UK economy on track for growth despite global turmoil, EY Item Club forecasts January 17, 2016 Consumer spending will help fuel UK economic growth in 2016, according to new forecasts, painting a more positive picture amid global market turmoil which has wiped trillions from global equities this year. The economy is expected to grow at an accelerated rate of 2.6 per cent in 2016, up from 2.2 per cent last year and previous forecasts [...]
Netflix cracks down on proxy servers to come to grips with out-of-market streaming after global launch January 16, 2016 Netflix isn’t happy about out-of-market streaming, and a crackdown is coming within weeks. Proxy servers are common among streaming enthusiasts who want to be able to watch content not available in your home country. By using proxies, you can trick the streaming service that video is being shown in a different country than it really [...]
Li Keqiang: China’s economy grew by seven per cent in 2015 with GDP totalling more than $10trn January 16, 2016 China’s economy grew by seven per cent in 2015, said the country’s Premier Li Keqiang today, broadly in line with analysts’ warnings that the world’s second-largest economy is hitting its slowest growth rate in 25 years. Keqiang announced that China’s gross domestic product (GDP) totalled more than $10trn in 2015 when speaking at the opening [...]
New York manufacturing activity index falls to financial crisis-era low January 15, 2016 Manufacturing activity in the New York-area shrank at its fastest pace since the financial crisis. The New York Fed's empire state index fell thirteen points to -19.37 in January, from a revised reading of -6.21 in December. This was the sharpest fall than at any time since the 2007-09 recession. "The new orders and shipments indexes plummeted, indicating [...]
Mining stocks lead the FTSE 100 index lower as share prices of Anglo American, Glencore, BHP Billiton slump January 15, 2016 More January blues for miners (and it wasn't exactly a great 2015 for them), as they led the FTSE 100 index lower this morning. The UK's blue-chip index fell 2.44 per cent to 5,773 points in mid-afternoon trade, led lower by Anglo American and Glencore. The FTSE is setting itself up for a loss of over seven [...]
FTSE 100 closes lower on mining stocks as US markets tumble following a sharp drop in Chinese markets and oil prices January 15, 2016 You probably saw this one coming: The FTSE 100 finished the week 1.92 per cent lower, closing under 6,000 points for the second Friday running, as US markets tumbled. The FTSE 100 finished at 5,804 points, pushed down by miners including Anglo American, which finished the day 11.5 per cent lower at 232.7p, Glencore, which fell 6.5 per [...]
Asda owner Walmart to close 269 stores as it ditches Walmart Express, its smallest-format chain, five years after they launched January 15, 2016 Asda owner Walmart has announced plans to close 269 stores – and scrapped its experiment with small-format stores altogether five years after they first launched. It seems US consumers' buying habits are vastly different to their British counterparts'… The supermarket giant – the world's largest company by number of employees, with 2.1m workers – said it was making the changes to "ensure [...]
Citigroup shares continue to slide despite better than expected earnings and revenue January 15, 2016 Citigroup shares slipped in pre-market trading – even after the American investment bank reported better than expected earnings in its fourth quarter reports. The figures Revenue of $18.5bn (£12.9bn), a four per cent increase on a year earlier, beat analysts' expectations of a figure closer to $17bn while earnings per share of $1.06 also beat [...]
Energy bills: Big six firms slammed for overcharging customers January 15, 2016 The energy regulator, Ofgem, has slammed the UK's "big six" energy companies for failing to pass on cheaper wholesale costs to customers. Dermot Nolan, the the head of Ofgem, said wholesale energy costs have fallen by about a third in the last 12 to 18 months. Despite this, the big six energy companies – British Gas, Npower, [...]
Generation Rent is fleeing London as housing costs soar January 15, 2016 Is London bracing for a mass exodus of millennials? The capital’s exorbitant housing costs are hardly news, but a new survey suggests that the situation is getting so bad that more than 80 per cent of London’s twenty-somethings may be sent packing to other parts of the UK. At £1,507, the average monthly rent for [...]
