The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee stunned financial markets by making this year's fourth quarter-point cut in UK interest rates, taking the benchmark repo rate from 5.25 to 5 per cent. The European Central Bank, by contrast left eurozone interest rates unchanged at 4.5 per cent.
Worldwide sales of semiconductors in June sank to $11.6 bn, down 8.8 per cent from May, according to an industry report that blamed slowing economies, an inventory glut and a continuing chip slump. By region, sales in the Americas declined the most.
Motorola, the US telecommunications and semiconductors equipment group, said its markets were in such turmoil that it could not forecast its performance next year.
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Robert Growney, chief operating officer, described the US economy as "elusive", and this combined with uncertainty in Motorola's markets prevented him from giving earnings estimates for next year.
Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch consumer products group, reported strong second-quarter sales and profits fuelled by acquisitions and restructuring.
The group said it had noticed an economic slowdown in some regions but it remained confident it could cope with the difficult conditions. Total turnover in the quarter was 15 per cent higher while sales of leading brands rose 5.1 per cent.
Aventis, the Franco-German life sciences group, raised its full-year earnings forecast amid strong demand for its flagship drugs and as it continues to benefit from post-merger cost cuts.
It has also recently started exclusive talks with Bayer, the German group, for the sale of CropScience, the agro-chemicals business in which Schering AG also has a stake.
Gartner Dataquest, a market research company, found shipments of PCs in Europe fell four per cent in the second quarter of 2001, compared with the same period last year. The figures dashed PC vendors' hopes that the European market would hold up while the US market declined.