biggest intraday jump since March 2009 and volumes 76 per cent higher than the 30-day average, despite no news of note. Chinese officials are looking into what happened, with some traders speculating it could be government intervention to support the markets or a trading error. The bourse said it [...]