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Mar 28, 14 •
3154 Views •
Mind The Gap •
Maria Iacob
Comments Off on UK’s trade deficit worsens and misses expectations by some distance as GDP for the UK comes in at 0.7% for the quarter
As predicted by many analysts the UK’s GDP figure for the last quarter available came in at 0.7% taking annual growth up to 2.7%. One interesting stat from the print concerns the UK saving ratio which is now at 5.1% for 2013, versus 7.3% in 2012. The...
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Mar 27, 14 •
2900 Views •
Mind The Gap •
Maria Iacob
Comments Off on UK retail sales rise by 1.7%, ahead of analysts’ expectations of 0.5%, as Ukraine gets cash loan agreement from the IMF
Despite the lacklustre retail figures over the Xmas period and the harsh (and very wet) weather experienced in January and February in the UK, retail sales have posted a very healthy increase in the latest print, courtesy of the UK’s official stats body...
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Mar 26, 14 •
2981 Views •
Mind The Gap •
Maria Iacob
Comments Off on European bourses open in positive territory as UK government sells tranche in partly state owned bank
In the overnight-early morning session the focus was mainly on the speech given by the RBS governor Stevens in which he delivered a very upbeat narrative on the state of the Australian economy causing the Aussie indices to rise significantly and the Aussie to...
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Mar 25, 14 •
2805 Views •
Mind The Gap •
Maria Iacob
Comments Off on UK inflation reaches five year low as UK house prices reach five year high
From the Conference Board overnight we received the latest print regarding China’s economic performance with the LEI showing a reading of 282.4, up by 0.9 on the month. From the UK the latest inflation figures are in showing that the UK’s CPI...
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Mar 24, 14 •
3124 Views •
Mind The Gap •
Maria Iacob
Comments Off on France leads the way with a sharp increase in its Markit Economics Composite
There was mixed news regarding the various European Markit Economics PMIs that have been published this morning. The French Composite PMI reading for services and manufacturing has grown significantly, the print came in at 51.6, the rate of expansion was the...
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Mar 21, 14 •
3153 Views •
Mind The Gap •
Maria Iacob
Comments Off on USA banks pass stress tests, Fitch affirms USA AAA rating whilst Euro area balance of payments improves
The US Federal Reserve published some encouraging news as it stated yesterday evening that nearly all major US banks can survive a market crash; 29 out of 30. All of the big banks with the exception of Zions Bancorp stayed above the 5% requirement for...
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Mar 20, 14 •
3110 Views •
Mind The Gap •
Maria Iacob
Comments Off on Swiss central bank leaves both its base rate unchanged and its exchange rate with the euro, as New Zealand’s GDP grows 0.9%
In the overnight session very positive news came courtesy of the New Zealand’s stats office as the economy enjoyed a 0.9% rise over the quarter up to December 2013. In Europe Germany published its latest producer prices showing a fall of 0.9% year on...
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Mar 19, 14 •
2943 Views •
Mind The Gap •
Maria Iacob
Comments Off on UK’s unemployment rate stays at 7.2% whilst investors look towards the UK’s annual budget statement and the FOMC meeting to be chaired by Janet Yellen
The UK’s unemployment count was published earlier this morning and it revealed that the unemployment rate remained the same at 7.2%, this despite more persons being employed although there was a marked drop in the amount of full time employees, versus...
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Mar 18, 14 •
3865 Views •
Mind The Gap •
Maria Iacob
1 Comment
Overnight the RBA published its recent policy meeting minutes in which it committed to more of the same whilst noting the slight weakness reappearing in the USA economy. However, analysts and investors failed to take anything contained in the report as an...
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Mar 17, 14 •
3216 Views •
Mind The Gap •
Maria Iacob
Comments Off on UK house prices increase, consumer confidence improves in New Zealand
In the UK the news that the property market is beginning to fire on all cylinders was re enforced by two news items, firstly there is a return to what’s termed gazumping and secondly prices in the London capital, according to Rightmove, have reached a...