Deutschland unter alles
German business confidence slumped further in October, suggesting that significant growth risks remain in Europe's key economy and the wider eurozone beyond. The influential ifo Institute survey's lead indicator for Germany fell to 103.2 in October from 104.7 a month earlier. Gross domestic product pulled back in the second quarter, while Germany's DIHK Chambers of Commerce has just cut its 2014 growth forecast to 1.3 per cent from an earlier 1.5 per cent and anticipates growth next year at a sickly 0.8 per cent. At least, there was some positive news for chancellor Angela Merkel. According to new data by Dow Jones VentureSource, Germany became the most favoured destination in Europe for equity financing during the third quarter, generating some €1.2bn (£1.02bn) in deals.
Utility mandarins
UK takeaway
A report jointly published by the London-based Centre for Economics and Business Research and law firm Pinsent Masons reveals that China is set to invest a whopping £105bn in UK infrastructure by 2025. The People's Republic has already forked out £11.7bn between 2005 and 2013, including the purchase of a 10 per cent stake in Thames Water, the UK's biggest water utility. The current level of investment is set to accelerate as private Chinese investors and sovereign wealth funds look to the UK as a relatively low-risk investment option.
Suited and booted
High street rebound
Against some expectations, UK retail sales have grown strongly again in October, with supermarkets going out of their way to lure shoppers with heavy discounts and fashion sales on the up as the thermometer starts to fall. The latest CBI retail survey revealed that sales had grown at their fastest rate for more than three years when counted over the three-month period of August to October. High street clothing sales rebounded as shoppers decided to stock up on their woollens in anticipation of the end of some unseasonably warm weather.
Twitter ye not
Trending downwards
Revenues at online messaging service Twitter more than doubled in the third quarter to $361m (£223m), compared with $169m a year ago. The top-line growth exceeded analysts' expectations, but the company's share price slipped into reverse on concerns that the service doesn't enjoy the broad mainstream appeal of rival platform Facebook. Though the 'twitteratti' grew by 4.8 per cent during the third quarter, the pace at which the service is adding users has slowed. Twitter is also still losing money as it forks out millions of dollars on stock compensation for its rapidly growing work force. For more read: #narcissistic gibberish
Every diddle helps
SFO check-out
The Serious Fraud Office is believed to be preparing a formal criminal investigation into accounting irregularities that resulted in Tesco's (TSCO) overstatement of profits. The high street giant is already facing scrutiny from the Financial Conduct Authority and is running its own internal investigation into the £263m overstatement in conjunction with Deloitte and legal firm Freshfields. Tesco has already suspended a total of eight executives as a result of the fiasco, while chairman Sir Richard Broadbent announced he would step down "as a matter of principle."
Safe as houses
Lack of approval
Statistics from the Bank of England show that UK mortgage approvals have fallen to their lowest level in more than a year in September, adding weight to the view that the housing market has come off the boil. Total approvals fell to 61,267, the lowest level since July 2013, from 64,054 in August. In addition, data from the UK Land Registry showed prices in England falling marginally from August to September as prospective homeowners struggled to find willing lenders. The average price of a property in England and Wales sits at £177,299 - four times the median wage for a couple with two children.
Alibaba on a high
Top shop
The market value of Alibaba, the recently listed Chinese e-commerce brand, briefly surpassed that of Walmart earlier this week. Shares in the group touched a new record high of $100.50 on the NYSE. This lifted its market capitalisation above $247bn, thereby leaving it on the cusp of being declared as one of the world's 10 most valuable companies. This week's gains on followed comments from Jack Ma (Alibaba's founder and executive chairman) that he was interested in working with Apple on financial payment systems.
