Vodafone Group Plc., the second-biggest telecommunications company in the world, announced a 4.2% drop in its Q2 sales, however, economists forecasted a 4.4% decrease. Total service revenue reached 9.4 billion pounds. Africa and Asia markets rose, while sales in Europe are still falling. This morning, Vodafone Group Plc equities are rising 2.8% to 203.4 pence by 8:20 GMT in London.
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, the biggest state-owned bank in the U.K., registered a significant increase in profit for work in the first half of this year. As expected, pretax income advanced to 2.65 billion pounds in Q1-Q2 of 2014. The bank also targets to save 1 billion pounds by the end of this year. Today, the corporation's
In July business confidence in Germany decreased to its lowest level in 2014. This is the third release in a row recording a drop in morale. German Ifo business climate is measured by the expectations and current situation of seven thousand executives. The value released was 108 points, a drop from 109.7 in the previous month.
The Kiwi has had the worst performance of all the major currencies in the last 24-hours and has declined 1.4% against the USD. With the RBNZ raising its cash rate to 3.50% it affirmed that the officials will wait to see the impact of recent hikes. Moreover, the bank stated that the current level of the New Zealand Dollar is
Asian stocks went up with the regional benchmark index advancing for the 10th time in eleven weeks as earning from companies boosted investor confidence. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.2% to 148.69 while Japan's Topix went up 0.9%. Sout Korea's Kospi Index advanced 0.4%, but Hong Kong's Hang Seng was little changed.
European leaders made known on Wednesday that on 1st of January Lithuania will become the 19th country to start using Euro. It is the last of the Baltic states to do so after both Estonia and Latvia. Furthermore, the EC set forth the Lithuanian litas exchange rate at 3.45280 for the change. This also marks a change in the ECB where votes will be divided depending
The Greenback is getting close to its highest value in two and a half weeks. This was caused by slower inflation in Japan and increased demand for the US Dollar, due to the favourable unemployment claims data released on Thursday. The Dollar consolidated at 101.75 versus the Yen, with support level at Thursday's low and resistance level at the two-and-a-half
Gold is moving towards its second weekly loss as the increasing economic growth curbs demand for the haven investment metal. December futures were traded at at $1,293.30 per ounce on the Comex from $1,292.70. Victor Thianpiriya said that gold fell through the barrier of $1,300 and positive economic data has dampened the gold market ever further.
US stocks remained flat as earnings showed both positive and negative signs for the economy. The company stocks experienced sharp moves in either direction due to earnings such as Facebook leaping 5.2% or Amazon.com plummeting by 9.7%. However, moves in both directions evened out and the indexes stood still with only the S&P 500 ending on another record high.
The Sterling is holding steady against the US Dollar after seven consecutive sessions of downfall. As traders wait for the GDP data to be released, in regard to UK's second quarter, the Cable is sitting at 1.6985, close to the lowest price in one month, which reflects disappointing UK retail sales and surprisingly good unemployment claims in the US.
UK's economy is on the verge of growing larger than recorded before 2008. GDP was forecast at the same speed as in the first quarter, this way revealing a 0.8% expansion, during the period from April to June. This year's growth is estimated to be 3.1%, making it the strongest pace since the end of 2007.
The Dollar headed for its second weekly gain against the Euro as U.S. economists said that durable goods recovered in June, explaining that the economy is expanding. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose to its monthly high before the reports showing the U.S. economy's expansion and increased payrolls. The Dollar was little changed at $1,3468 after advancing 4% this week.
Japan's inflation in June slowed as Haruhiko Kuroda's actions move it towards the bank's target. CPI, excluding fresh food, went up 3.3% after a 3.4% gain. Kuroda said inflation will slow down in the next months before accelerating to the Bank of Japan's goal of 2% by this year. Overall inflation was 3.6% and 2.3% excluding energy and perishables, while
The Department of Labor in the US released information concerning jobless claims which indicated that only 284K unemployment benefits applications were filled. This represents a decrease of 19K unemployment claims when compared to the preceding month. A survey by Bloomberg including 50 economists revealed that the median forecast accounted for 307K jobless claims.
The Swiss National Bank will keep the 1.20 per euro cap since they want to keep prices stable in the foreseeable future. SNB Chairman Thomas Jordan argued in an interview that the cap is their main policy tool seeing as price development is their primary concern. SNB has already expressed their willingness to stick to the cap in response to the recent ECB easing.
As a result of a disappointing 0.1% rise in retail sales in the UK, the Cable dropped to the lowest value in one month, corresponding to a decrease of 0.18% to 1.7014. This also caused the Euro to rise against the Pound by 0.28%, recovering from a 22-month low from 0.7873 to 0.7922, also supported by manufacturing PMI growth.
South Korea revealed its plans to inject 11.7 trillion won to strengthen the economy after growth slowed down to the weakest pace since the beginning of 2013. The country is ready to deploy funds from the current year's budget and increase the deployment of cash from governmental programs. The government and the BoK are determined to overturn the weak sentiment.
According to the International Monetary Fund, the US economy is expected to grow 1.7% this year, representing a cut from last month's forecast of 2% growth. The decline in growth predictions ought to add to the subsequent drooping in the labour market for the following years. The IMF also advised the US to better wage distribution.
During the month of June retail sales rose by 0.1% in the United Kingdom. However, this increase was unsatisfactory compared to its forecast. After the release, the Sterling extended losses versus the Dollar, dropping by 0.16% from 1.7040 to 1.7018. In the meantime, European stocks were varied. Euro Stoxx 50 climbed 0.4%, FTSE 100 dropped 0.1% and DAX rose by
In the Euro zone, manufacturing activity inched up from the previous month. Manufacturing PMI in July expanded to 51.9, indicating a timid increment compared to 51.8 in June. Still, analysts had forecast a decrease to 51.7. Meanwhile, services PMI surprisingly rose to 54.4 from last month's 52.8, exceeding analysts' forecast of 52.7. Following this release, the Euro rose 0.05% to
After the release of flash Manufacturing and Services PMI for both France and Germany, European stock markets fell. This drop occurred before the PMI regarding the Euro zone was released. Flash Manufacturing and Services PMIs are predicted to decrease to 51.7 and 52.7 respectively. Euro Stoxx 50 declined by 0.27%, DAX was down by 0.44% and FTSE 100 lost 0.26%.
Data from Markit business survey revealed that Manufacturing PMI rose from 52.0 to 52.9, while Services PMI hit its highest value in thirty seven months, increasing from 54.6 to 56.6. Both indexes had been forecast shy of their actual values. These values were buoyed by low interest rates and CPI.
In France, manufacturing sector contracted to the lowest level in seven months. Manufacturing PMI dropped from 48.2 in June to 47.6 in July. It had been forecast to be at 48.1, therefore being inferior to what analysts expected. However, the Services PMI increased from 48.2 to 50.4 this month. Values over 50 show industry growth, if below, they show contraction.
Asian stocks were traded close to a six-year high as the Chinese manufacturing gauge reached its strongest level in 18 months. The MSCI Asia Pacific was little changed at 148.49, but the gauge closed yesterday at its highest level since 2008. Shanghai Composite Index went up 1.3% while Hang Seng China Enterprises Index increased 1%. Japan's Topix dropped 0.2% and