Hong Kong Protests for Democracy, Ford and Toyota Order Recalls, Clothing Trouble for Next and M&S
September 30, 2014 8:49 am
Hong Kong Protests Continue; Hang Seng Falls Further
Tens of thousands of protestors have continued to gather in the centre of Hong Kong, calling for fully Democratic elections in response to the announcement by Beijing that only approved candidates will be allowed to stand for the area’s Chief Executive election in 2017. Leaders of the lynchpin Occupy Central movement have requested that people stay with the protest until tomorrow, which is the start of a week’s national holiday for the entire country. In the meantime the city’s Hang Seng Index closed down by 0.98% this morning, responding at least in part to Hong Kong grinding to a halt.
Motoring Trouble
Ford has announced that its latest recall will cost the company in the region of $500 million. Hundreds of thousands of 2013 and 2014 model will be recalled to fix a problem pertaining to airbags. Ford stock closed down by 7.47% yesterday and was down by a further 0.86% in after-hours trading. However, Ford is not the only auto firm feeling the recall blues; Toyota has announced a recall of its own – hundreds of thousands of trucks due to worries over rear suspension. This comes after a $1.2 billion settlement with the US authorities earlier this year, with the firm being charged with a failure to deal with safety issues. Toyota shares have dropped across the board, with company stock down in Tokyo, Frankfurt, London and New York.
Weather Woes for Next; M&S Sees Clothing Market Share Slide Despite Glitzy Campaigns
Clothing company Next is one of the biggest losers on the FTSE this morning, with its share price dropping by around 3.70% after the firm announced lower third quarter sales growth than expected and stated that full-year profits could be affected. The firm has blamed the drop in sales on the unusually mild weather that Britain has enjoyed for much of September, meaning that people have delayed purchase of winter clothes. In the meantime Marks & Spencer’s stock price has also taken a hit after its share of the UK clothing market declined further – by 0.6% in the 12 week period leading up to the end of August. 2014 has seen the firm invest in a series of high-profile advertising campaigns related to its clothing line, as well as M&S’s first catwalk show being held earlier this month. With the firm’s share price currently down by around 2%, it remains to be seen whether M&S will continue with such a strategy in the wake of further disappointing results.
Hong Kong Protests Continue; Hang Seng Falls Further
Tens of thousands of protestors have continued to gather in the centre of Hong Kong, calling for fully Democratic elections in response to the announcement by Beijing that only approved candidates will be allowed to stand for the area’s Chief Executive election in 2017. Leaders of the lynchpin Occupy Central movement have requested that people stay with the protest until tomorrow, which is the start of a week’s national holiday for the entire country. In the meantime the city’s Hang Seng Index closed down by 0.98% this morning, responding at least in part to Hong Kong grinding to a halt.
Motoring Trouble
Ford has announced that its latest recall will cost the company in the region of $500 million. Hundreds of thousands of 2013 and 2014 model will be recalled to fix a problem pertaining to airbags. Ford stock closed down by 7.47% yesterday and was down by a further 0.86% in after-hours trading.
However, Ford is not the only auto firm feeling the recall blues; Toyota has announced a recall of its own – hundreds of thousands of trucks due to worries over rear suspension. This comes after a $1.2 billion settlement with the US authorities earlier this year, with the firm being charged with a failure to deal with safety issues. Toyota shares have dropped across the board, with company stock down in Tokyo, Frankfurt, London and New York.
Weather Woes for Next; M&S Sees Clothing Market Share Slide Despite Glitzy Campaigns
Clothing company Next is one of the biggest losers on the FTSE this morning, with its share price dropping by around 3.70% after the firm announced lower third quarter sales growth than expected and stated that full-year profits could be affected. The firm has blamed the drop in sales on the unusually mild weather that Britain has enjoyed for much of September, meaning that people have delayed purchase of winter clothes. In the meantime Marks & Spencer’s stock price has also taken a hit after its share of the UK clothing market declined further – by 0.6% in the 12 week period leading up to the end of August. 2014 has seen the firm invest in a series of high-profile advertising campaigns related to its clothing line, as well as M&S’s first catwalk show being held earlier this month. With the firm’s share price currently down by around 2%, it remains to be seen whether M&S will continue with such a strategy in the wake of further disappointing results.