Business News

Manufacturing grows for just second time in 8 months – PMI

4th February 2020

Manufacturing activity grew for just the second time in eight months in January amid greater certainty around Brexit and signs that a slowdown in euro zone economic activity may be bottoming out. Six years of unbroken manufacturing growth came to an end in June as a slowdown in global trade and uncertainty over Britain’s departure […]

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Bank regulator launches toughest ever bank stress tests

4th February 2020

The European Union’s banking watchdog has launched its toughest stress test of lenders to check on their resilience to very low interest rates, trade tensions and Britain failing to get an EU trade deal after Brexit. The European Banking Authority (EBA) said its fifth test since the aftermath of the financial crisis a decade ago, […]

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Household wealth soars by 80% since 2013 on rising property prices – CSO

3rd February 2020

Household wealth has recovered by over 80% since 2013, mainly due to the recovery in the property market.  The finding is contained in the Household Finance and Consumption Survey published by the Central Statistics Office today.    The survey also finds a wide disparity in wealth between the top 10% and bottom 10% of households.  There are 1.8 […]

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Euro zone GDP falls short of expectations, inflation picks up

3rd February 2020

Euro zone economic growth was slower than expected in the last three months of 2019, a first estimate showed today.  Meanwhile, inflation in January picked up in line with expectations thanks to a jump in prices of food, alcohol and tobacco and energy.  The European Union’s statistics office Eurostat said gross domestic product in the […]

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Nearly 140 governments agree to launch rewrite of international tax rules

3rd February 2020

Nearly 140 governments have agreed to launch a rewrite of decades-old cross-border tax rules for the digital age over the coming months, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation said after talks this week in Paris.  The rise of Amazon, Facebook and Google has strained existing rules to breaking point because big tech companies can book profits in […]

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First time buyers continue to drive mortgage market

30th January 2020

First time buyer activity continued to drive the mortgage market in the final three months of last year, new figures from the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland show. A total of 12,259 mortgages to the value of almost €2.77 billion were drawn down in the three months from October to December. This represented an increase […]

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Stocks recover from coronavirus scares

30th January 2020

European stock markets rebounded on Tuesday, having lost ground in recent sessions due to fears of the impact of China’s coronavirus outbreak. Banks and luxury goods companies led the recovery, while leisure and airline stocks also clawed back losses as investors took the view that the right steps were being taken to contain the illness. […]

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Stocks recover from coronavirus scares

30th January 2020

European stock markets rebounded on Tuesday, having lost ground in recent sessions due to fears of the impact of China’s coronavirus outbreak. Banks and luxury goods companies led the recovery, while leisure and airline stocks also clawed back losses as investors took the view that the right steps were being taken to contain the illness. […]

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Construction sector under Celtic Tiger levels of pressure – report

30th January 2020

The construction sector is under Celtic Tiger levels of pressure and is in danger of overheating, according to a new report from construction consultants Mitchell McDermott. The report says 30,000 additional construction workers are required if housing targets are to be met. It says construction output grew by 12% last year, but the number of workers only […]

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Construction sector under Celtic Tiger levels of pressure – report

30th January 2020

The construction sector is under Celtic Tiger levels of pressure and is in danger of overheating, according to a new report from construction consultants Mitchell McDermott. The report says 30,000 additional construction workers are required if housing targets are to be met. It says construction output grew by 12% last year, but the number of workers only […]

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