Posts Tagged ‘surprise’

Upswing In Chinese Lending Beats Economists’ Expectations

Chinese banks are ramping up their lending to retain the country's pace of growth in the face of a listless global economy. Chinese financial institutions issued 793.2 billion yuan ($125 billion) in May up from 682 billion yuan in the previous month, stepping up lending by 16.3 percent, according to data released Monday by the People's Bank of China . The upswing outpaced economists' expectations

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India May Be First of the BRIC Economies to Skid Back Into Junk Status

India may be the first of the so-called BRIC emerging market nations to lose its investment grade debt rating, according to a report published today by Standard & Poor's. The ratings company said India 's slowing growth and political gridlock could hamper efforts to liberalise Asia's third largest economy and potentially put its BBB- rating, which was set in April of this year, at risk of a downgrade into sub-investment grade, or junk, status. "The combination of a weakening political context for further reform, along with economic deceleration, raises the risk that the government may take modest steps backward away from economic liberalization in the event of unexpected economic shocks.

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Iata Warns Airlines of Worsening Eurozone Crisis and Oil Price Rise Risks

The International Air Transport Association (Iata) has warned the aviation industry that Europe's sovereign debt crisis will worsen and rising oil prices, coupled with political risk, could threaten to  wipe out airlines' profits over the coming year . "The biggest and most immediate risk, however, is the  crisis in the eurozone ," said Tony Tyler, director general at Iata during the Geneva-based group's annual meeting. "If it evolves into a banking crisis we could face a continent-wide recession dragging the rest of the world and our profits down

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European Crisis Live: Spanish Rescue Lifts Euro, Markets Ahead of Greek Elections

0900 BST: Italy shrinks Italian GDP is confirmed to have contracted 0.8 percent in the first three months of this year, while the year-on-year contraction was marginally wider at -1.4 precent, according to the National Statistics Office. 0855 BST: What about us? An interesting dimension to the Spanish bailout (I think most journalists are enjoying going "off message" in using this term) is the impact it may have on both Greece and Ireland

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Markets and Euro Surge after Spain’s Bank Deal

Global financial markets, the euro and shares across the world responded positively to the bailout plan of Spanish banks. The euro surged almost one percent to $1.2671 on Monday from the $1.2514 on Friday against dollar, the highest in the past few weeks.

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Can Splurging Chinese Firms Save Europe?

With the euro zone economy in crisis mode, Chinese companies have decided the time has come for a shopping spree in one of the most attractive supermarkets: debt-ridden Europe. Chinese direct investment into Europe tripled from 2006 to 2009 before tripling again last year to $10 billion, according to a Rhodium Group study published Thursday. "We need the money," European Union Trade Chief Karel De Gucht said in a speech Thursday in Brussels

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Facebook Falls Again: 3 Week Loss Is $48 Billion

Shares of Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), the No. 1 social networking site, fell nearly 2 percent on Thursday, exactly three weeks after the company took in $16 billion in its initial public offering. Facebook shares closed down 50 cents at $26.31, only slightly above their daily low of $26.15

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Fitch Cuts Spain’s Credit Rating; Euro Falls

Fitch Ratings on Friday downgraded Spain's long-term sovereign credit rating from A to BBB, just one notch from junk grade because of the increasing estimated cost of fixing the country's banking system from 3 percent of GDP to as much as 9 percent, or €100 billion ($126 billion).

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