Spanish economy grows 1% in second quarterSurprise rise in German unemploymentGreek prime minister faces showdown with his party’s hardlinersEnergy giants Royal Dutch Shell and Centrica to slash more than 12,000 jobs in avalanche of corporate newsFTSE 100 index buoyed by higher corporate profits 10.33am BST Tsipras has opened the Syriza central committee meeting. #Now #SYRIZA_Central_Committee @atsipras "We came close to rupture but having in mind that our goal was an agreement" #GreeceWhoever chooses not to accept problems of Grexit is either "wilfully neglecting reality or hiding the truth," Tsipras tells SYRIZA #Greece"Exit from euro without reserves to support new currency would have led to major devaluation & return to IMF," Tsipras tells SYRIZA #Greece 10.30am BST European stock markets have been buoyed by upbeat company results, including from Siemens, Nokia and Deutsche Bank. Germany’s Dax is 0.1% higher while France’s CAC has gained 0.2%. European equities are heading for their third consecutive day of gains, as investors are also encouraged by the US Federal Reserve’s latest comments. The Fed painted a bright picture in the jobs market when it left interest rates near zero last night, but did not appear more aggressive on the timing of its first interest rate hike (which could come as early as September). 10.25am BST While we are waiting for more news out of Greece, the European Commission has released figures that show economic sentiment in the eurozone improved this month. Its index rose to 104 from 103.5 in June.Tsipras arrives at Syriza Central Committee meeting. #Greece pic.twitter.com/AfdzKx1KG6 10.17am BST The Syriza central committee meeting comes as Delia Velculescu, the Romanian economist chosen to lead the International Monetary Fund’s negotiating team in Greece, arrives in Athens. She was dubbed the “iron lady” during the talks over Cyprus’s bailout. 10.05am BST But Tsipras said on Wednesday he would not be blackmailed by his party’s hardliners. He wants the Syriza central committee to agree to a party conference in September. He plans to hold a snap election after Greece has signed up to the €86bn third bailout.#Syriza general committee hasn't begun yet. #Tsipras to will have an opening talk https://t.co/1su9J9vSKy pic.twitter.com/0Fj5S7Xt0uTsipras speech to Syriza Central Committee 10ish EET. Looks like he hs regained majority. Influential 'Movement of 53+' faction now back him 10.01am BST Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras faces a showdown with his party’s rebels today. Syriza’s central committee, which is composed of 200 party members, including some MPs, will decide whether to hold an emergency party conference immediately and elections. Nearly a quarter of Syriza MPs refused to back the bailout deal hammered out by the government with Greece’s international creditors earlier this month. 9.52am BST Greece’s economy, meanwhile, is expected to shrink by 3.3% this year.#Spain GDP 3%+ and #Ireland 4%+ will make interesting reading in Athens "Spain picks up pace" http://t.co/GWhN3AazkQ pic.twitter.com/tFJUpQjS4UIn October 2014 there was consensus that #Greece 2015 GDP would land at minimum +2%. Now forecast lies at -3.3%. Syriza mission accomplished 9.45am BST More on Spain. Its centre-right government expects the economy to grow by 3.3% in 2015, which would outpace its eurozone peers. However, unemployment remains a huge problem: more than 5m people are out of work and the unemployment rate is at 22.4%. We’re starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We are now able to return to pre-crisis income levels.” 9.31am BST Meanwhile in Germany, unemployment has unexpectedly gone up for the second month in a row. The number of jobless people climbed by 9,000 to 2.8m in July, the Federal Labour Agency said. However, the unemployment rate remained at 6.4%, the lowest since German reunification in 1990. 9.21am BST Olé! Spain’s economy is powering ahead with 1% growth in the second quarter. This is the fastest rate of growth since 2007 and comes after 0.9% growth in the first quarter.We will get US GDP figures at 1.30pm London time.#Germany's tough love approach has worked: #Spain economy powering ahead to Pre-Crisis Growth. http://t.co/BAicPWWHRP pic.twitter.com/iPY7YiHvyWIs #Spain strong GDP rebound a poster child for #austerity or for #stimulus? Fiscal deficit in 2014 5.8% of GDP. pic.twitter.com/PZdobHbQnm#Spain #GDP rises 1.0% q/q in Q2 (+0.9% in Q1). Strongest rate of growth since 2007. Charted against our #PMI here: http://t.co/ElgNlUWfdM 9.07am BST Rolls-Royce shares are also leading the FTSE 100 higher, even though half-year profits at the British defence and aerospace group more than halved to £310m. The market had already factored this in and breathed a sigh of relief that the engineering group did not issue another profit warning. Rolls also lifted its dividend by 3% to 9.27p a share.Rolls’ new chief executive Warren East has his work cut out, as demand for the company’s jet engines has been falling. His predecessor John Rishton retired in April for a “change in lifestyle”. Read more here. 9.00am BST AstraZeneca is the third-biggest gainer on the FTSE 100, trading 2.1% higher at £42.81, after beating profit forecasts. It reported quarterly sales of $6.3bn, better than expected, while core earnings per share dropped 8% to $1.21. Revenues were boosted by income from spinning off assets, which offset competition from cheaper copycat versions of bestselling medicines such as its heartburn pill Nexium.The product sales beat is pleasing, with a good performance from the diabetes franchise, which has disappointed over recent quarters.On the R&D side we note that the company has finally disclosed that it has filed AZD9291 [one of its key new cancer drugs] with the [US regulator] FDA as part of a rolling submission. We see this product as key to the growth prospects of the oncology franchise and expect a rapid approval.” 8.49am BST Similar to Deutsche Bank, RBS is wrestling with heavy legal costs. It has been hit by £1.3bn of charges for fines and compensation payouts to customers in the first half of the year, as our banking correspondent Jill Treanor reports. The bank’s shares are up 1.4% at 358.2p, however, after it reported higher profits.Gas group BG Group and Shell, which is taking over BG, are the two biggest risers on the FTSE 100 index: BG is up 2.5% at £10.65 while Shell has risen 2.2% to £18.16. Here’s our full story on Centrica and Shell. 8.37am BST Spain’s Santander, the biggest bank in the eurozone by market value, enjoyed an 18% rise in second-quarter profits to €1.7bn, boosted by the UK and the US which offset falling revenues at home. The UK now makes up just over a fifth of Santander’s profits. 8.09am BST Over in Europe, German airline Lufthansa sees no let-up in pressure on ticket prices and warned of a tougher second half, as it reported better profits and sales for the second quarter. 7.58am BST Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business. Continue reading...
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