Nifty performance
India sizzles
The Nifty 50 index of India's biggest quoted companies blew through the 9,000 level this week, setting a new all-time high as India's strong equity market performance continues. Following a budget that promised a boost to infrastructure spending alongside lower corporate taxation the Reserve Bank of India surprised the market with another interest rate cut and Indian equities continued their strong run, which has seen the Nifty 50 rise by 45 per cent over the past year. Of equal significance to the budget was a move by the RBI to set an inflation target for the economy, the first such target since India's economy began to open up following a period of socialist influenced state-led planning two decades ago.
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North Sea bounty
Oil deal
Despite the plunge in the oil price, it appears that there is still value in the North Sea. That is the conclusion that can be reached from the decision of funds backed by Russian businessman Mikhail Fridman to spend €5.1bn buying up German utility RWE's Dea operation, which holds 12 North sea oil and gas fields amongst its portfolio. L1 has appointed former BP boss Lord Browne as its executive chairman but remains on a potential collision course with the UK government which has indicated it will not approve the deal due to the risks of further sanctions against Russia. The deal has been approved by eight other authorities including the EU and Germany.
Factory frenzy
Pick up
The weaker oil price and strengthening domestic economy have combined to give a boost to the UK's factory output in stark contrast to continued weakness in the eurozone. The Purchasing Managers Index for the UK manufacturing sector recorded a seven-month high of 54.1 for February, up from 53.1 the previous month with the strength primarily coming from the domestic market while eurozone demand remained anaemic. By contrast, a composite eurozone manufacturing PMI registered 51 for the second month running with Ireland an outlier as its manufacturing PMI hit 57.5 while France's reading shrank from 49.2 in January to 47.6 in February and overall eurozone composite readings, which include service sector performance, showed further improvement in February.
Billionaire record
Forbes list
The annual Forbes list of billionaires was bolstered by 290 new entrants in 2014, giving a record total of 1,826 billionaires worldwide with a collective wealth of $7 trillion, up $650bn over the year. Newcomers included 71 new billionaires from China and 57 from the US, bolstered by 23 new Silicon Valley-based entrants including the youngest on the list, 24-year-old Snapchat founder Evan Spiegel and his 26-year-old co-founder Bobby Murphy. Meanwhile, basketball star Michael Jordan was probably the most famous newcomer to the list, having made his first $1bn.
Income parity
Wages up
It has only taken seven years of toil, but incomes in the UK have finally returned to where they were before the global financial crisis wreaked havoc on the economy. According to research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, average household incomes are back to the levels of 2007-08 thanks to the recent slump in inflation. But it is not all good news, especially for the younger generation as average incomes for the 22- to 30-year-old age bracket remain 7.6 per cent below pre-crisis levels while average incomes for the over 60’s are now 1.8 per cent higher.
Ticket to ride
£757m windfall
The Treasury has surpassed expectations with the sale of its 40 per cent stake in the Eurostar train service. In a sign of the appetite for UK infrastructure investment, a combination of a Quebec pension fund and the Hermes Infrastructure fund is to pay £585m for the stake, surpassing original expectations of a £300m price tag. Eurostar will also redeem the British government's preference share for £172m, giving a total income of £757m for the asset. French rail operator SNCF is keeping hold of its 55 per cent stake.
