According to a recent survey, some of the largest companies in the UK are in fear of the financial effects of a hung parliament would have on the economy. The survey which takes in 141 chief financial officers of leading UK companies, among them 40 whose companies are quoted on the FTSE 100, fear that such as situation will have a negative effect on their own businesses. Current opinion polls suggest that, while the Conservatives hold a relatively strong lead, there is a strong chance that no party will win an overall majority in the rapidly approaching elections

Meanwhile a survey recently conducted shows that business confidence has reached its highest level in four years, with output back to levels not seen since before the recession. The report does go on to warn that a "significant increase" in investment in the private sector is needed in order to sustain the recovery, whilst stressing that business optimism could be "short-lived" without the investment.

Increases of y only 0.05 percent in the total value of UK exports have been reported on final quarter of 2009 compared to the same period of 2008 The figures came despite hopes that the weakness of sterling would be beneficial for the exports sector. According to government figures, the total number of companies exporting goods has fallen l by 3.4 percent to just less than fifty thousand. Both the UK government and the Bank of England have previously predicted that exports would help push the recovery.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union have met with Network Rail in an attempt to avoid strikes planned by thousands of rail workers. The dispute revolves around Network Rail plans to cut 1,500 jobs and alter rosters to allow more work to be carried out at evenings and weekends. The RMT executive is expected to agree to a timetable for fresh ballots after four days of planned strike action were called off last week when Network Rail launched a successful legal challenge.

BAE Systems (BAE) has topped a list of the world’s 100 largest arms manufacturers, marking the first time that the list has been topped by a company outside the U.S. Figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute show that BAE arms sales totaled $32.4 billion in 2008. The record performance was largely down to increased sales at BAE’s U.S. subsidiaries, with sales at the company’s Land and Armaments group in the U.S. rising from $7 billion to $12 billion.

Shares in the Home Retail Group Plc rose to a four-month high in London trading after reports that Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s Asda may be interested in making an offer for the U.K. company. On the news, Home Retail’s shares gained as much as 5.6 percent and closed up 14.7 pence to 295.1 pence as, valuing the company at £2.59 billion pounds ($4 billion).

Home Retail, owner of the U.K.’s Argos catalog stores, had sales of just less than £6 billion pounds in the year ended Feb. 27. A spokesman for Home Retail, based in Milton Keynes, declined to comment on the report.

Liverpool Football Club’s U.S. owners have appointed Barclays Capital help find a buyer for the Premiership club. Current owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks bought the club in 2007 for £219 million pounds. Gillett and Hicks have in the past hired Merrill Lynch and Rothschild to attract minority investors and their decision to appoint Barclays indicates they are now stepping up efforts to achieve an outright sale.

A study has suggested that a permanent rise in the price of oil would leave the UK economy in better shape than the other major importers, especially Japan, the U.S. and the Euro zone. Although all big oil-importing economies would suffer from a higher oil price, Japan and the U.S. would be hardest hit, while the UK would withstand the shock relatively well, with a $10 price rise contracting its economy by just 0.4 percent.

The pound continues to make some slow momentum, remaining above the $1.50 level at $1.5374, while falling back in value ever so slightly against the Euro at 1.1308.

The FTSE 100 stuttered on some insecure trading, falling 15.99 points to 5761.66.

The euro has jumped sharply against the dollar and the pound after the Eurozone agreed details of a multi-billion euro loan package to debt-ridden Greece.

The Euro rose by more than 2 cents, against the dollar, to close on $1.3672. While rising to 88.408 pence against the pound.

The rise came after the Eurozone member nations eventually agreed to provide loans of up to €30 billion (£27 billion) in the first year of a three-year package. Greece hopes it will not have to ask for the emergency loans and Instead the implementation of an extensive package of austerity measures will help to cut its debt levels and restore confidence in Greek government debt.

In the US it was announced that the trade deficit has widened to $39.7 billion (£20.8 billion) in February, as import growth continued to outpace exports.

According to figures issued by the US Department of Commerce, the overall trade deficit increased by $2.7 billion from January. It also announced that imports were up 20.5% to $182.9 billion from the same month in 2009 while exports were up only 14.3% to $143.2 billion.

The trade figures confirm the trend of resurgent imports outpacing the rebound in exports as the US economy recovers from recession.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average continued to rise, crossing the 11,000 point barrier at 11.0032.46 while the NASDAQ Composite was 21 points higher at 2,4664.86

US chip maker Intel has announced net record incomes for the first quarter of $2.44 billion (£1.59 billion) compared with $629 million reported for the first quarter in 2009, making for almost a quadruple increase. Intel’s turnover was up 44% to $10.3 billion showing recovery from the global recession is well under way in the computer hardware department.

The social networking site Twitter has announced their plans to allow advertising on their site; a spokesperson for Twitter said that for the first time.

Advertisers would be able to buy "Promoted Tweets" that will appear on Twitter’s search results pages, whilst going on to point out that "Promoted Tweets" will differ from traditional adverts. Instead these Tweets must "resonate with users" and delivered in a conversational tone.

Twitter have reportedly already signed up number of big name organisations such as Sony Pictures, coffee chain Starbucks and US retailer Best Buy to tweet.

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Tags: Argos, ASDA, BAE Systems, Bank of England, Banking, Barclays Capital, Best Buy, British Economy, Dow Jones, Economics, Economy, Employment, Eurozone, Financial News, FTSE, Home Retail, Home Retail Group Plc, hung parliament, Liverpool Football Club, Money, Money Markets, NASDAQ, Network Rail, Promoted Tweets, Recession, Sony Pictures, Starbucks, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Stocks and shares, twitter, UK Banks, UK business, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession, US Department of Commerce, Wal-Mart Stores Inc

Economists have warned that a rise in interest rates is likely before the end of the year in the event that the current spike in factory output prices continues. High petrol prices have caused manufacturers to absorb rising energy and raw materials prices, with the main being transferred to consumers, stoking fears of a rise in inflation. A five percent rise in year-on-year retail prices in March out-paced analyst expectations, causing them to refigure the probability that the Bank of England will raise rates earlier.

The Halifax Building Society, Group has released its house price index, showing that house prices rose by 1.1 percent in March, partially reversing the 1.6 percent decline in February. The average price for the first quarter of 2010 finished 0.6 percent higher than the same period in 2009. A spokesman for Halifax pointed out that the return of stamp duty on lower-priced homes as well at the severe weather had combined to create a negative effect on house prices in the first two months of the year.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) have revealed as increase in new car sales by 26.6 percent during March. March is typically a strong month for new car sales, regularly accounting for a fifth of annual sales in the UK due to the new registration plate. The SMMT predicts that the end of the government scrappage scheme will result in a nine per cent fall in total sales for the year. A spokesman for the SMMT, also pointed out that the UK motor industry has enjoyed a better than anticipated first quarter of 2010 while the coming months likely to remain challenging with registrations of new cars expected to dip. In a related statement, the SMMT recently revealed that the number of vehicles in the UK are at an all time low.

The remaining British motorists pulling will be helping to take part in another record breaking attempt from this week onwards, how much it costs too fill their tank. A spokesman for the AA has speculated that petrol prices are about to hit (and pass) the 120 pence a liter mark, with the previous high being 119.7 pence high seen in July 2008, when crude oil was coasting more than $147.00 a barrel..

Industry sources have rushed to point out that the increase is partly a result of soaring wholesale costs, with the price of oil hitting an 18-month high of $85 a barrel, a third less than it cost during the previous high, although the pound was much stronger them and the effects of Chancellor Alistair Darling’s latest duty rise in last month’s Budget of 1 pence a liter.

In April, 2009, petrol cost 92.44 pence a liter.

Postal operator UK Mail has announced that revenues of £388 million for the financial year up to March 31 despite a drop in demand for their services caused by the financial crisis. After the announcement UK Mail’s share price rose 21.5 pence to 333.5 pence, up 28 percent over the past year.

The number of passengers that flew with budget airline EasyJet has increased by 13.5% on a year-on-year basis. EasyJet flew 3.96 million passengers in March 2010, 13.5 percent more than the 3.49 million carried in March 2009 with rival budget airline Ryanair also reporting a 13 percent rise to 5.3 million for the same period. A spokesman for EasyJet projected that the company had benefited from the British Airways strike, as well recently increased its number of flights across Europe.

Marks & Spencer have reported a 5.1 percent fourth-quarter sales increase at the retailer, ahead of becoming non-executive chairman in May. The figures, reported by outgoing executive chairman Sir Stuart Rose, have surpassed analysts’ expectations with sales driven by strong performance in the group’s formalwear and knitwear divisions. Rose in a somewhat controversial final report called for "greater clarity on economic policy and how this will impact our customers individually" after the election.

Hamley’s, the UK historic toy retailer, took their first step in an ambitious drive into India, with the opening of their first store in Mumbai. The company’s £22 million expansion into Asia’s third-biggest economy will see 20 outlets open across the country in seven years. A spokesman for Hamley’s announced that India was a key part of Hamley’s effort to expand into emerging markets, as they were attracted to the growing population and the potential of a previously restricted retail sector.

Kraft Foods has thrown its support behind a national chain of Cadbury-branded cafés that will offer afternoon teas and a wide range if chocolate products service in a move to compete with the high street coffee shop chains.

Cadbury had been in discussions about the outlets long before Kraft made its hostile bid last September and signed off the deal at the end of January – just before the US company took control of the confectioner.

The US food-maker, who took over Cadburys this year, has now endorsed a 20-year licence to a group of retail entrepreneurs to set up and manage the high street chain, to be called Cadbury Cocoa House.

The group could open as many as 60 cafés in locations around the UK in the next three to five years, and has already begun to negotiate with landlords for the first sites in London, which could be running before the end of 2010.

Following a £13 million ($20 million) management buyout the British arm of Reader’s Digest was pulled out of bankruptcy on Friday, The news means that Reader’s Digest Association Ltd. will now continue to be published under its well-known name.

The U.K. subsidiary of Reader’s Digest took shelter in administration, a form of bankruptcy protection, on Feb. 17 because it had been unable to gain agreement on a plan to close a pension deficit. That decision paved the way for the U.S. parent company to emerge from Chapter 11 reorganization.

Analysts have confirmed that since the start of 2007, the pound has dropped about 25 percent on a trade-weighted basis, making exporters’ goods less expensive overseas. Bank of England policy makers are counting on sterling’s weakness to aid the recovery and reduce domestic spending at a time when the nation faces a record budget deficit.

The pound continues to retain its level above $1.50, closing at $1.5372, while falling back in value ever so slightly against the Euro at 1,1403.

U.K. stocks rose again before the close on Friday, making for the benchmark FTSE 100 Index’s sixth straight weekly gain, the longest stretch of such gains since 2005. The gains were on increased confidence, as the European Union agreed to a contingency rescue package to help Greece cut its budget deficit.

The FTSE 100 advanced 58.28, to 5,770.98, extending this week’s gain to 0.5 percent.

US stock prices dramatically reversed Thursday’s negative start

At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 70 points at 10,927.07 while the NASDAQ Composite was 18 points higher at 2,454.05.

Greek bonds have plunged this week on renewed concern that the country won’t succeed in cutting its budget deficit, the European Union’s largest. Leaders of the nations who share the euro last month endorsed a Franco-German proposal to help Greece with a mix of International Monetary Fund and bilateral loans at market interest rates that would be triggered only if Greece runs out of fund-raising options.

China on Saturday announced a rare deficit in its politically sensitive trade balance for March, the first in six years, bolstering Beijing’s argument that the value of its currency only has a limited impact on international trade flows.

News of the $7.2 billion deficit comes at a fortuitous time for Beijing, which is under pressure particularly from the US to allow the renminbi or the Chinese yuan to appreciate.

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Tags: Alistair Darling, Bank, Bank of England, Banking, British Economy, Cadbury, Credit Crunch, Currency, Dow Jones, EasyJet, Economics, Economy, Financial News, FTSE, Halifax building society, Hamley's, Interest Rates, International Monetary Fund, Kraft Foods, Marks & Spencer, Money, NASDAQ, petrol prices, Reader's Digest, Recession, Ryanair, Sir Stuart Rose, Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, Stock Markets, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK government, UK Mail, UK Recession

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has reported receiving five offers for their Williams & Glyn’s branch network. RBS were ordered to sell these branches as part of a European Commission state aid ruling in 2009, the business is valued at around £2 billion.

By Tuesday night’s deadline, speculations were that Santander, Virgin Money, National Australia Bank, BBVA and JC Flowers had all submitted bids, with Santander is widely believed to be the favourite bidder, with an offer potentially worth at least £2 billion. Santander recently completed the rebranding their UK operations under their own name

However, with Virgin now being backed by Wilbur Ross, the US billionaire, offering pledges on jobs their offer has to be taken seriously, with elections in a month’s time.

The UK government holds a 70 per cent equity stake in RBS, giving politicians and the public far greater influence over its fate.

The chief executive of U.S. telecommunications company Verizon Communications has said that there is "no compelling reason" for the U.S. Company to merge with British mobile network operator Vodafone. The two companies are continuing talks regarding their strategic options. Vodafone owns 45 percent of Verizon Wireless with Verizon holding the remaining 55 percent. However, there has been some conflict recently; with Vodafone pressuring Verizon to resume paying dividends since the U.S. Company blocked payments in order to reduce its debt burden. Shares in Vodafone dropped 2 pence to 149.6 pence on the statement.

Recent figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show that the number of cars on the UK roads has decreased for the first time since records began in 1904. The country’s total car fleet has declined by 0.7 percent in 2009. According to the SMMT factors that had to be taken into account for decline are the recession, the government car scrappage scheme, and new Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) regulations which remove the details of unlicensed vehicles from the database.

Kraft Foods came under attack in a report from a committee of U.K. lawmakers in a report critical of moves the American company made after its hostile $17.5 billion (£12 billion) takeover of Cadbury, the beloved British chocolate maker. The report by the U.K.’s Business Select Committee accuses Kraft of acting "irresponsibly and unwisely" after reneging on a promise to keep a Cadbury factory in Somerdale open, instead planning to move the plant’s production to Poland, resulting in the loss of 400 jobs. Meanwhile, British union leaders have called for a "Cadbury law" to protect British businesses from aggressive foreign takeovers.

ESPN, the Disney-owned sports television channel, has acquired the rights to deliver Premier League football highlights on UK mobile phones until 2013, supplanting British Sky Broadcasting, which has held the rights since 2007-08. The move strengthens ESPN’s position as a competitor to BSkyB and underlines the US broadcaster’s determination to expand its share of the UK sports market. For the three football seasons from August onwards, ESPN will deliver in-match, post-match and highlights from all 380 Barclays Premier League matches, Purchase of the mobile rights is the latest in a series of additions to ESPN’s sports portfolio.

Research conducted on behalf of the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS), representing an association of 33,500 small shopkeepers, indicates that 85 percent of the public oppose a liberalisation of trading laws that, if passed would allow large retail chains to open for longer on Sundays. The ACS stated that the current regulations assisted small retailers by encouraging local shopping in small stores. Large retailers including Topshop and House of Fraser have recently been lobbying the Business Secretary Lord Mandelson with requests to relax the existing laws.

The pound fell continues to recover if ever so slightly closing on $1.5273, whilst also gaining against the Euro to close on 1.1441

The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index retreated from a 21-month high after a sell-off in commodity production shares .The benchmark Index lost 67.65 points to 5,712.7.

Former Federal Reserve governor Alan Greenspan has defended his record at a congressional hearing into the financial crisis. In a statement, Mr Greenspan denied that his policy of maintaining low interest rates had been a major factor in the crisis. Consistently low interest rates have been blamed for the expansion in the sub-prime mortgage market which led to the credit crunch. However, Greenspan voiced his opinion that the way the banks repackaged their loans was a major contributing factor to the crisis.

Stocks rallied yesterday after U.S. jobs increased by the most in three years, boosting optimism about the strength of a recovery in the world’s largest economy. Since March last year, the gauge has rebound more than 60 percent.

The Dow Jones closed up 45.87 points to 10943.39, while the NASDAQ index rose 9.15 points to close on 2440.31

As part of a global tie-up of the brands German carmaker Daimler announced that they are to give Renault and Nissan a 3.1% stake in its business, with Daimler taking a 3.1% stakes in both Renault and Nissan, in exchange. Renault and Nissan have held a trading alliance for more than a decade.

The deal will allow the companies to share technology and development costs while remain separate trading entities. According to a spokesman for Nissan, one of the key areas of co-operation will be in the development of electric cars and light commercial vehicles.

European financial markets continue to feel the pressures over the state of Greece’s debt-ridden economy. Banking stocks in particular, not only in Greece but in most of the other leading European countries, have seen sharp falls. Meanwhile it has been reported that the Greek government’s cost of borrowing has risen to record levels, reflecting investors’ concerns that Greece might not be pay back the loans due to the poor state of the country’s public finances.

The Athens Composite share index fell by 3.1%, with banks down 6.4% on average.

All major European markets also suffered, and banks in France and Germany were especially hit due to their exposure to Greece’s borrowing.

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Tags: Alan Greenspan, Association of Convenience Stores, Bank, Banking, Barclays, BBVA, British Economy, British Sky Broadcasting, BskyB, Cadbury, Credit Crunch, Daimler, Dow Jones, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, Economics, Economy, Employment, ESPN, Financial News, FTSE, House of Fraser, JC Flowers, Kraft Foods, Money, Money Markets, NASDAQ, National Australia Bank, Nissan, Recession, Renault, Retail, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander, Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, Stocks and shares, Topshop, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession, Verizon Communications, Virgin Money, Vodafone, Wilbur Ross, Williams and Glyn

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has publicly set a national election for May 6 which looks like being one of Britain’s toughest to call for many years, as well as Brown’s first as leader of the Labour Party. Brown made this long anticipated announcement after meeting with Queen Elizabeth II. The Labour Party is expected to face a tough election battle against the Conservative Party led by David Cameron, who enjoys a lead in opinion polls. The Labour Party has been in power since Tony Blair’s landslide victory in 1997.

In the meantime the show must go on, and Prime Minister Gordon Brown has done so holding successful negotiations with German Chancellor Angela Merkel over the issue of setting a "global responsibility levy" on banks. Brown confirmed that Britain, France and Germany were broadly all in agreement on the need for a levy, which could cost the financial sector billions of pounds a year. They are now seeking U.S. support for the proposed new tax on banks. Gordon Brown did stop short of revealing how much the tax they expected to raise from British banks, while Merkel was not so reticent. The German Chancellor predicted that her government would raise around one billion pounds from German banks, while going on to conceded that the ongoing problems in the banking sector had yet to be fully resolved.

According to one of the UK’s largest employment agencies, demand for new workers fell last month, leading to concerns over a rise in unemployment. A spokesman for the agency did point our however that demand for qualified accountants and strategic consultants is now at its highest level since d last year. Unemployment has been stable in recent months, at around 2.45 million. Economists have warned that the figure could peak at 2.8 million this year.

European house price values apparently fell on average in 2009 for the first time in over a decade. The FT Europe Index, which covers the 23 countries on the European mainland, reported a 2.8 percent decline in value for the years, while statistics issued in the FT Eurozone Index, which covers 16 nations Eurozone member group showed a 4.6 percent fall. House prices fell on average more than seven percent in the larger, more developed countries such as British, Spain, France and Germany. However recent data covering the last quarter of 2009 suggests that the big four European countries may be past the worst of the property value decline, registering marginal growth in the fourth quarter compared with the third.

As cabin crew staged two four-day strikes last month, seven key British Airways executives were walking away with share options with a combined value of almost three million pounds. The awards were for shares worth £2.50 pounds each. The executives will be allowed to exercise their options only if pre-agreed performance targets are met.

American billionaire Wilbur Ross has reportedly acquired a stake in Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Money. With the announcement coming just days ahead of its bid for a national branch network being sold by the Royal Bank of Scotland. The US tycoon, known for his corporate td investments in steel, oil, banking and utilities, paid about £ 100 million for 21 per cent of Virgin Money, designed to bolster the company’s ambitions to create a national high street chain of banks.

Tesco, who already offer a wide range of financial products to their existing customers, are reported to be having their eye on capturing around 10 percent of the financial services market in the UK, with current accounts and mortgages expected to be available over the next year. If Tesco’s plans bear fruit, it could make them similar in size to Abbey, owned by Santander.

A recent annual audit of UK retail and leisure parks has revealed that twenty percent of the retailers who agreed to pay rent in excess of £100 pounds per square foot are either in administration or tied into company voluntary arrangements. The findings come despite evidence that the retail sector increased floor space requirements by 0.4 percent last year.

On the money markets, due to ever increasing optimism, the US dollar was up almost a cent against the euro, with a dollar worth 74.8 eurocents. The dollar was also up almost half a penny against the pound, at 65.7 pence.

The pound continued to remain above the $1.50 mark at $1.5247, whilst gaining slightly against the Euro to close on 1.401

The FTSE 100 returned from the holiday weekend in semi-buoyant mood up 35.46 points to close on 5780.35

On the first day of its launch in the US, computer hardware giants Apple announced that they had it sold more than 300,000 of its latest baby, the iPad tablet computer. The figures for Saturday’s bookings included pre-orders of the device, as well as sales at Apple stores across the country. The news of the successful launch set Apple Inc shares up 1.1% to a record closing high of $238.49 on Monday. The iPad is expected to be on sale in parts of Europe, Canada and Australia by the end of this month, and will retail in the US at between $499 $829 (£328 to £545), dependant on specifications, with European prices yet to be announced. According to an objective survey, the vast majority of the iPad’s 300,000 launch-day sales went to current Apple product owners.

Wall Street returned after the holidays a little groggy, with Dow Jones down, but just by 3.56 points to 10969.99. The NASDAQ rose a little, 7.28 points to 2436.81.

Meanwhile, the US transport department has confirmed that they will be demanding a record fine of $16.4 million (£10.7 million) from auto maker Toyota for withholding information about problems they had been having with faulty accelerator pedals. The department says the company failed to notify it about the flaws "in a timely way" with the National Highways Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said documents provided by Toyota showed the carmaker knew about the defect in September. Reports of problems with the pedals prompted a massive recall in January. Toyota was given two weeks to appeal against this penalty.

Possibly as a result of problems in the Japanese car industry, German car exports were reported to have risen by more than fifty percent in March compared with a year earlier. However official figures have shown that domestic car sales fell by a quarter in the month, compared to 2009.

Germany exported 419,400 cars in March, while overseas orders for future deliveries were up by more than 28%. Domestic sales fell by 27% to 295,000 as demand fell due to the end of the country’s car scrappage scheme, which closed in September last year.

Oil prices have risen amid growing optimism that improved US job creation will boost economic recovery and lead to higher demand for crude. The price of oil reached a fresh 18-month high on Tuesday on growing hopes of a US-led global economic recovery. US light crude hit $86.84 a barrel in New York trading, while Brent crude peaked at $86.15.

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Tags: Angela Merkel, Bank, Banking, British Economy, Credit Crunch, David Cameron, Dow Jones, Economics, Economy, Employment, Financial News, FT Europe Index, FT Eurozone Index, FTSE, global responsibility levy, Gordon Brown, iPad, Money, Mortgage, NASDAQ, National Highways Traffic Safety Administration, Retail, Richard Branson, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander, Toyota, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK Election, UK government, UK Recession, Unemployment, Wilbur Ross

Records from the Registry Trust show that the value of County Court Judgments (CCJs) against businesses in England and Wales increased five percent to nearly £ 900 million pounds last year. The number of judgments against businesses increased by nine percent on 2008 to a record 207,100, the fifth year-on-year increase in a row. A spokesman for the Registry Trust said the figures reflected the worsening economy.

U.S. food group Kraft Foods the new owner of confectioner Cadbury, has told 3,600 Cadbury staff that they face a three-year pay freeze unless they leave the company’s final salary pension scheme. Kraft has discovered a clause in Cadbury’s pension trust deed preventing it from changing members’ benefits in any way deemed "unfair or materially detrimental". Kraft is not forbidden from closing the scheme, but if they decided to do so would have to pay the full costs involved. Cadbury’s pension deficit was reported to be around £258 million.

U.K. owner of train tracks and stations Network Rail Ltd have won a court order preventing four days of strikes that would have disrupted journeys for millions of travelers returning from their Easter break. A High Court judge ruled against the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT). Network Rail’s lawyer argued that the RMT hadn’t polled its members accurately, with some workplaces returning more votes than the number of registered members. The union announced their intentions to hold another ballot. Network Rail, the state-owned operator of the U.K.’s rail infrastructure, carries about three and a half million passengers every day. Britain was facing its first national shutdown since 1994 after the RMT voted last month to strike in a dispute over job cuts and working terms after negotiations broke down. The strike was planned due to begin on the 6th of April.

Recent data released by one of the UK’s leading credit card payment acceptance processors shows payments made on credit and debit cards were up 7.1% in February compared to the same month last year. The increase follows on recent figures that show credit and debit card spending was up 3.6% in January 2010 in comparison the same month last year, while February 2010 showed an increase over the previous year, on a month-by-month basis, spending on debit and credit cards declined slightly by 2.5% from January, in line with expectations. The index is based on spending on all credit and debit cards across a wide range of retail sectors.

Marks & Spencer have posted another quarter of sales growth since the turn of the year. M&S’s statement showed a like-for-like sales increase that far outshone the previous quarter’s 0.8% rise with a 1.8% increase. Institutional and private investors have remained cautious on M&S due to economic uncertainty over the last few years, and while the previous quarter saw the first growth in two years, fear were that the Januarys snow may have hampered trading, although Marks and Spencer had managed to keep most of its stores open. M&S’s annual trading results due to be released in May are expected to show annual profits of £625 million, up from £604.4 million the previous year.

The children’s clothing and equipment retailer Mothercare grew total sales by 3.3 per cent in its fourth quarter, but did suffer a decline in UK like-for-like sales because of extreme weather conditions during January. Mothercare, which operates in 1,115 stores, announced in a recent trading update that the adverse weather in the 11 weeks to March 27 forced it to extend its winter sale, while managing to reverse some of the loss of turnover, through implement tight cost controls. Total UK sales in the quarter fell 0.9 per cent and like-for-like sales – sales in stores trading for at least a year, as well as sales in its online divisions – were down 1.6 per cent, weaker than analyst had anticipated.

The UK’s largest mobile phone companies may be forced to cut the price of their calls following new proposals unveiled by Ofcom, the UK telecoms regulator. The watchdog is proposing deep cuts in termination rates on the 02, Orange/T-Mobile, Vodafone and 3UK networks as it works to set the rules on mobile termination rates. By doing so, Ofcom stepped back from an initial proposal last year that could have seen consumers face higher monthly bills if telecoms companies had to cut or scrap charges for connecting calls to their networks. Mobile termination rates are the fees are paid by fixed-line and mobile operators when their customers make calls to people on other networks. The reform is a highly contentious issue among the bigger mobile operators, mainly because they earn more than £2 billion a year from the fees. Ofcom have set a price ceiling on the wholesale fees that mobile operators can levy on each other, as well as fixed-line phone companies led by BT Group

Recent data shows a rise to 57.2 in the UK’s Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index in March. This positive figure confirms that the sector is continuing to expand and is an improvement on previous forecasts, which had called for a more modest increase February’s reading of 56.6, with expectations that it would be around the 56.8 mark. This improvement in the UK manufacturing sector follows both Germany and the Eurozone’s stronger reading in their March readings. All three economies posted their best numbers since the beginning of the recession. Expansion in the sector comes after a rebound in both consumer demand and export sales.

On the money markets, before the Easter break set in, the pound was beginning to show signs of benefitting from this positive data, despite hitting resistance levels against both the Euro and the US dollar, while the continuing uncertainty over European support for its weakest link pushed the euro as low as $1.3502 on Friday, its weakest level in over two weeks.

The pound fell back slightly, while remaining above the $1.50 mark at $1.5187, whilst and gaining against the Euro to close on 1.1269.

The FTSE was closed for the holiday weekend.

The US government did announce on Friday that the recovering economy had created 162,000 jobs in March last month, whilst the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.7 per cent. Temporary hiring by the US government for the public sector only accounted for some 48,000 new jobs in March, meaning the private sector has begun to create new job openings.

China has offered to accelerate free trade agreement talks with India in a bid to balance a burgeoning trade relationship between two of Asia’s largest economies that is heavily skewed in Beijing’s favour. Chinese officials expect trade between the two to rise to $60 billion, (£39.5 billion) in 2010, as the world’s two fast-growing large economies surge forward in their recovery from the global financial crisis. Indian officials described the trade deficit that last year was about $16 billion in Beijing’s favour as “politically unsustainable”, and continue to identify it as a point of friction in a relationship key to Asia’s peace and stability.

Commodities prices ended the week at the highest level since late 2008, with oil hitting $85 a barrel, bolstered by signs of strong manufacturing growth particularly in China and India

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Tags: 02, 3UK, Bank, Banking, British Economy, British Pound, Cadbury, County Court Judgments, Credit Crunch, Currency, Debt, Economics, Economy, Employment, Financial News, FTSE, Kraft Foods, Maritime and Transport Workers, Marks & Spencer, Money, Mothercare, National Union of Rail, Network Rail Ltd, Ofcom, Orange, Recession, Registry Trust, Retail, T-Mobile, UK Banks, UK business, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession, Vodafone

It only stands to reason that the U.K.’s economic recovery will be slow in 2010. There is an election about to happen and the public have obviously chosen a path the correct path to save spend less and save more. According to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) the economy will grow by 0.3 percent in the first quarter and move up to 0.4 percent in the second quarter, and will finally settle down to expanding 0.5 percent in the second half of the year. The CBI also predicted that gross domestic product (GDP) will increase by 1 percent in 2010 and 2.5 percent in 2011. Britain’s economy exited its deepest recession on record in the fourth quarter with growth of 0.3 percent.

Bank of England (BOE) officials were also expressing caution on the eve of what may well be the Labour Government’s last budget in well over a decade. The BOE have consistently issued warnings that financial recovery in the UK may prove uneven as credit strains persist.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling is due to deliver his budget today, with just a few weeks before the general election, the date of which is yet to be announced. A spokesman for the CBI stated that the government must avoid “damaging” tax rises and focus on spending cuts to narrow the record deficit,

As budget fever mounts, speculation is rife as to what Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling will reveal in his speech. Darling has repeatedly stated there will be no pre-election giveaways in the budget but he wants to encourage more investment in UK business after an 18-month recession.

It is expected that government departments which be called on to cut costs that will add some credibility to the U.K.’s deficit reduction plan and Yvette Cooper, the work and pensions secretary, has set the wheels in motion by announcing her department are plan to introduce savings of at least £500 million pounds by the 2012 / 2013 fiscal year.

What is for sure is that the Labour government will unveil their plans to establish a £2 billion "green" investment bank in the budget, designed to help Britain’s transformation to a low carbon economy. The green bank, designed to help finance projects such as railways, offshore wind power generation and eco-friendly waste management, will be partially funded by sales of government assets with the remaining money being drawn from the private sector.

Strike hit British Airways have come up with an estimate that the current three-day strike by the airline’s cabin crew will cost them around £7 million a day in lost earnings. However the airline hastened to point out that the industrial action was unlikely to have much impact on its earnings for the full-year. According to a company spokesman, around a third of flights to and from the UK’s main airports on Monday have so far been cancelled.

BA Heathrow suffered the biggest disruption on Monday, with 201 of the 443 flights on BA’s online schedule being cancelled.

Every cloud does have a silver lining and one of them appears to be that because of the recession, one in four children have reduced their spending. According to new research published this week t children’s attitudes to money have been strongly impacted by the recession with 80% of the children polled stated that they would prefer to save up to buy something rather than get into debt.

The latest financial results from fashion retailer Monsoon show an increase in profits for 2008/2009 eight times higher than the previous year. Over the year to August 29, 2009, the privately owned company showed a profit of taxes of £32.9 million, up from £3.9 million the previous year. Monsoon, who currently operate over 1,000 outlets, report strong sales at its overseas division. Over the next 12 months Monson plan to open another 140 stores.

Another fashion in the financial spotlight is New Look who has announced that they may resurrect their £1.7 billion flotation plans. The decision may come as soon as this week when the New Look board meets to consider whether market conditions have sufficiently improved. The fashion retailer shelved its planned IPO in February, blaming volatile markets. Meanwhile sales at the group are said to be ahead of expectations.

In a move which could raise as much as £400 million pounds Music recording giants EMI are reported to be considering plans to licence its music catalogue. Competitors in the industry would manage the music group’s catalogue, which includes music from The Beatles. If successful the licensing would enable EMI to meet their debt repayments and stave off an attempt by Citigroup, to take control of the company.

Sterling continues to fall ahead of this week’s budget and the fast-approaching general election due to be held in early May, and the prospects that it will be closely fought and may even result in a hung parliament.

The pound continues to be stuck around the $1.50 mark, closing at $1.5037 on Tuesday, while the Euro was on €1.1137.

As concern consists about debt levels whether the next government will be equipped to tackle challenges on public finances the pound looks likely to continue in the doldrums.

The FTSE 100 index closed on Tuesday up 23 points at 5,673.63.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones was still on the rise, this time by 147 points to close on 10888.83 The NASDAQ also was on the rise up 42 points to 2415.24

According to Greece’s central bank the country’s economy is trapped in a "vicious circle" and is liable to contract more severely than government predictions. .

The Bank of Greece (BoG) said economic output in 2010 will fall by 2%, much higher than the Greek government’s prediction of between 1.2% and 1.7%.

BoG says the recession will be worse due to planned public spending cuts.

The report comes ahead of a European Union summit to discuss Greece’s economic crisis, as German resistance towards financial aid for Athens persists.

Athens has already come close to defaulting after misleading European partners about the scale of its financial problems, which last year saw its public sector deficit hit almost 13 per cent of gross domestic product

Meanwhile Germany’s coalition government is reportedly planning to establish a banking levy that will protect taxpayers from the costs of any future bank bail-outs. The German government was obliged to seriously deplete their treasury coffers to provide a €500 billion rescue package to shore up the banking system late in 2008.

On the other side of the World, in Dubai, bank officials await anticipation of the severely troubled Dubai World company presenting their long-waited proposals on how they intend to restructure $26 billion of toxic debt.

The Dubai stock market has surged 11% this month on speculation a proposal is imminent.

Crude oil prices managed to rebound from early weakness to settle at around $81.25 a barrel.

Analysts at the Centre for Global Energy Studies said that global oil demand was on the path to full recovery but upward pressure on prices would be limited due to supply side changes.

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Tags: Alistair Darling, BA Heathrow, Bank, Bank of England, Bank of Greece, Banking, British airways, British Economy, Budget, CBI, Centre for Global Energy Studies, Citigroup, Confederation of British Industry, Dow Jones, Dubai World, economic recovery, Economics, Economy, EMI, Employment, Financial News, FTSE, green bank, Money, Money Management, Money Markets, Monsoon, NASDAQ, New Look, Recession, Retail, Stocks and shares, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession, Wall Street, Yvette Cooper

Under threat of the first nationwide strike by signalmen in 16 years, Network Rail announced on Friday night that it would meet next week at conciliation service Acas to discuss two separate disputes with the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) and the TSSA, which represents managerial grades. The RMT is already threatening to strike over a proposed restructure of Network Rail’s maintenance operations which could lead to the loss of up to 1,500 jobs. However there are also worries over potential strike action by signalers in several areas of the country. The Acas talks will take place on either Monday or Tuesday.

In the air, British Airways have announced that their contingency plans for the first day of a three-day cabin crew strike have gone "extremely well".

A spokesman for BA said that according to their program, more than 65% of passengers would reach their destinations, with 1,157 staff working and some canceled flights reinstated. However the Unite union, representing the striking crew members has speculated that only a third of BA’s normal flights took off, with 125 out of its 250 planes grounded.

Another four-day strike is planned for 27 March in the pay and conditions row.

Within the next few days Chancellor Alistair Darling is expected to endorse plans for a global tax on certain financial institutions. These are institutions that are likely to pose a "systemic risk" by being dependent on government insurance schemes to stay afloat. Darling us expected to use the budget announcement to detail his backing of the proposals, with his key recommendations being that government revenue raised should go to national governments rather than an insurance scheme, which he believes would encourage banks to take more risk on lending and expansion. Darling’s views are similar to those expressed recently by Dominique Strauss-Khan head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), who encouraged Europe to establish a system of orderly bankruptcy for cross border banks which would be less dependent on insurance schemes to fund bailouts.

In a recent survey conducted by Small Business Britain Entrepreneurs it was revealed that 40 per cent of small and medium, sized business enterprises (SMEs) would like to see a fall in employers’ national insurance contributions. In addition over 45 per cent would like to see banks to offer better rates to smaller firms. All in all they have called for Chancellor Alistair Darling’s budget to support small and medium-sized businesses, while at the same time, according to an unrelated survey small and medium-sized businesses are reported to be gaining increased confidence that the UK’s economic recovery looks likely to continue. The HSBC’s Global Small Business Confidence Monitor has reported that over three-quarters of SMEs now expected steady or increasing growth over the next six months

On the downside, the recent severe spell of weather has reportedly caused losses of around £7 billion pounds to SMEs. A survey showed that nearly two-fifths of those taking part stating that the harshest winter in decades had forced them temporarily cease operations, whilst more than forty percent said that weather conditions had cause some form of disruption to their business. Just less than a quarter of the firms surveyed announced that had not been affected by the severe weather in January.

Recent figures published today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) revealed that UK car production in February increased by almost two thirds against the same month in 2009, representing the fourth consecutive month that output has seen a year-on-year increase.

The SMMT announced that close to 100,000 cars came off the production line in February, with the majority going for export. In addition, around 10,226 commercial vehicles were also produced in February. A spokesman for the SMMT said the scrappage scheme continues to boost demand and production. The ‘cash for bangers scheme is due to expire at the end of this month with the SMMT predicting that the industry will be affected by the scheme drawing to a close.

Clothing retailer Next are expected to announce in their full year results due out on Wednesday that it has beaten many of its high street rivals. Pre-tax profits are predicted to have risen by £66 million pounds to £635 million pounds. Other companies due to release their results this week include supermarket giant Sainsbury, with their fourth-quarter trading figures due out on Thursday.

The pound continues to fall sharply against the dollar and the Euro, with the fall not being helped by a Bank of England (BOE) policymaker predicting that the UK could yet fall back into recession. On that piece of optimistic news the pound fell against the dollar, to $1.503. The pound fell against the Euro to 1.100. The prediction of the chance of double-dip recession taking place came from a BOE Monetary Policy Committee member Andrew Sentance.

On the FTSE, Banks were the biggest risers, with Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group all on the up.

Partially state owned, Lloyds announced a return to profitability in 2010 after two years of heavy losses. Their recovery was helped by lower than expected bad debts and tight cost controls. On the news shares in Lloyds Banking Group s rose sharply after the bank announced that they had succeeded in reserving losses of £6.3 billion ($9.5 billion) in 2009

Energy shares were also on a high with BP and Royal Dutch Shell both among the early risers.

Meanwhile the FTSE was continuing to rose, aided by news that Lloyds Banking Group said it would return to profitability in 2010

The FTSE 100 index finished for the weekend at 5,650.13, after hitting a 21-month closing peak on Wednesday.

On Wall Street before the weekend close, the Dow Jones was still on the rise, this time by 83 points to close on 10741.98. The NASDAQ took a little dip, after enjoying a good week. It fell four points to 2374.41.

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Tags: Acas, Alistair Darling, Bank, Bank of England, Banking, Barclays, British airways, British Economy, Dow Jones, Economy, Employment, Financial News, FTSE, Global Small Business Confidence Monitor, HSBC, International Monetary Fund, Lloyds Banking Group, Maritime and Transport Union, Monetary Policy Committee, NASDAQ, national insurance, Network Rail, Recession, Retail, Royal Bank of Scotland, Royal Dutch Shell, Sainsbury, Small Business Britain Entrepreneurs, Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, UK Economy, UK government, Wall Street

Continued uncertainty regarding cash-strapped Greece’s ability to be granted loans from their Eurozone partners, and if they are granted them if they will agree to accept them, continues to cause uncertainty in both the currency markets and stock exchanges not only in the UK but in all of the Eurozone member countries. Recent reports coming out of Athens have stated that Greece is lacking in confidence that their partners in Europe are either willing or able to provide sufficient and timely aid, and that they may have no option but to turn to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bail out. The principal stumbling block to the EU loan is Angela Merkel, the German chancellor who HAS repeatedly stated that any other form of loan agreement would be impossible in terms of the European Union’s Maastricht treaty and German constitutional law. Berlin has shared widespread EU hostility towards any involvement of the fund, fearing that such a move would demonstrate Europe’s inability to regulate its own economic and monetary union.

After the release of more positive figures for February and the revision of data for January, it begins to appear that UK government borrowing for 2010 could be less than forecast. According to official figures, government borrowing for February was £12.4, much less than economists had expected.

Borrowing figures for January were also reviewed and sharply downwards, to £43 million from £4.3 billion.

Analysts now predict that UK’s full-year borrowing total may work out a lot less than the government’s original £178 billion forecast.

The Office for National Statistics also announced that the overall effect of the latest revisions to historical data for the year had cut overall borrowing for 2009/10 by £2.9 billion.

The Co-operative which traces its roots to the founding of the co-operative movement in 1844 has reported a major profits surge in its banking division, on the back of thousands of bank account customers disillusioned with Britain’s big banks switching their allegiance to the "co". In addition, the acquisition of the Somerfield supermarket chain coupled with the merger of the Cooperative’s financial services arm with Britannia Building Society have provided a major boost in turnover and profit for the company. As part of a revised tradition, the Co-op will be paying their five million members- a dividend of £55 million, up 16% from 2008. The dividend scheme or "divi" as it is widely known was re-introduced by the group in 2006 after a break of 30 years. The Coop’s banking division reported a 38% jump in new current or 140,000 new customers, taking the total to 1.2 million. The increase effectively doubled their share of the current account market to reach 4%.

To scenes of great excitement, Japanese care manufacturer Nissan have announced that they are to build its new electric car, to be known as the Leaf, at their UK plant in Sunderland. Once production begins in 2013, it will mean that hundreds of jobs are expected to be safeguarded as part of the company’s £420 million investment in electric cars. Nissan’s investment will be backed by a £20.7 million government grant and up to £220 million from the European Investment Bank. About 50,000 Nissan Leaf hatchbacks, which will run entirely on lithium-ion batteries, will roll off the Sunderland production line each year. Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said the development was a "fantastic vote of confidence" in the plant and its "excellent workforce". Mandelson also confirmed the UK government will be providing £360 million in loan guarantees for Ford’s planned £1.5 billion investment in cleaner engines.

At a hearing of the Commons business, innovation and skills committee held on Tuesday, representatives of Kraft Foods made a commitment not to close any more Cadbury factories in the UK or make compulsory redundancies in its domestic manufacturing operations for at least two years, The promises came as Kraft were seen trying to placate furious MPs and union members over its broken promise to save a Bristol factory from closure.

The US food group came under heavy fire for reneging on a pledge made last September to keep open the Somerdale factory, near Bristol, within days of agreeing an £11.7 billion take¬over of Cadbury in January, having overcome hostility from the UK-based maker some of the UK’s favorite chocolates.

On the FTSE, the Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc had a bad day, their shares dropped by more than 3 percent as the biggest government-controlled bank issued warnings that their £2.9 billion pound ($4.45 billion) pension deficit looks likely to rise. The bank today reported a 46 percent rise in its pension deficit. .

Sterling fell to $1.5229, with the Euro coming under heavy pressure at €1.1181

The FTSE 100 jumped 17 points to close on 5,642.62.

According to official figures US consumer prices have risen very little between January and February.

The report issued by the US Labor Department showed the consumer price index was flat in February, though prices were 2.1% higher than a year ago , indicating that there were little sign of inflationary pressures in the offing for the US economy, allowing interest rates to remain low.

US stocks closed modestly higher on Thursday, aided by some strong corporate results. At close of trade the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.4 per cent at 10,779.17 and the NASDAQ Composite index rose 0.1 per cent at 2,391.28.

Crude oil prices have fallen to an average of $81.85 a barrel, yet still placing them within levels are within Opec’s preferred price band of about $75-85 a barrel. The cartel reasons prices below that band risk choking off investment in new oil projects while prices above it could threaten the recovery of world economies

The fall came after the OPEC oil cartel announced on Wednesday their intention to hold production quotas at the same level for the time being.

The price of gold rose 0.1 per cent to $1,126 a troy ounce after ending Wednesday’s session in New York at $1,124.05.

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Tags: Angela Merkel, Bank, Banking, British Economy, Cadbury, Credit Crunch, Dow Jones, Economics, Economy, electric car, Employment, Financial News, FTSE, Gold, International Monetary Fund, Kraft Foods, Lord Mandelson, Money, NASDAQ, Nissan, Office for National Statistics, OPEC, Recession, Retail, Royal Bank of Scotland, Somerfield, Stock Markets, Stocks and shares, The Co-operative, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession, US labor Department

As the UK’s emergence from the recession gains slow but steady momentum recent predictions from the Bank of England show that the number of jobs available on the market are unlikely to deteriorate any further, Reasons given are that most UK companies are doing the maximum to maintain current staff levels to cope with the anticipated upturn in demand.

According to spokesman for the BOE, the banks findings were that although employment had fallen during the recession, it was much less than the comparative fall in output. Figure confirm that although unemployment had risen in the last two years, it was much less pronounced than during the previous two periods of recession in the 1980s and 1990s, although the current recession was much more severe. Despite that slightly rosy report, the fact remains that unemployment benefit claims jumped in January to the highest level since Labour rose to power almost 13 years ago.

According to a European Commission (EC) report due to be published later this week, the UK government’s plans to reduce their budget deficit are far from being realistic as well as lacking in ambition

The EC report went on to warns hand out a warning that if the UK continues on their current path, the will not be able to cut their deficit to meet the deadline set by the EU rules by 2015. The EU are insisting that

Deficits in their member countries must be less than three percent of their gross domestic production (GDP) by then. To show how far the UK is lagging behind is that the GDP in the UK is expected to be as high as 12.6% or £178 billion.

British Airways, facing imminent strike action from their cabin crew, have revealed their contingency plans to cope with the crisis. The plans, if they need arises to put them into action, will allow it to the airline to handle around 60% of its scheduled flights, with 45,000 passengers taking their seats during the first stage of the strike, due to begin on the 20th of March, .

Those who BA will be unable to transport will be given the option of flying with other airlines. Meanwhile plans for the second round of strikes will be announced nearer the date. Of the almost two thousand flights scheduled during the strike dates, more than half will need to be cancelled. However BA expects that all of their long-haul flights and more than half of short-haul flights taking off from Gatwick airport will take place.

Another sign that all is not well with the UK travel industry is the news that UK’s airports handled 7.4% fewer passengers in 2009 than in the previous year, making for the largest decline in traffic in history

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) also announced that this was the first time that passenger traffic had fallen for two consecutive years, with charter flights being especially hit, down by 17%, in total more than two hundred million passengers passed through UK airports in 2009, the lowest number

since 2004. Overall scheduled airline traffic fell by six percent while.

domestic flight traffic was down by eight percent.

Telecommunications companies are getting hot under the collar about the government’s plans to increase the availability of internet access on mobile phones, with some of them going as far as threatening legal action. Among the companies who are investigating legal action are O2 and Vodafone upset, after UK government ministers finally submitted their proposals designed to end the long-standing dispute between mobile phone operators over radio spectrum. Hopes are that the law will be passed by the government before the end of March and they will give the green light to plans to hold a large air wave auction in early 2011. However UK telecommunications companies with O2 and Vodafone leading the way hope that they will be delay the auction.

On the money markets, Sterling continues to be in the doldrums, sitting on $1.5228 and €1.1046 with no signs or reasons for a recovery in sight. The pound ended two days of minimal gains against the dollar after a private report showed U.K. home sellers raised asking prices by the smallest amount for March on record as the supply of available properties increased.

On the FTSE, things were looking a lot more optimistic, with the 100 index rising 26 points to 5620.43.

In the US, the big news was that industrial production has again increased in February, making it for the eighth consecutive, despite analysts’ predictions that it was likely to fall. According to the Federal Reserve who produces the figure, production would have been even higher had it not been affected by severe winter storms that had plagued the industrialized zones in the North East of the Country in February

Overall industrial output rose by 0.1% in February, from January’s figures while the manufacturing sector dropped by 0.2%. Production in consumer goods fell by 0.4% in February, much of it because of a drop in new car sales.

On Wall Street optimism was in the air, with the Dow Jones rising again, this time by 43.83 points to close on 10658.98. The NASDAQ showed a very commendable rise or 15 points to 2378.01.

The US Federal Reserve has again repeated their pledge to hold interest rates at record lows in order to allow the continuation of the economic recovery. Main interest rate would be kept at the current 0% to 0.25% range, news that was widely expected.

The Feds rate-setting committee announced that the data being gatherer on the US economy described a mixed picture of the recovery from recession.

The troubled Euro succeeded in reaching a five-week high against the yen in money markets over the last two days. The rise was caused by increased speculation that the European Union will announce their bail out plans for Greece. When the plans are eventually released, anticipations are that there will be an increase in demand for the Eurozone currency.

On concerns that the Bank of Japan will announce extra credit-easing steps at its two-day policy meeting, the yen was close to a three-week low versus the dollar. Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama had sown some seeds of doubt regarding the strength of the currency when he announced last week that his government needed to take steps to arrest the currency’s rise.

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Tags: BA, Bank, Bank of England, Bank of Japan, Banking, BOE, British airways, British Economy, British Pound, Civil Aviation Authority, Credit Crunch, Currency, Dow Jones, Economics, Economy, Employment, European Commission, Financial News, FTSE, Gatwick, GDP, Global Credit Crisis, Money, Money Management, NASDAQ, O2, Recession, Stocks and shares, UK Banks, UK Economy, UK government, UK Recession, UK travel, US economy, US Federal Reserve, Vodafone, Wall Street, Yukio Hatoyama

Recent figures have shown that insurers paid out £650 million from 335,000 claims, with most of them were caused by the wintry weather in the UK this year. According to the Association of British Insurers (ABI), the biggest chunk of the payout was to motorists whose vehicles were damaged vehicles on the slippery roads during January, which was the eighth coldest month on record and the UK’s worst since 1987. The ABI went on to confirm most of the £650 million claims were from 18 December to 13 January when the number of homes, vehicles and businesses all experience damages as a result of the winter weather. Specifically, £395 million was paid out to motorists from 268,400 motor insurance claims.

A new round of tougher stress tests have been ordered by regulators for the UK banks to make sure that if a forecasted "double dip" in the UK economy should occur , they will be able to withstand it in better shape than they did in the " first dip." The banks will be required to prove that their "tier core one capital ratio" would be capable of remaining above the minimum four percent level even if the economy contracted an additional 2.3 percent. These figures were part of a projection provided by the Financial Services Authority said in their annual Financial Risk Outlook.

Official statistics revealed on Thursday that UK industrial output fell 0.9% in January, making for the first drop in five months. The news out a damper on speculation of continued expansion of industrial output, and put further strain on the pound which is still hovering around the $1.50 mark.

The British Property Federation (BPF) has warned against possible abuse of insolvency practices in Britain’s frail real estate market as profitable tenants seek to renegotiate leases signed in better economic times.

The industry body, representing blue chip landlords such as Land Securities and British Land, has condemned the trend. A spokesperson for the BPF explained their standpoint as follows. "Landlords are caught between rock and a hard place when it comes to bailing out occupiers at the expense of their shareholders or facing the prospect of empty space and the costs that come with it,"

BPF has called for tightening of insolvency rules that she said unfairly penalised property company shareholders, among them under fire pension funds, for badly negotiating leases.

Sterling continued to be in the doldrums, with the pound closing yesterday up slightly on $1.5123 while falling against the Euro to €1.1011.

On the FTSE, the star of the show was undoubtedly the Tullett Prebon Company. Tullett Prebon are an interdealer broker, whose shares rose by 25.7% as speculation mounted that the company was in the throes of talks regarding a possible sale of the company to with the Bank of China being marked as potential bidders.

UK equities continued to rally in midweek, despite the weaker-than-forecast manufacturing data. Investors appeared to be focusing their efforts on the financial and mining sectors.

The FTSE 100 index took on 23.0 points to close on 5617. 26 it’s highest level since June 2008, closing at 5,617.26.

The US government announced that they had recorded a budget deficit of $221 billion (£147.6 billion) in February, making for their largest monthly deficit in s history.

Figures from the US treasury now show that the United States total deficit since the beginning of the fiscal year which began in October 2009 now stands at $651.6 billion, putting it well on track to beat last year’s record annual budget deficit of $1.4 trillion, with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner calling the deficit "unsustainable".

On the Wall Street the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped back a little, down 21 points to close on 10,566.95. The NASDAQ Composite was still climbing, rising just 9 points to close on 2,356.27

China’s exports jumped by 46% in February compared with a year ago, raising hopes of a strong recovery in global trade.

The increase was higher than analysts’ expectations of a rise of between 35% and 40%.

It is likely to increase pressure on the Chinese government to raise the value of the yuan, which the US in particular complains is undervalued.

China’s imports also rose strongly, increasing by 44.7% last month

Microsoft founder Bill Gates must have been feeling a little dizzy yesterday after it was announced that he had been knocked down from one of his many pedestals, This one was to second place in Forbes magazine’s billionaire’s list, and not by his close friend US investor Warren Buffet who was in third, but by Mexican telecom giant Carlos Slim, which made for the first time since 1994 that an American has not led the who has got the most cash rankings. Mr Slam’s fortune rose by $18.5 billion (£12.4 billion) from last year to $53.5 billion. The Gates fortune now totals $53 billion, while investment guru Buffet has fallen on hard times, now worth only $43 billion.

2009 was all in all a tough year for billionaires with 332 of them being reduced to being mere multi-millionaires, while around two hundred news ones being accepted to the club, according to the Forbes list.

In the UK, the sixth Duke of Westminster Gerald Grosvenor remained the wealthiest Briton with a net worth of $12 billion as he improved his finances by $1 billion despite the UK property slump. The improving health of the global economy meant that 55 countries were represented in the Forbes, among them China. In fact if you take in Hong Kong, the Chinese now account for 89 of the world’s billionaires, second only to the United States with 403 billionaires.

One or two of them must come from the Chinese automotive industry, which increase capacity at an alarming rate in order to meet demand. Changan Automobile, the 4th largest domestic producer by sales (and a strategic partner of Ford) announced 2009 total revenues up by 88.4%, with an almost two-thirds increase in total units sold. Announcing the figures, the company also said that they expect liberal government policies will continue to support industry growth at the present pace for the foreseeable and that facility expansion will likely continue. Changan is not alone in ramping up capacity, with the Chery Company announcing the launch of a new factory in Mongolia despite the fact that their new facilities in Wuhu and Dalian have not yet been completed. Chery are best known for their range of compact cars.

Signals from Beijing do seem to indicate that the automotive industry will continue to receive special support even as tightening measures are implemented broadly. In a newspaper interview yesterday, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry reaffirmed the Chinese government’s commitment to provide subsidies for green automotive technology to help achieved the official target of half a million green cars before 2013.

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