Japan’s manufacturing activity dropped to a two-year low in March and posted its sharpest decline since records began in October 2001, a survey showed today. The disruption of production operation and supply chains caused by the earthquake and tsunami devastation caused the index of purchasing managers to fall to 46.4 from 52.9 in February, according…
OPEC, the crude oil producer’s cartel, could this year for the first time ever bank $1trn in export revenue if crude oil prices maintain their 100 bbl, the IEA said. Brent Light Crude traded at 115 bbl on the ICE exchange London while the US traded above $104 yesterday. Amid the MENA uprisings the company’s cartel…
Leading plumbing and construction supplier Wolseley saw its shares climb 3.8 percent and top the key gainers on the FTSE 100 this morning following the release of its results. The company posted half year net profit figures of $213m and said that trading across its networks improved, which will allow it to resume paying a…
Oil has retreated with Brent slipping below $115 after Libyan rebels regained control of key oil towns, and unrest over the weekend was limited to minor crude exporters Syria and Yemen. Western-led military intervention in Libya prompted speculators to raise their bets on higher prices by 6 percent in mid-March, before rebels took back a…
For the first time in three days the FTSE Asia Pacific index has fallen 0.4 percent, while the Nikkei stock average fell 0.57 percent or 57.60 to 9578.53. Renewed worry about high levels of radiation at Japan’s nuclear power plant in Fukushima has again put Asia Pacific shares under pressure with radiation levels said to…
Listening to Jose Carlos de Vasconcellos talk about Rio de Janeiro’s property market is like being transported back to the bubble days in the US or Europe. The 60-year-old, who came out of retirement to join Brazil’s swelling ranks of real estate brokers, is convinced that property in the beachside city is a one-way bet…
Britain has cut its economic growth forecast and said inflation would remain above target this year and next in a budget that stuck to ambitious deficit-busting goals. Seeking to support a faltering economy, finance minister George Osborne said corporation tax would be cut by two percentage points to 26 percent from April, rather than by…
The leader of the populist True Finns party, vying for a key role in the next Finnish government, has said he would demand to renegotiate a package of EU measures to tackle the euro zone debt crisis. “Considering the current preliminary information… we will not accept it,” Timo Soini told Reuters in a telephone interview….
European private equity firm Cinven has kicked off a fundraising drive for its fifth buyout fund, aiming to gather up to 5bn euro ($7.1bn) for new deals, people familiar with the situation said. The buyout firm, whose investments include Pizza Express group Gondola Holdings and Dutch cable operator Ziggo, is hoping to buck tough fundraising…
The leader of the populist True Finns party, vying for a key role in the next Finnish government, has said he would demand to renegotiate a package of EU measures to tackle the euro zone debt crisis. “Considering the current preliminary information… we will not accept it,” Timo Soini told Reuters in a telephone interview….
