GULF CONCERNS PUSH OIL UP - World oil prices have edged higher, over concerns that oil operations in the Gulf of Mexico may be disrupted by Tropical Storm Fay. US crude rose by $1.19 to $114.96 a barrel, and Brent crude added $1.35 to $113.90, with analysts saying the weather was being monitored. Royal Dutch Shell removed about 360 workers from the region over the weekend as a precaution.
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GRAFTON TAKES FIRST CHINA STEP - Building materials group Grafton is opening a facility in Shanghai today. It's a 70,000 square foot warehouse in the Free Trade Port, and is a partnership with PCH - the logistics and sourcing company run by Irish man Liam Casey, this year's Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
The new facility is a warehouse, from where building materials sourced in China will be shipped to Grafton's markets here and in the UK. Grafton is in a closed period, so it cannot talk about how much this is costing, or too much about what the throughput will be at the warehouse.
Chief operating officer Leo Martin says Grafton already buys Chinese products. The new facility will channel all of the company's existing Chinese imports through one facility.
He said there would be no displacement of Irish manufacturers, and the move would widen the choice available to customers in Ireland and the UK. Mr Martin sid the project would create a 'modest' number of jobs in China.
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IRISH TEENS' LAG ON BANKING KNOWLEDGE - Irish teenagers do not know very much about banking in comparison with teenagers elsewhere in Europe, according to research from National Irish Bank and its parent Danske Bank Group.
Ireland fared the worst out of six European countries surveyed in their levels of awareness of basic financial and banking terms. 83% of young Irish adults (and 65% of their parents) did not understand what 'APR' meant compared with 50% in Finland.
Just 22% of Irish young adults understand the term 'disposable income' compared to 54% in Finland. 77% of Irish parents were not able to define the term.
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NEWS IN BRIEF AND MARKETS - Plans have been announced for a study of the Kish Bank Basin off the coast of Dublin to assess whether it could be used for the storage of carbon dioxide or natural gas.
Troubled British mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley says shareholders have bought more than one in four of the new shares offered under its £400m fund-raising plans.
This morning in Hong Kong the Hang Seng is 1% lower, and the Nikkei in Tokyo is 1% higher. On the currency markets the euro is trading at $1.4744 and 78.86p sterling.
