News

The manufacturing sector returned to growth in January thanks to fresh impetus in output and new orders, as confidence levels among firms remained close to December’s 15-month high, a survey shows today. AIB’s Manufacturing PMI rose to 51.3 last month from 49.1 in December, crossing the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction for just […]

Gold prices rose to hit a lifetime high today, sparked by safe-haven demand due to US tariff threats, while the focus was also on a crucial inflation report for clues on the Federal Reserve’s policy path. Spot gold was up 1.3% at $2,794.69 per ounce, as of 1752 GMT, hitting its record high level at […]

The euro zone economy stagnated last quarter as worried consumers zipped up their purses, adding to fears that a long-predicted recovery could be further delayed, Eurostat data showed today. Gross domestic product in the 20 nations sharing the euro was unchanged compared with the previous quarter, falling short of expectations for a 0.1% expansion in […]

Bank of Ireland has increased its growth forecast for the domestic economy for this year. It said modified domestic demand will expand by 4% compared to an earlier projection of 3%. It has forecast that employment will grow by 2.2% and Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which includes multinational activity, will grow by 4.3% The bank […]

The European Central Bank is expected to cut interest rates by 0.25% when its governing council meets today. This will bring the main refinancing rate, which is used to price mortgages, from 3.15% to 2.9%. The bank has been steadily cutting rates as inflation has declined from its peak of 10.6% in 2022. If the […]

Mortgage drawdowns by first-time buyers (FTB) hit the highest level since 2007 last year, new figures show. The data from Banking and Payments Federation Ireland reveals that over 26,000 mortgages were drawn down by this group in 2024, worth €7.8 billion. In total, 40,030 mortgages were drawn down last year, valued at almost €12.6 billion. […]

Over 80% of Irish consumers were targeted by scammers last year, new data shows. The research carried out by international money app Wise, reveals that almost half of consumers were targeted in the last three months of 2024 alone. This comes as the Irish Government has proposed new legislation, recommending measures such as the publication […]

A preliminary estimate from the Central Statistics Office today shows that gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 1.3% in the fourth quarter of 2024 from the previous three months, but was 6.3% higher than the same quarter the previous year. The Government has long cautioned against using GDP to accurately measure economic growth as it […]

Spain’s economy expanded a stronger-than-expected 3.2% in 2024, by far outperforming its euro zone peers’ sputtering economies, preliminary data from the National Statistics Institute showed today. Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo said on Monday the government would raise its forecast for this year above the 2.4% following the release of the annual data, which was buoyed […]

Technology stocks regained some ground today with chipmaker Nvidia up about 2.5% in early trading, a day after it suffered the biggest one-day market capitalisation loss in history, and traders moved back out of safe-haven currencies into the dollar. On Wall Street, the mood was calmer than it was on Monday, with the S&P 500 […]