Taiwan’s economy has contracted in the second quarter by 0.16 percent, according to official data. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had expected it to grow by as much as 0.5 percent. “With deteriorating of European debt crisis and slowdown in major economies, the global demand is expected to decelerate and the outlook of world trade in 2012 is fragile,” according to a statement by the Taiwan statistics and budget authority. The growth prospect for 2012 has been brought down to 2.1 percent from a previous estimate of three percent. In the first quarter the Taiwanese economy grew 0.4 percent. The central bank is taking measures to encourage...
Lending by German banks to weaker parts of the eurozone has dropped to nearly 20 percent since the beginning of the year and is currently at its lowest level since 2005, according to central bank data. A total of €55bn less in net loans were granted to Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain by German banks between January and late May this year, according to Morgan Stanley’s analysis of Bundesbank figures. Only €241bn of loans were granted. There has been a trend for German and French banks to retrench their cross-border exposure since mid-2010, but the new figures suggest that the process of domestic market bias has sped up. The ...
Spain’s unemployment rate has risen once again to 24.6 percent in the three months to June, despite a small decline at the beginning of the summer attributed to temporary positions linked to the holiday trade, according to the National Statistic Institute. Half of those under the age of 26 and available for work are unemployed, according to Eurostat. It is the highest figure since records began in 1976. Businesses have been cutting more staff amid fears of an enduring recession and a crisis of confidence amongst consumers. The Spanish economy has been stagnated or in recession since 2008, when the property sector deteriorated when a surge o...
Brazilian iron ore giant Vale has reported a quarterly drop in net income of 59 percent as slow growth in China has affected iron ore prices. Further foreign exchange losses were triggered by a weak Brazilian real. The world’s largest iron ore miner has recorded a second quarter net income of $2.66bn, equivalent to 52 cents a shares, down from $6.45bn, or $1.22. Results were lower than the market analyst forecast 73 cents per-share profits. The drop in profit is being attributed to China’s growth of 7.6 percent in the three months, the slowest in three years. It accounts for around a third of Vale’s sales, and now the miner is counting ...
Apple, currently the most valuable public company in the world, has missed growth forecasts in the third quarter of the fiscal year as the public held out for the release of their new iPhone. After selling 26 million iPhones in the three months to June 30, Apple recorded a 28 percent increase on the same period last year. It is a notable slowdown in the growth rate over recent quarters, which has sent its shares plummeting under $600 in after hours trading. “iPhone sales continue to be impacted by rumour and speculation around new products,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s chief financial officer. Apple gossip website MacRumors, current...
The World Trade Organisation has announced it will be investigating China’s quotas and tariffs on exported tungsten and molybdenum following complaints by the US, the EU and Japan that it might be breaking global trade rules. Over 90 percent of the world’s rare earths are produced in China; they are 17 key metallic elements used in defence, renewable energy and electronics worldwide. China has stated that the curbs are designed to protect their shrinking natural resources and the environment. In July 2010 China reduced domestic output and export quotas by 40 percent, adding pressure to an already strained relationship with the US and Japa...
Policy makers have stepped up plans to stimulate the real estate market and entice more buyers after the country registered tentative demands and want to prevent further wavering domestic growth. The debt-to income ratio, which monitors the type of mortgage loan imposed by banks, is due to be incremented to meet the needs of borrowers, amid aims to boost the local housing market. The moves come after the central bank cut its benchmark interest rate for the first time in more than three years on 12 July, in retaliation to EU monetary concerns, stagnant growth in employment in the US and overall economic slowdown in neighbouring China. Accordin...
In the last five months, the US has lost around 100m tonnes of crops, predominately in South America and the US grain belt, an area which has been struggling with over 37.C degree (100F) temperatures. Maize prices have risen by 40 percent and soya bean by 25 percent. These crops are then converted into other food stuffs, like animal feed, which consequently results in higher meat prices. The US is the biggest producers of corn and as costs surged to record highs on Thursday, serious concerns have been sparked among economists and traders that there will be a detrimental effect on developing countries. The government has had to cut its yearl...
The change comes after the Hong Kong market watchdog, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), threatened to move in on investment banks if they allowed any false information about the companies to float on the exchange. Recent difficulties with companies like KXD Digital Entertainment, which had breached a string of rules including failure to disclose it had ceased business operations, have led the market to tighten up regulations to ensure it remains attractive for large firms to go public in. The new rules take effect on August 10, and companies who wish to trade on the SGX must now have a listing of at least S$150, ($119.2m) and prove...
In his opening statement to a committee in Congress yesterday, Bernanke said the bleak issues must be dealt with “sooner rather than later.” “We are looking very carefully at the economy, trying to judge whether or not the loss of momentum we’ve seen recently is enduring, and whether or not the economy is likely to continue to make progress,” he said to Washington. “The most effective way that Congress could help to support the economy right now would be to work to address the nation’s fiscal challenges in a way that takes into account both the need for long-run sustainability and the fragility of the recovery.” Bernanke said ...