New figures published today show an overall drop of 1.6% in the average weekly earnings of the Irish workforce in the second quarter of the year. Weekly earnings in the public sector fell by 4.4% compared to the same three month period in 2009, reflecting changes in pay rates announced in December’s Budget. Private sector [...]

HONG KONG: the Hang Seng index closed down 207.2 at 23556.5. SINGAPORE: the Straits Times index closed down 13.1 at 3179.2.

Shares rose today after minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting kept hope alive that the central bank would take more action to stimulate the US economy. The Fed had said after its September 21 meeting that it was concerned that inflation was too low, and suggested it could step up its purchases of government [...]

HONG KONG: the Hang Seng index closed up 20.5 at 22639.1. SINGAPORE: the Straits Times index closed up 4.9 at 3162.4.

All eyes will be on the markets again today to gauge their reaction to yesterday’s bank bailout announcements. The final bill for Anglo Irish Bank is set to reach up to €34bn ($46.37bn) whilst a further €3bn ($4.09bn) is to be pumped into AIB before the end of the year, and the State will take [...]

China has criticized a measure passed by the US House of Representatives to allow possible sanctions over currency as protectionist and a breach of trade rules. The US Bill would allow the government to pressure China on an issue it says has led to the loss of more than two million American manufacturing jobs over [...]

Interest charges for Irish debt have stabilized this morning, following a worrying day on the markets yesterday. It follows positive comments from the European Economics Commissioner Olli Rehn, endorsing the Government’s handling of the financial crisis, and the actions being taken on Anglo Irish Bank. Irish 10-year bonds are coming with a yield of around [...]

Barclays is the first major bank that offers basic accounts to prisoners reaching the end of their sentence, an ex-offenders association said today. The bank is working with Unlock, the National Association of Reformed Offenders, to give basic financial training and help with application forms. The service will begin next month in prisons in the [...]

New figures from the Central Bank show that income made by the Irish insurance sector was down about 7% in 2009, compared to the previous year. Insurance claims in property were up by about 10%. Bad flooding last November, the big freeze in January and the recession have all contributed to losses in most fields [...]

The ISEQ index of Irish shares closed up 7.21 points to 2,807.11 this evening, a gain of 0.26%. Among the risers, CRH added 22 cents to €13.66 ($21.24); Tullow Oil gained 16c to €14.02 (21.59); Aryzta was up 15c to €33.50 ($51.60); Elan Corp added 8c to €3.61 ($5.56) and Glanbia was up 6c to [...]