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Markets News Afternoon: Eurozone private lending contracts for first time since 1983; AIB and BoI dip in Dublin
By Finfacts Team
Oct 27, 2009 - 4:58:20 PM
The European Central Bank (ECB) said today that bank lending to the private sector contracted by 0.3% in September - - a potent signal that the Eurozone recovery is fragile. It was the first contraction in lending since 1983.
The ECB reported that the annual rate of growth of M3 - - a broad measure of money and credit in the Eurozone economy - - fell to 1.8% in September 2009, from 2.6% in August 2009.
The three-month average of the annual growth rates of M3 over the period July 2009 - September 2009 decreased to 2.5%, from 3.1% in the period June 2009 - August 2009.
Regarding the main components of M3, the annual rate of growth of M1 decreased to 12.8% in September 2009, from 13.6% in August. The annual rate of change of short-term deposits other than overnight deposits decreased to -5.3% in September, from -4.1% in the previous month. The annual rate of change of marketable instruments increased to -8.8% in September, from -9.3% in August.
Turning to the main counterparts of M3 on the asset side of the consolidated balance sheet of the financial institutions, the annual growth rate of total credit granted to Eurozone residents increased to 3.1% in September 2009, from 2.8% in August. The annual rate of growth of credit extended to general government increased to 13.6% in September, from 11.5% in August, while the annual growth rate of credit extended to the private sector was 1.1% in September, unchanged from August.
Among the components of the latter, the annual rate of change of loans to the private sector decreased to -0.3% in September, from 0.1% in the previous month (adjusted for loan sales and securitisation2 the annual growth rate of loans to the private sector decreased to 0.9%, from 1.3% in the previous month). The annual rate of change of loans to non-financial corporations decreased to -0.1% in September, from 0.7% in August. The annual rate of change of loans to households stood at -0.3% in September, after -0.2% in the previous month. The annual rate of change of lending for house purchase was -0.6% in September, after -0.4% in August.
The annual rate of change of consumer credit stood at -1.1% in September, after -1.0% in August, while the annual growth rate of other lending to households was 1.5% in September, after 1.3% in the previous month.
Facebook
The social networking company Facebook today said it plans to double the size of its Irish operations as it officially opened its new European headquarters in Dublin city centre today.
Facebook's European operations have been headquartered in Dublin since 2008 and has 70 employees.
The company said today it is increasing its investment in order to scale its operations across Europe, Africa and the Middle East and support its users and advertisers as the company grows.
It said it expects to double the size of its Dublin office within the next year and is hiring across several areas including user operations, online operations, advertising sales, advertising campaign delivery, finance and engineering.
Consumer confidence for October is down from a month ago, which is sending stocks lower. Michael Pento, of Delta Global Advisors; Peter Morici, University of Maryland professor; and Finfacts contributor and CNBC's Steve Liesman, share their insight:
US
US consumer confidence fell for a second straight month in October on bleak jobs data.
With Treasury prices down and the dollar weakening, is the US headed for another financial meltdown? Vincent Reinhart, of the American Enterprise Institute, and Allan Meltzer, a Carnegie Mellon professor, discuss:
Oil
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, oil for December delivery is trading at $79.15 up 47 cents from Friday's close. In London, Brent crude for December delivery is trading at $77.66 a barrel.
Currencies
The euro is trading at $1.4786 and at £0.9054.
For live currency updates, check the right-hand column of the Finfacts home page.The dollar traded at a record low $1.6038 per euro on July 15, 2008.
