Globally,
another round of weak Chinese economic
data and fears of a US interest rate rise have combined to extend volatility on
world stock markets.Stock averages across Europe were more than 2% lower on
Tuesday, extending losses from the previous day, while the FTSE 100 began its
trading week, after a Bank Holiday on Monday, by losing 3% by mid-afternoon.US
stocks also suffered, with the Nasdaq Composite down 2.3% in early deals
following Wall Street's worst month for values in three years during August. There were several reasons for the latest
slump in prices following the volatility of the previous week.Monday's
nose-dive followed comments by a senior US central banker that were seen as a
sign that borrowing costs may be raised from historic lows as early as this
month despite the recent market turmoil over China.
Investors
reacted on Tuesday to further evidence of the economic slowdown in China with
figures suggesting manufacturing activity was at a three-year low.The slowdown
in China has been a major factor behind the sharp falls in oil prices. China's
main state broadcaster on Monday paraded a financial journalist
"confessing" to causing the stock market "great losses" as
authorities seek to rein in a rout on the exchanges.Wang Xiaolu, a journalist
with the respected business magazine Caijing, was held after writing a story in
July saying the securities regulator was studying plans for government funds to
exit the market.Britain's Financial Times reported at the weekend that China
had decided to stop buying shares in favour of intensifying a crackdown on
those "destabilising" the market, although there was speculation as
recently as last Thursday that government funds were acquiring stock.
There
is panic and disorder among investors and concerns about the health of China's
economy and its ability to manage its finances has infected world markets,
sparking one of the worst global sell-offs since the financial crisis on August
24.Xinhua said Wang was held for fabricating and spreading fake information
which had "caused panics and disorder at (the) stock market, seriously
undermined the market confidence, and inflicted huge losses on the country and
investors".In China high-profile criminal suspects are regularly paraded
on television apparently confessing to their actions, in what rights lawyers
say is a violation of criminal procedure.
There
are views that "Suggesting that a business journalist was responsible for
the spectacular fall in share prices is a denial of reality. Blaming the stock
market crisis on a lone reporter is beyond absurd." - away
from all the melee, can you imagine this reason for fall of value of shares in
the market !!!!
Yahoo
shares fall after CEO Marissa Mayer, 40, reveals she is pregnant with identical
twins and that she will be back at work in just two weeks - despite giving
staff 16 weeks maternity leave. The
$42million-a-year mother-of-one is due to give birth again in December
MailOnline reports
that Yahoo's chief executive Marissa Mayer is planning to take only two-week's
maternity leave, despite being due to give birth to twin girls in December.
The stock market reacted badly to the
announcement with shares in the company falling by more than two percent.The
40-year-old mother-of-one was pregnant when she joined the company as CEO in
July 2012 and gave birth the following September. Despite the arrival of a new
baby boy, Mayer continued to work from home and was back in the office within a
fortnight.
Now the CEO Marissa
Mayer, has announced that she is pregnant with twin girls and is planning to
take only two weeks away from the office after the babies arrive sometime in
December. Since joining Yahoo, Mayer has
increased maternity leave to a 16 weeks and allowed new fathers eight weeks. In a blog post announcing her latest
pregnancy, Mayer said: 'Since this is a unique time in Yahoo's transformation,
I plan to approach the pregnancy and delivery as I did with my son three years
ago, taking limited time away and working throughout.' Before moving to Yahoo,
Mayer was an executive with their rivals Google.
However, following
the announcement, Yahoo shares fell by 1.99 percent to $31.60 in premarket
trading. The shares slid further to $31.46 when the markets opened. Mic Mills,
Head of Client Services at Capital Index said that today's announcement as well
as the current situation in China were probably to blame for the fall in
Yahoo's share price. 'Any news is seen as bad news for the markets. It is great
news for Marissa and her family. She has indicated she will be back quickly
after giving birth. 'This will probably increase confidence in the market.' Another
Investment manager said - 'No correlation can be made to Marissa Mayer’s
announcement that she is expecting twins in December.
Many of the
internet company's Silicon Valley rivals have been improving the benefits on
offer in a bid to retain and recruit highly experienced staff. According to
Forbes, Mayer is worth about $380 million, with a pay package in 2014 of $42
million.At the time of the birth of her first child, Mayer was criticised for
her rapid return to work. She was accused of undermining the role of other
women in the workplace. Writing at the time on Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook's
website, Mayer explained her decision to return to work so quickly. The
comments on the 'Lean In: Women: Work and the Will to Lead' attracted heavy
criticism.
Strange
are the ways of people and market !
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
2nd Sept 2015.
