US consumer spending highest for 3 months
US consumer spending rose for the first time in three months in July while jobless claims were higher than expected last week, underlining the uneven nature of the economic recovery.…
Shake off the addiction to Fed stimulus
Monetary policies are undergoing significant changes on both sides of the Atlantic. In the US, perhaps for the first time in this recovery, the Federal Reserve seems increasingly uneasy with…
Bank lending shows further contraction
Bank loans to private businesses contracted in July, official data showed on Thursday, while mortgage lending recovered from an 18-month low in June. Figures from the Bank of England show…
Merkel opposes hasty anti-China action
©Getty German chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese premier Wen Jiabao at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing A contentious EU trade case targetting Chinese solar panel companies should…
Eurozone business confidence falls further
Business confidence in the eurozone fell more than expected in August, as core northern economies suffered the impact of the sovereign debt crisis in the southern states. The European Commission’s…
Italian borrowing costs fall on policy hopes
Italy sold nearly €7.3bn of bonds on Thursday at some of the lowest yields in months amid growing hopes that eurozone policy makers will intervene and stabilise the bond markets…
Tight budgets force WPP to cut expectations
Google is poised to rival traditional media owners such as News Corp, Viacom and CBS in sharing the more than $70bn in advertising dollars WPP spends each year, said Sir…
Brazil cuts interest rates to new low
Brazil’s central bank has cut interest rates to a historic low even as the government announced fresh steps to try to revive the country’s moribund economy. The central bank reduced…
Britons live healthier for longer
Britons are living , and staying healthier for longer, official statistics show. The Office for National Statistics said men had seen the average number of years spent in good health…
QE operations a boon for FTSE 100
The UK’s key stock market index, the FTSE 100, would still be lagging below 4,000 today instead of having risen nearly 50 per cent from its lows in early March…