Spanish unions test appetite for unrest with one-day strike June 8, 2010 SPANISH public sector workers staged a one-day protest at planned wage cuts yesterday, in a move to test whether unions will be able to muster a full-blown general strike. Civil servants banged drums and chanted anti-government slogans in a stand against a five per cent salary reduction this year, to be followed by a pay [...]
Austerity won’t lead to a double-dip June 22, 2010 RESEARCH DIRECTOR, FOREX.COM JANE FOLEY The pivotal question in the run-up to yesterday’s emergency Budget was whether it would knock the economy into a double-dip recession. This debate had been raging for months – indeed, the Labour Party campaigned hard on the assertion that too much austerity too soon could tip the economy back into [...]
AT A GLANCE | KEY DETAILS OF THE STRESS TESTS July 7, 2010 The objective The stress tests aim to assess the resilience of the EU banking sector and banks’ ability to absorb further possible shocks on credit and market risks, including sovereign risks, and to assess their current dependence on taxpayer support measures. How the tests will work The programme will be conducted on a bank-by-bank basis [...]
ECB defends bond-buying programme June 10, 2010 JEAN-CLAUDE TRICHET, president of the European Central Bank (ECB), yesterday staunchly defended the central bank’s decision to buy government bonds and said the ECB would extend its liquidity support measures. He said: “It’s appropriate to continue to do what we’ve decided.” The ECB also kept interest rates at one per cent. When asked about Governing [...]
Manufacturing rebound slows July 1, 2010 A REBOUND in manufacturing slowed in June from the previous month’s 15-year high as export order growth all but ran out of steam, a survey has showed. However, employment, a lagging indicator, rose at its fastest pace since February 1995 as companies added staff to keep up with rising production. The Markit/Chartered Institute of Purchasing [...]
Manufacturing rebound slows July 1, 2010 A REBOUND in manufacturing slowed in June from the previous month’s 15-year high as export order growth all but ran out of steam, a survey has showed. However, employment, a lagging indicator, rose at its fastest pace since February 1995 as companies added staff to keep up with rising production. The Markit/Chartered Institute of Purchasing [...]
Clouds hover over the second half outlook July 5, 2010 THE last three months have seen a step-change in global markets. After a boom fuelled by fiscal stimuli, financial markets have fallen as governments plan to scale back their support, and the period has been punctuated by a flight to quality assets. So, what should contract for difference (CFD) traders concentrate on as we enter [...]
Swiss committee backs UBS deal but after referendum June 2, 2010 A KEY Swiss parliamentary committee recommended yesterday that parliament back a Swiss-US deal to bring to an end a tax row over bank UBS, increasing the chances the deal will get through. But the economic affairs and tax committee also recommended that parliament give the green light to a referendum on the deal, something that [...]
Global stocks to post good year poll finds June 24, 2010 The world’s major stock markets should trade higher a year from now but fears of a slowing economic recovery might permit only modest gains in some rich-world markets, a Reuters poll showed yesterday. Against expectations of previous quarterly Reuters polls, most stock markets from both the rich world and emerging markets are on course to [...]
Global stocks to post good year poll finds June 24, 2010 The world’s major stock markets should trade higher a year from now but fears of a slowing economic recovery might permit only modest gains in some rich-world markets, a Reuters poll showed yesterday. Against expectations of previous quarterly Reuters polls, most stock markets from both the rich world and emerging markets are on course to [...]