ENGINEERING INDUSTRY IN GOOD FINANCIAL HEALTH - Activity in the Irish construction sector continued to weaken in January, according to a monthly survey. The Ulster Bank - construction purchasing managers' index - shows that activity, new orders and employment all fell last month, and have done every month since June 2007. One sector of the economy that is very exposed to such declines is engineering.
The director general of Engineers Ireland, John Power, says that positive sentiment is growing in the Irish engineering sector, particularly in technology, health and energy areas. But there are ongoing problems in the construction side of things, he adds. He says the engineering industry is also generally generating new jobs and adds that the sector is basically in good financial health.
Mr Power says the bio-medical sector is one of the best performing sections of the economy with Irish successes in such areas as Galway and Shannon. He says that Irish engineering companies are doing fairly well in areas such as competition, but he adds that a new regulator for the sector would send out a positive signal and so would attract more foreign direct investment here. Mr Power also calls for investment in the country's water infrastructure and says that improvements in broadband is also key for the country's economy.
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MORNING BRIEFS - Nokia says it is moving as fast as possible to produce smartphones featuring Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system, as the Finnish company insists the financial terms of a deal announced last week are favourable. Investors reacted badly on Friday when Nokia unveiled its plan to try and strike back at Apple and Google in the smartphone market using Microsoft's operating system. Nokia's shares fell by 14% on Friday as analysts said Nokia's partnership with Microsoft was good for the US group but bad for the Finnish company. Analysts also expressed concern at how Nokia might suffer further significant smartphone market share loss if it took a long time to produce devices featuring Microsoft's operating system.
*** China has overtaken Japan as the world's second-biggest economy. Figures released overnight show that Japan's economy shrank in the last three months of 2010 because of slowing exports and weak domestic demand. At the end of last year Japan's economy was worth $5.4 trillion, while China's economy was about $5.8 trillion.
Japan has been playing down the significance of the shift in the economic league table, and the fact that it has been replaced as the second-biggest economy for the first time in more than 40 years. It said it is not competing for rankings but working to improve citizens' lives.
*** The US economy is likely to grow stronger this year, at its fastest pace since 2003, according to a survey published in today's Wall Street Journal. The poll projects US gross domestic product at 3.5% higher in the fourth quarter of 2011 than a year earlier - up from the 3.3% increase they projected in last month's survey. That would be the largest increase since 2003, the paper said.
*** US planemaker Boeing has unveiled the latest version of its jumbo jet. The 747-8 Intercontinental will seat 467 passengers - that' i 51 more than the current 747. So far it has 33 orders for the passenger version of the plane - from Lufthansa and Korean Air Lines, and it has sold 74 of the cargo versions of the plane.
*** On the currency markets the euro is trading at $1.35 and 84 pence sterling.
