Archive for November 2024

The dollar soared today and was set for its biggest one-day rise since March 2020 after Republican Donald Trump won the US presidential election, while the euro, Chinese yuan and Mexican peso were among the biggest losers on potential new tariffs in the regions. Trump beat Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris to retake the White…

There was a sustained uptick in activity in the services sector last month, the latest AIB Ireland Services Purchasing Managers Index shows. However, growth momentum eased from September’s six-month high, the data shows. Overall the index fell from 55.7 in September to 53.8 in October. “The rate of growth in the Irish services sector was…

Strong demand for car loans propelled the value of personal loan drawdowns to the highest level recorded during the second quarter of the year. In total 60,674 loans worth a total of €641m were provided during the April to June period. That was up 7.6% in volume and 18.9% in value, when compared to the…

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) received 5,276 reports last year, 721 of which were confirmed as cybersecurity incidents. This led to the opening of 309 investigations. The figures are contained in the National Cyber Security Annual Update 2023 which was published today. According to the report, the vast majority of incidents were categorised as…

OPEC+ has agreed to delay a planned December oil output increase by one month, the group said, as weak demand notably from China and rising supply outside the group maintain downward pressure on the oil market. Eight members of OPEC+, which groups the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries plus Russia and other allies, were…

New figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) show that new car registrations for October rose by 9.7% to 2,423 when compared to the figure of 2,208 the same month last year. Registrations so far this year are down 1.2% to 119,668 on the 121,134 cars registered the same time last year.…

The Government has been told that National Broadband Ireland should seek to ramp up its capacity to meet the demand for new connections in anticipation of continued strong take-up. The recommendation is contained in an independent evaluation report of the National Broadband Plan which was prepared by EY Ireland. The study was based on extensive…

Labour productivity levels have declined in key SME sectors, a new report warns. According to the latest SME Monitor published by Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI), there has been a productivity decline of around 29% in construction, and 14% in accommodation and food services. “If we look at this in a European context the…