During the Asian session, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) left their base interest rate on hold at 2.5%. The central bank expects firmer growth for the final quarter of the year and into 2013, with the markets expecting no further interest rate cuts, the Kiwi Dollar rallied following the release. UK GDP is released at 9:30am (London) and is expected to show expansion, and that the economy has pulled out of recession. David Cameron has come under fire from the opposition for a su…

Overnight the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) release its minutes from the October 2nd meeting, when the central bank cut rates by from 3.50% to 3.25%. The dovish tone of the minutes noted of the expected weaker growth next year and the decline in appetite for business spending. The strength of the Aussie was also highlighted as it remains high by historical standards. AUDUSD dropped following the release around 20 pips, but the minutes had no further detail or surprises the cross retraced t…

Another week begins and it is the first trading day of the week. Chinese data released on Saturday was better than expected giving Asian markets a lift from the open. However sentiment faded as markets focused on the continuing uncertainty in Europe. It is thought that Virgin Money may purchase the 316 RBS branches that need to be sold by the end of the year. Under the European regulations the bailout conditions stipulate that RBS must sell the branches by year end or incur large fines…

Goldman Sachs's Cohn sees slim chance Euro countries will stick together - Bloomberg RBS raises $1.3bn in Direct Line IPO Telefonica said to get $5.5bn dividend before German initial offer – Bloomberg S&P’s downgraded Spain’s sovereign debt ratings to BBB- from BBB+, with a negative outlook Australia's unemployment rate rose to an almost two-and-a-half-year high of 5.4% in September…

BP’s billionaire partners in RNK-BP say they want to sell or list their 50% stake in the business – Financial Times BP sells off its Texas City assets for $2.5bn, severing ties with the refinery where 15 people were killed in 2005 -CityAM Moody’s downgraded Cyprus’s government bond ratings to B3 from Ba3, negative outlook State Street and Bank of NY Mellon will charge depositors interest to hold Swiss francs and Danish Kroner – Bloomberg…

Regulator warns on big four accountancy firms alumni, contributing to stifling competition -Financial Times Libor is currently being set by a smaller group of banks (Bank of America, Citigroup, Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ, Royal Bank of Canada, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Lloyds Banking Group) impairing the rate further –Bloomberg George Osborne Chancellor of the Exchequer will find out the full list of candidates to replace Mervyn King from (I assume Bob Diamond w…

Analysts and traders have been eyeing the slowdown of China as the source of the next financial crisis for many years. The Chinese economy has grown at envious levels to all in the west for well over a decade. As the western economies have gone into melt down, China has continued to demand raw materials, at an unprecedented level and produced low costs goods, with its cheap labour force. The PBOC has come under criticism for holding the exchange rate artificially low to remain competit…

As expected the curtain fell on JJB Sports, with 2,200 redundancies and 133 shop closures. The remaining units have been sold to Sports Direct. The company had been on the brink of collapse for some time; with the share price collapsing after the company put itself up for sale. It is a blow for the high street as another chain has gone bust which will leave further empty units in the UK. The Reserve Bank of Australia cut its interest rates overnight by 25bps to 3.25% which was only pre…

Chinese official PMI improved to 49.8 in Sep from 49.2 in Aug Fitch Ratings on Friday maintained Britain’s “AAA” credit rating with a negative outlook, warning that weak economic growth and a rising debt level was increasing the likelihood of a downgrade The board of Xstrata has recommended a £52bn all-share merger with Glencore - Daily Telegraph Greece will receive the next aid tranche even though the troika report uncovers some failure and offer th…

State backed Royal Bank of Scotland is the front page of the business press this morning after further details emerged from the Tan Chi Man case in Singapore. He is the senior trader who was dismissed for gross misconduct, but is suing RBS on the basis he was simply the scapegoat of a widespread problem. Details emerged that senior traders at RBS boasted about operating a “cartel” that made “amazing” amounts of money by rigging the global interest rates. Analysts are…

Overnight Asian markets fell as investors showed concern over central bank stimulus from the EU, Asia and the US, will not be enough to increase global growth. Benchmark indices across Asia fell with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index down around 1.5%. The Chinese economy has fuelled global demand through imports of raw materials for development and exports of cheap goods from low cost labour. Analysts are concerned that a Chinese hard landing could be the sucker punch to global growth over the nex…

In a worrying sign for the mining industry, Caterpillar the world’s biggest construction and mining equipment maker has cut is forecast for 2015 earnings. With Chinese demand slowing, commodity producers have reduced their capital expenditure, which will impact Caterpillars outlook. The shortfall in Apple iPhone5 units available for the first week of demand (only selling a record breaking 5 million) has been blamed on the use of thinner touch screen. The shortfall of the componen…

It is a miserable wet, cold and windy day in the City of London, and I feel that a rubber dingy would have been a more appropriate method of transport to get into the office. Investors are awaiting Thursday’s release of the Oliver Wyman investigation into the Spanish banking sector. The report has independently covered 14 banking groups, with an estimated figure for a required bailout of €60bn. Currently Spain has earmarked €100bn to recapitalise the Spanish banks, but…

It’s the final trading session of the week in Europe and if you are one of the Apple faithful then you might have been queuing outside an Apple store overnight awaiting the iPhone 5 release. With pre orders topping $2 million, Apple has already released a statement stating that some clients will be unable to purchase the new smart phone until the end of October. It is a problem, that many companies would love to have, being unable to meet the demand upon release of a new product, with…