New European car sales rise at slowest rate in five months, adding to concerns that the recovery is running out of juice.
German sales down in April - full detailsMid-market cars in vogue10.20am BST
Could this month's European elections trigger another phase of the euro crisis?
Greeces ASE is now down 3.36% in the year to date following a 12.25% retreat over the past 3 mths. Over the past 5 days, Spains IBEX has dropped 1.4% while Portugals PSI is down 4.8%.
Although the periphery has come a long way from the darkest darks of the economic crisis, opinion polls linked to this months European elections serve as a reminder that economic struggles are still playing out. Specifically, discontent over high levels of unemployment and changes to living standards remain at extremely high levels and both European institutions and domestic political are being blamed. A recent national Greek opinion poll suggest that the PMs coalition partner Pasok has only 5.5% of a vote, with this party taking a lot of the blame for the crisis. If a general election were to be called now, this coalition would probably not survive. This suggests a rocky political landscape is still a potential threat in Greece. In Portugal too, opinion polls suggest that support for the ruling coalition has plunged and that anger stemming from the impact of the crisis is still extremely raw. In Spain too domestic political parties are also reportedly taking a lot of the blame for the continue impact of the crisis.
The nature of democracy means that politicians seek to be popular. The implication is that momentum towards structural reform in Europe could be lost as general elections near. This is turn could dull the attraction of peripheral assets. The crisis may yet come back to bite us.
10.02am BST
No Sunday morning lie-in for me....
Mark Carney, Governor of @BankofEngland speaks to @DermotMurnaghan on @SkyNews from 10am this Sunday. #Murnaghan pic.twitter.com/G1Fq9oKF7v
9.39am BST
There's an edgy mood in Europe's financial markets today, with the main indices little changed after yesterday afternoon's selloff.
"underline the continued fragility of domestic demand, especially in nations where Government policy seems to be hindering progress".
9.01am BST
E.ON's £12m fine for mis-selling energy products to hundreds of thousands of customers is the latest proof that the market is broken, claims the opposition Labour party which promises to overhaul the industry.
Jonathan Reynolds MP, Shadow Energy and Climate Change Minister, says:
E.ON is just the latest in a long line of energy companies to be found guilty of misleading the public. The energy giants must know that if they mistreat customers already facing a cost-of-living crisis there will be a very heavy price to pay.
8.43am BST
In the UK, energy regulator Ofcom has torn into E.ON's "extensive poor sales practices", as it hits the company with a £12m fine for misselling.
And the final bill could hit £20m, once the company has paid around £35 compensation to 333,000 customers who were missold energy. Full story here.
8.32am BST
Analysts are also concerned that the pick-up in cars sales this year is due to aggressive price-cutting, and a growing trend of selling demonstration models as "nearly new", at a discount.
Reuters recently found that various incentives and discounts are cutting 12% off the price of a car - good for consumers, but eating into profit margins and also pushing down inflation.
Analysts will want to see whether heavy sales incentives and discounts -- which have ripped a hole in carmaker profitability -- are starting to come down before they pronounce the industry back on safe footing.
8.19am BST
This morning's car figures also show that mid-market brands, rathe than luxury models, are motoring off the forecourts.
Sales of Dacia, the Romanian carmaker now part of Renault, are up 34% year-on-year in April. And Skoda sales are up 22%.
8.14am BST
European car sales have risen at their slowest rate in five months, adding to concerns over the durability of the recovery.
We are not seeing a real recovery in the car market in Europe, just a modest rebound,
Europe needs economic measures to boost consumption and bring back customers into showrooms.
The increase in passenger car registrations in this period ranged from 2.9% in Germany, 3.7% in France, 5.0% in Italy to 12.5% in the UK and 16.2% in Spain.
8.13am BST
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