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September 5, 2008
by Elaine Frei
Crude oil prices fell again Friday on data showing that unemployment in the United States rose to 6.1 percent in August, causing concerns that demand will decline further, while investors anticipated next week’s meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to see if the cartel cuts production quotas.
October contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude dropped $1.48 to ...
by Elaine Frei
European equities markets saw substantial declines Friday on the now long-standing concern that losses for banks due to the credit crisis will continue, while markets were also hurt by new unemployment numbers from the US Labor Department.
In London the FTSE 100 was down 2.26 percent to 5,240.7 in its biggest weekly decline since July 2002, while the FTSE 250 dropped 2 ...
by Elaine Frei
The pound was weaker in relation to the euro and the dollar again Friday after UBS (NYSE: UBS; SWX: UBSN; TYO: 8657) forecast that the second half of the year will bring recession to the UK economy.
More declines in house prices and yesterday’s decision by the Bank of England to hold interest rates steady also hurt the UK currency, but ...
by Kay Murchie
The pub trade has had a traumatic year due to the smoking ban, cheap booze in supermarkets and the credit crunch.
However, budget beer pubs group JD Weatherspoon said it has experienced its busiest ever August with like-for-like sales up 1.1% and total sales 5.5% up for the five weeks to 31 August.
Tim Martin, the pub group’s chairman and founder, ...
by Kay Murchie
The cut back in consumer spending has hit HMV, the music, DVD, games and books retailer, after it said underlying sales had continued to grow but at a slower pace.
The retailer, which has completed the first year of its three-year turnaround plan, said sales on a same-store basis gained 11.4% in the last financial year, just 4.3% ahead ...
by Kay Murchie
According to a study, the cost of food has risen 8.3% since the start of the year.
Retail analysts, Verdict Research who carried out the study for the BBC, discovered that meat and fish are up 22.9% while fresh fruit and vegetables rose 14.7% since January.
Store-cupboard items such as tinned foods increased by 15%, while a 125g packet of ham ...
September 4, 2008
by Elaine Frei
Crude oil prices were lower Thursday despite new inventories numbers from the US Energy Information Administration which showed that stockpiles of oil, gasoline, and distillates were all lower last week.
Inventories of crude oil were down 1.9 million barrels in the week ending 29 August, while gasoline stockpiles dropped by 1 million barrels to 194.4 million barrels and distillates in storage were ...
by Kay Murchie
US and European shares have plummeted today due to fears of the US economy and a slowing Eurozone.
Official figures revealed that unemployment increased to a five-year high as jobs are being slashed due to the global economic downturn.
The US Labour Department said the number of Americans claiming unemployment benefits increased by 15,000 to 444,000 in the week ended 30 August.
The ...
by Kay Murchie
A report by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has revealed that Britons continue to rein in their spending as new car sales have fallen to the lowest level in over 40 years.
New car registrations were down 18.6% to 63,225 in August compared with the same period last year with the worst hit being Aston Martin, ...
by Elaine Frei
European equities markets were lower Thursday after both the European Central Bank and the Bank of England held interest rates steady and investors continued to worry about slow economic growth.
ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet fed worries with his comments that Eurozone economic activity is “weak” even as he cautioned that inflation is still the Bank’s focus, while an ECB cut in its ...
by Elaine Frei
The euro was weaker and the pound saw gains Thursday after the European Central Bank and the Bank of England both held interest rates steady for another month at 4.25 percent and 5 percent respectively.
The euro was hurt by comments from the ECB’s president calling Eurozone economic activity “weak”, as well as by a cut in ECB projections for economic growth ...
September 3, 2008
by Elaine Frei
Crude oil prices fell again Wednesday as oil companies got ready to restart operations after shutdowns ahead of Hurricane Gustav and on predictions that demand will continue to decline in the United States and elsewhere.
West Texas Intermediate crude October contracts dropped 40 cents to $109.31 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after dropping as low as $107.22 per barrel ...
by Elaine Frei
Equities markets in Europe were lower Wednesday as worries about the state of the global economy and economies in the region continued.
In London, the FTSE 100 was down 2.15 percent to 5,499.7 while the FTSE 250 dropped 1.82 percent to 9,369.7.
Pubs operators were lower, led by Punch Taverns (LSE: PUB) which had the worst performance on the 250 with a decline of ...
by Elaine Frei
The euro was weaker Wednesday on new numbers showing that business investment in Europe was down 1.2 percent and that retail sales dropped 0.4 percent in July on household spending that was 0.2 percent lower.
In late morning trade in New York, the greenback traded at $1.4452 to the euro while the shared currency was worth ¥156.7590 and it took ¥108.4650 to buy ...
September 2, 2008
by Elaine Frei
Crude oil prices fell substantially Tuesday after Hurricane Gustav passed through the Gulf of Mexico and made landfall on the US Gulf Coast without doing much damage to oil facilities in the region over the Labor Day holiday weekend in the United States and as the US dollar strengthened versus the euro.
Almost all activity on offshore oil and gas platforms in ...
by Elaine Frei
European equities markets saw gains Tuesday as crude oil prices fell substantially, sending airlines and other travel-related shares and retail shares higher as consumers are expected to have more money to spend.
In London, the FTSE 100 added 0.32 percent to 5,620.7 while the FTSE 250 gained 1.43 percent to 9,543.6.
Home builders were higher after Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced a ...
by Elaine Frei
The pound was weaker Tuesday on continuing speculation that the UK is close to recession as new data showed that manufacturing continues to contract there and that mortgage approvals fell again in the latest data.
The pound was also hurt by news that the government will suspend the stamp duty on UK homes costing less than £175,000, with the tax relief to ...
by Kay Murchie
Virgin Atlantic founder and president, Sir Richard Branson, has confirmed his interest in being part of a consortium of airlines and external investors to launch a £2 billion bid to buy Gatwick Airport, London‘s second largest airport.
Sir Richard said the time had come for Britain's airports to be run by airlines focused on customer service rather than being ...
August 29, 2008
by Kay Murchie
Transatlantic airline, Zoom, has become the latest airline to collapse blaming the economic downturn and soaring aviation fuel costs.
The airline has axed all its flights leaving thousands of passengers stranded. The airline has told passengers that it has gone bankrupt and there will be no more flights.
It did, however, say that British Airways and Virgin Atlantic were offering ...
August 28, 2008
by Elaine Frei
Crude oil prices were lower after early gains Thursday as the International Energy Agency said it will release emergency reserves of oil if Tropical Storm Gustav regains hurricane status and damages Gulf of Mexico oil facilities.
Despite uncertainty about what path the storm will take, a number of oil companies have already begun to evacuate offshore facilities as a precaution.
After going above ...
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