Spanish GDP falls by 0.1% - Spain's economy has now been shrinking for two full years.
Data just released by the Spanish National Statistics Institute showed that Spanish GDP fell by 0.1% between April and June. That's the eighth quarterly contraction in a row.
Encouragingly, though, the pace of decline has slowed -- following the 0.5% contraction suffered in the first three months of 2013.
And on a year-on-year basis, the Spanish economy has shrunk by 1.7%... well this is slightly better than the 1.8% economists had expected. I don't think we can call it a green shoot of recovery – but perhaps the bitter frost is easing?
In a statement on its
website, Bitcoin said it had given a presentation to the Bank of
Thailand about how the currency works in a bid to operate in the country.
However, at the end of the meeting, "senior members of the Foreign Exchange
Administration and Policy Department advised that due to lack of existing
applicable laws, capital controls and the fact that Bitcoin straddles multiple
financial facets... Bitcoin activities are illegal in Thailand". The ruling means it is illegal to buy and sell bitcoins, buy or sell any
goods or services in exchange for bitcoins, send any bitcoins to anyone outside
of Thailand, or receive bitcoins from anyone outside the country. Bitcoin said it "has no choice but to suspend operations until such as time
that the laws in Thailand are updated to account for the existance [sic] of
Bitcoin", adding that "the Bank of Thailand has said they will further consider
the issue, but did not give any specific timeline". Launched in 2009 in the wake of the global financial crisis, bitcoins are
"mined" using complex computer source code. The virtual currency started as a
relatively niche method of payment, devised by an anonymous programmer, but can
now be used for anything from online gambling to pizza delivery.
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Mr Berlusconi's People of Freedom (PDL) party organised the rally with the stated aim of huddling around their leader and offering him support.
"Your closeness and your warmth comfort me after all the pain and suffering of the past few days," he said.
He gave his support to the current coalition, saying: "We have said loud and clear that the government must go forward to approve the economic measures that we asked for and were agreed.
"What drives us is not our personal interests. Always the interests of everyone and of our Italy come first."
The Markit Eurozone Composite Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) - a combined number for the services and manufacturing sectors - recorded growth of 50.5 in July, up from an initial estimate of 50.4 and above the 50 mark which signals the difference between contraction and growth.
Over in the US, the latest read on the services sector, the Institute for Supply Management's July non-manufacturing index came in at 56, above expectations of 53 and over the previous month's read of 52.2.
However, despite strong readings on both side of the Atlantic, markets were little impacted as investors used the recent rally in equities to trim holdings, which saw the S&P 500 break through 1,700 for the first time last week.
"Growth continues to be anaemic, even as we're at record levels in the market, suggesting we're overbought on some levels," said Mark Martiak, senior wealth strategist at Premier/First Allied Securities in New York.
A measure of business activity, which includes current sales, rose to 60.4 in the US. That's the highest since December and was driven in part by faster home construction, while a gauge of new orders, increased to five-month high of 57.7.
Meanwhile, composite data for China's, compiled by Markit alongside HSBC showed that the index continued to shrink in July but at a slower pace of 49.5 in July, from 49.8 in June.
A second consecutive monthly decline in China's manufacturing in July, which had accelerated from the previous month, offset growth in the services sector which remained steady at 51.3 last month.
However, Hongbin Qu, chief economist, China at HSBC, said the services sector had stabilized at a low level and warned: "Without a sustained improvement of demand, services growth is likely to remain lackluster, putting downside pressures to employment growth."
Fellow emerging market India reported similarly poor numbers, registering a contraction in the services industry for the first time sine October 2011 of 47.9.
The fall was caused by a decline in new orders, amid reports of an increasingly fragile economy.
There was further downbeat news from Japan, where the services sector grew at the slowest pace for nine months, falling to 50.6 in July, from 52.1 the previous month.
This reminds me of that fellow Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf claiming everything in Baghdad was under control.
As he proclaimed this, a US tank obligingly rolled into view in the background. How we laughed.
What a desperate bunch of failures. We are being sujected to what is, in effect, the most shoddy second rate propaganda. Things are very, very serious. We need leaders to grow up and do something rather than hope that repeating the mantra that' everything is okay' will, in some way, obviate the need to do something.
There's not much laughter now.
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