In the News...

INTERNET ADS BEAT TV!

Online advertising spending in the UK has overtaken television expenditure for the first time, a report has said.

Online spending grew 4.6% to £1.752bn in the first half of 2009, while TV spending shrank 16.1% to £1.639bn.

Overall advertising fell 16% compared with the same period in 2008, said the study by the Internet Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

E-mail campaigns, classified adverts, display ads and search marketing are all classed as online advertising.

JAPAN UNEMPLOYMENT DOWN

Japan's jobless rate unexpectedly fell to 5.5% in August from July's record high of 5.7%, official figures showed.

But the number of people unemployed hit a six-year high of 3.61 million in August, a figure which was up 32.7% on the same month of 2008.

Official figures also showed that household spending rose 2.6% in August from a year earlier.
The markets will also be focusing on unemployment figures from the US, which are due out later on Friday.

Analysts had been expecting the Japanese jobless rate to rise again in August.

UK HOUSE PRICES BACK TO 2008?

UK house prices have now recovered to the same level as a year ago, according to the latest Nationwide figures.

The average price of a home last month rose by 0.9% to £161,816, almost identical to September 2008.

The building society said house prices had now risen for the fifth month in a row.

However, the nation's homeowners continued to pay off more of their mortgages between April and June, according to the Bank of England.

A further £7bn was added to people's equity in the country's housing stock, as homeowners accelerated the repayment of their home loans, or put down bigger deposits when taking out a new mortgage.


EU INVESTIGATES AIRLINE MONOPOLIES
The European Commission's competition authorities have raised concerns about the transatlantic plans of British Airways, American Airlines and Iberia.

The Oneworld alliance members want to operate as a joint business on flights between the EU and North America.

If they are to go ahead they will also need approval from US regulators.

The Commission has sent its Statement of Objections to the airlines, and they now have the chance to respond before a competition decision is reached.

The Commission confirmed that it was still looking into similar plans for co-operation by Star Alliance members Lufthansa, Continental, United and Air Canada and between Skyteam members Air France/KLM and Delta/Northwest.

Source: BBC News