The government of the United Kingdom announced a sale of its stake in the county's biggest mortgage lender Lloyds Banking Group Plc for 3.2 billion pounds. About 6% or 4.28 billion shares of the bank were sold, while the price per share reached 75 pence. Despite that, the U.K. government still owns a stake in another bank, the RBS Group,
After Lawrence Summers' denial to participate in the race for Fed presidency, the Central bank's current vice-president Janet Yellen became the top candidate for taking the seat and become the first chairwoman. Markets could approve her candidacy, as she supports the QE program and may pause the tapering. Barack Obama is going to announce his choice not as earlier as
The Reserve bank of Australia's officials said on Tuesday that there still is a possibility of cutting main interest rates, if the economic conditions in the country become worse and the investment continue falling. After today's meeting the RBA decided not to change the interest rate, leaving it at 2.5%. RBA economists pointed out that slumping dollar exchange rate may
One of the leading technology companies and software developers in the world, Microsoft Corp., is introducing a new Bing searching service logo to raise an overall popularity of it. Nowadays, the leading company on this market is Google with a market share of 66.9%, while Bing holds only 17.9%. Microsoft Corp. stock prices lost 0.7% to $32.80 during the Monday's
The largest retailer in the U.S., Wal-Mart Stores Inc., is going to offer its clients a discount on new iPhones from Apple Inc. New iPhone 5C will be offered for $79 with a contract, a $20 discount from the usual price, while more exclusive iPhone 5S can be purchased for $189, $10 cheaper. At the pre-market on NYSE the Wal-Mart
Intel Corp., an American semiconductor manufacturer, announced 1100 job cuts by the end of this year, including closure of a plant in Massachusetts, where 700 jobs are supposed to be eliminated. 400 more jobs of Intel will go at its facility in New Mexico. Before the opening of the market Intel Corp. futures are trading 0.77% higher from Friday's closure,
According to the CNBC survey, two out of three economists expected Barack Obama to nominee Lawrence Summers as the new Fed chairman. Alongside, five out of six experts wanted Janet Yellen to become the new chairwoman. After Summers' quit from the race, it is forecasted that Yellen, who is currently the Fed's vice-president, will become the No.1 candidate for its
American car sales are posing for a strong advance, while the car makers can sell about 16.1 million new cars in 2014. Such a positive forecast was given by analysts from Bloomberg survey. Meanwhile, the current annual record is set on 17.4 million sales. The last time car sales in the U.S. increased for five consecutive years from 1996 to
Lawyers of the European Union notice that the United Kingdom will obviously benefit from the refusal of imposing a tax on financial transactions. This decision will allow the U.K. to attract a lot of European financial institutions to work in the country. Nowadays, only 11 EU member states approved the tax, including France and Germany, putting the U.K. into a
Many bond investors predict that the Federal Reserve will not keep its interest rates on the current low level until 2015, as volatility on bond market rises, while the U.S. economy shows signs of recovery. Moreover, it is highly expected the Fed's purchase amounts of Treasuries to be decreased by $10 billion this week, and the Central bank will not
Prices for WTI oil fall on Monday amid dropping pressure from Syria, as the U.S. agreed a plan with Russia to confiscate Syrian chemical weapons. It seems that oil supply from Syria will not decline in the nearest future. WTI futures for October slumped $106.48 per barrel, $1.73 or 1.6% less than at the end of the last week. Brent
Indian national currency increased in value versus dollar on Monday, as markets positively reacted on Lawrence Summers' announcement of being out of race for Fed's chairman seat. Moreover, the country's government bonds decreased a little, while the inflation pace reached 6.1% in August. At the moment, the rupee is trading 62.63 per dollar, 1.3% higher than at market closure time
Despite worries on the Federal Reserve's future decision about stimulus tapering, U.S. companies stockpiles inched up for the third time this year. Inventories of U.S. businesses rallied 0.4% in July, overshooting analysts' expectations of a 0.2% rise. Manufacturers' reserves increased 0.2% in July, while shipments of their products rallied 1.1%.
The Canada's Dollar declined for the second day amid speculation the Federal Reserve may begin to start stimulus tapering next week, which is expected to send the U.S. Dollar lower. The Canadian currency dropped 0.1% to C$1.0335 versus the greenback, while the U.S. retail sales advanced only by 0.2% in August.
Italian 10-year government bonds decreased for the first time in three days after Euro block's officials boosted concerns that political instability in Italy may threaten economic reforms. Portugal's government bonds plummeted for the fourth day in a row, with benchmark 10-year note yields jumping to and almost two-month high. The Italian benchmark 10-year bond yields inched up to 4.56%.
U.S. share futures traded steady after retail sales data for August was posted, while investors are preparing for the Federal Reserve meeting next week. Standard & Poor's 500 futures advanced 0.03% to 1,679.20. U.S. retails sales increased for the fifth month in a row in August, jumping 0.2% and missing economists' expectations of a 0.5% rise.
The Sterling appreciated to the highest level in seven months versus the greenback ad a government data indicating construction production advanced in July, boosting the case the U.K. economy is recovering at a faster pace. The Sterling advanced 0.3% to $1.5854 and 0.3% to 83.93 pence versus the 17-nation currency.
Olli Rehn, the economics chief of the EU said on Friday that Italian economy still faces a lot of economical risks, as the economy continues to decline. Manufacturing in the country lost 1.1% this July on the annual basis, while the GDP slump eased to 0.2% in Q2. Analysts point out that political instability may push 10-year bonds' yields even
The U.S. retail sales are anticipated to advance in August for the fifth time amid increasing demand for cars and a moderate fall in gas prices. Based on economists' expectations, American shopping appetite inched up 0.5% last month. The U.S. gasoline prices plummeted 1% per gallon and the average gas price was at $3.57 per gallon in August.
One of the main sectors of the U.K. economy continued the up-trend, adding signs to that the country's economy is recovering and expanding growth. Construction industry added 2.2% in July from a month earlier, while on the annual basis an increase was 2%. The output rose in all major construction sector like housing and commercial work. The industry accounts for
U.K. government gilts declined with U.S. Treasuries as Japanese Nikkei newspaper posted former Treasury Secretary in the U.S. Lawrence Summers potentially may be named the next Federal Reserve chairman. The yield on the U.K. benchmark 10-year bonds increased two basis points to 2.96% and the 2.25% bond maturing in September 2023 slipped 0.15 to 93.90.
The economic decline in Sweden reached 0.2% in the second quarter of this year, while the first report suggested the 0.1% decline. The annual growth shrunk even more deeply, while the economy added only 0.1% from the same period of 2013, down from the latest estimate of a 0.6% advance. Analysts explain the economic slump with weak exports data and
Taking into account the latest Bloomberg survey, investors expect from the Bank of England to increase the key interest rate in the first six months of 2015. Nowadays, the benchmark rate stand at 0.5%. BoE officials say that the easing program will continue until the unemployment rate reaches 7%. Alongside, economists think that they will have to wait at least until 2016
Japanese Yen declined against the U.S. Dollar, correcting previous profit-taking advances, following worries over the Federal Reserve may begin to taper its bond purchases next week. The Yen dropped 0.14% to ¥99.66 versus the greenback and plummeted 0.13% to ¥132.46 against the 17-nation currency, and slipped 0.18% to ¥157.55 versus the Sterling.