...the main headlines..........
Asian central banks act to stem currency declines
A number of Asian central banks intervened heavily in the foreign exchange markets yesterday, to try to stem sharp declines in their currencies, reported The Times. Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and India made “noticeable” efforts to halt the declines by selling dollars, according to traders, in the wake of political unrest and falling stock markets. Soaring inflation has led to demonstrations over increasing food prices in the region as well as the poor performance of equity markets.
In pictures: the world food crisis
UK worst in G7 says OECD
Britain is the worst-placed among the world’s top economies to withstand a global recession, and the only one expected to be in recession this year, according to a report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. It forecasts the UK economy will contract 0.075 per cent in the third quarter and 0.1 per cent in the fourth, primarily as a result of the sharp downturn in the housing market. The good news is that the slowdown will put a dampener on rising inflation.
The Mole: Labour's 'reverse Midas touch' exposed by grim OECD forecast
Australian growth weakest in more than 3 years
Australia’s economic growth slowed to its weakest level in more than three years, with a 0.3 per cent rise in the second quarter over the first, a 2.7 per cent year on year increase. Analysts were expecting a higher number and the release also hit the Australian dollar, which is trading at its lowest level for a year. Investors expect yesterday’s interest rate cut not to be the last, with the majority believing that the next central bank decision in October will be to reduce the benchmark rate again.
Property slump goes global
The housing market weakness that has affected the US and UK is now starting to spread across the rest of the world, according to a report by property group Knight Frank. New Zealand, Denmark and Lithuania are the latest to join a group including the UK, US, Japan, Germany and Ireland in seeing house prices drop. The sharpest fall is in Latvia, where house prices have collapsed 24.1 per cent over the past year, while growth is only accelerating in Bulgaria, Slovakia, Cyprus and the Czech republic.
Why Sheila Bair is America's most powerful woman
Hedge group closes flagship fund
Ospraie Management is to shut its flagship fund and return money to investors after it suffered “heavy losses” last month, said the Financial Times. The fund lost 26.7 per cent of its value in August and was down 38.6 per cent on the year. Its problems have been caused by the commodities sell-off and rather than become overwhelmed by redemptions, the company decided to “conduct an orderly disposal” of the fund’s holdings. The group still manages $4bn and is part-owned by Lehman Brothers, which has a 20 per cent stake.
DSG victim of slowdown
Electronics group DSG International said that its like for like sales dropped by 7 per cent in the UK and Ireland and across all the group's business areas. The retailer's computing arm - PC World - fared worse than the average, with revenues down 12 per cent in the 16 weeks ending August 23rd. Gross margins across the company were down 0.75 per cent year on year. It was also announced that Sir John Collins, the group's chairman, would retire at the 2009 AGM, after 6 years at the helm.
...in brief..................
UK confidence at low and Punch dividend scrapped
UK consumer confidence is at its lowest level in four years, according to a survey by the Nationwide Building Society. In August the index remained at 52, the lowest since the survey began in 2004. The news comes ahead of a BOE rate decision tomorrow…………
Two activist hedge funds – Atticus Capital and The Children’s Investment Fund – have threatened to push for removal of the management of Deutsche Borse, Germany’s stock exchange. Atticus in particular is unhappy with its takeover of the US options market last year…………
Not content with its high profile move into football, Abu Dhabi’s government plans to become one of the world’s biggest film producers, reported the Financial Times. With funding of $1 billion it will “back up to eight films a year” in both Hollywood and Bollywood…………
Sulaiman al-Fahim, a rival for Abramovich
Coca-Cola agreed to buy China’s Huiyuan Juice group for HK$17.9 billion, doubling its market share in the country. The drinks company is paying a 200 per cent premium to Huiyuan’s last closing price, showing its desire to increase its overseas revenues…………
There is speculation that Apple is about to launch new models in its iPod range, as part of the run-up to Christmas, says The Daily Telegraph. The company is planning upcoming events entitled “Let’s Rock”, which are expected to unveil new iPod Touch and Nano models…………
Google enters the 'Browser Wars'
When Steve Jobs sneezes, Apple catches a cold
Pub operator Punch Taverns told investors this morning that it has scrapped its final dividend to help pay down debt and improve its balance sheet. The group, with 8.400 pubs across the UK, did say that it expects full year profits to meet expectations…………