UK services show growth, but businesses stay cautious

Britain’s service industry strengthened in May after dropping to a three-year low in April, according to Markit’s latest PMI survey.

Markit’s service activity figure stood at 53.5 in May, rising from 52.3 in April.The figures showed a growth forecast of 0.2 percent in the second quarter, a slowdown from the 0.4 percent growth in the first three months of 2016.

Markit chief economist Chris Williamson said:

“Growth has collapsed in manufacturing and construction, leaving the economy dependent on the service sector to sustain the upturn, though even here the pace of expansion has remained frustratingly weak so far this year.”

Suzuki HQ raided in Japan

The headquarters of carmaker Suzuki have been raided by Japanese officials, after the company found “discrepancies” in its emissions results last month.

Suzuki is the latest car firm to be caught up in an emissions scandal, clarifying that it failed to use testing methods that would comply with Japanese regulations due a lack of manpower. Officials raided the office looking for documents to confirm the company had meant to deceive buyers.

Suzuki’s shares fell 1 percent on the Tokyo market after the news.

Oil stays steady after OPEC meeting

Oil prices remained at around $50 a barrel on Friday, after an OPEC meeting in Austria failed to agree output targets.

As expected, tension between Saudi and Iran scuppered attempts to reach an agreement on targets going forward. Iran is unlikely to agree to cut their output in the near future, as it attempts to regain market share after years of sanctions were lifted; however, Saudi agreed not to flood the market with oil, giving a positive note to the meeting.

“We will be very gentle in our approach and make sure we don’t shock the market in any way,” Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih told reporters.

03/05/2016