Markets news on stocks, currencies and oil; Shares plunged after the US Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index which had been on the rise for three consecutive months, was reported to have declined sharply in June. The Index now stands at 52.9 (1985=100), down from 62.7 in May.
The US Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index which had been on the rise for three consecutive months, declined sharply in June. The Index now stands at 52.9 (1985=100), down from 62.7 in May. The Present Situation Index decreased to 25.5 from 29.8. The Expectations Index declined to 71.2 from 84.6 last month.
Data through April 2010, released today by Standard & Poor’s for its S&P/Case-Shiller1 Home Price Indices, show that annual growth rates of all 20 MSAs (metropolitan statistical areas) and the 10- and 20-City Composites improved in April compared to March 2010. However prices show no signs of sustained recovery.
Irish consumer sentiment in June reached strongest level since October 2007. The overall KBC Ireland/ESRI Consumer Sentiment Index increased in June to 65.3. This compares to a figure of 65.3 in May and at its all time low in July 2008 when the index was at 39.6.
The Business Climate Indicator for the Eurozone remained unchanged in June after 14 months of uninterrupted improvement. The Economic Sentiment Indicator also remained unchanged.
Markets news on stocks, currencies and commodities; European businesses in China concerned about rising labour costs, competition with domestic rivals; Google makes new proposal to Chinese authorities.
Eurozone retail sales fell for sixth month running in June and the survey data from Markit signalled that business conditions continued to worsen in the Eurozone retail sector, but that the downturn was easing.
Principal news stories from the Irish Independent, Irish Times, Irish Examiner, Financial Times and New York Times.
Credit and debt are essentials of the modern economy but as my mother used to say, life is often either a feast or a famine and we are closer to the latter now.
The German export intensive electrical engineering industry in the long-term will depend on growing demand from Asia’s emerging markets according to Deutsche Bank Research.
Markets news on stocks, currencies and oil; bank lending to the private sector in the Eurozone rose slightly in May.
The overall tax-to-GDP ratio in the EU27 was 39.3% in 2008, the first year of the economic and financial crisis, compared with 39.7% in 2007. The EU27 tax ratio was 40.6% in 2000, fell to 38.9% in 2004 and then rose until 2007. The ratio is more than one third above the levels recorded in [...]
In 2009, the price level of a comparable basket of food and non-alcoholic beverages was more than twice as high in the most expensive EU27 Member State than in the cheapest one. Denmark was 39% above the EU27 average and had the highest price level for food and non-alcoholic beverages in the EU27 in 2009. [...]
US consumer spending rose 0.2% last month from April after a flat result in the prior month, the Commerce Department said today. Incomes rose 0.4% in May, helped by slow improvements in the jobs market.
Markets news on stocks, currencies and commodities; Data to show Ireland exited recession in Q1; Greece to return to bond markets; US investigating Afghan air shipments from Kabul Airport of $3bn in cash.
Principal news stories from the Irish Independent, Irish Times, Irish Examiner, Financial Times and New York Times.
The euro’s value is forecast to slip further over the next 12 months, more than two-thirds of the world’s senior bankers, hedge funds and private-equity managers said in a RBC Capital Markets survey. Separately, a report published last week says a new global reserve currency is required to replace the fraying dollar.
G-20 Summit: Leaders of the world’s biggest economies agreed on Sunday on a timetable for cutting their deficits and stemming the growth of their public debt, despite the Obama administration’s concern that cutting spending could imperil the fragile global recovery that is currently underway. The leaders also supported higher capital demands for banks.
US Financial Reform: Half a loaf is better than no bread and the almost 2,000-page Dodd-Frank financial reform bill, agreed on Friday by a conference of the US Senate and House of Representatives and now set to be voted on by the US Congress, will trigger changes much less radical than the Depression-era 34-page Glass-Steagall [...]
The Minister for Technology and Innovation, Conor Lenihan TD, today launched a new guide aimed at helping firms in the life science sector to partner with college researchers in the creation of ‘smart’ jobs.
The G-20 Toronto Summit (June 26/27) will focus on recovery from the global economic and financial crisis. While high- -income countries have been languishing in the worst recession since the 1930s, China and India have continued to power ahead. This is not a single standalone event, but a sign of an important structural transformation in [...]
US real gross domestic product (GDP) was revised down to an annualized rate of 2.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2010 after increasing 5.6 per cent in the fourth quarter, according to estimates released Friday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
The impact of the closure of Irish airspace due to volcanic activity in April 2010 was reflected in the sharp decrease in trips abroad by Irish residents and also in trips to Ireland made by overseas residents. While Irish residents made 161,500 fewer trips in April 2010, 151,300 less trips were taken to Ireland by [...]
US firm Stream Global Services is to add 400 jobs at its call centre operation in Dublin.
Markets news on stocks, currencies and commodities; US banking industry may have to pay for financial reform bill, which is estimated at $19bn.
