tyrayudiz

Thank you for using rssforward.com! This service has been made possible by all our customers. In order to provide a sustainable, best of the breed RSS to Email experience, we've chosen to keep this as a paid subscription service. If you are satisfied with your free trial, please sign-up today. Subscriptions without a plan would soon be removed. Thank you!

Stock market losses across Europe eased on Thursday on news the US economy grew more than had been expected in the third quarter.

Leading exchanges had all been trading negatively - particularly those in Greece, Spain and Portugal - as bank shares came under renewed pressure amid balance sheet weakness and wider worries about the euro area's recovery.

But there was a recovery of sorts when US GDP data came in better than forecast, with growth measured at an annualised rate of 3.5% between July and September though down from a rate of 4.6% in the previous quarter.

The data was seen as particularly important as it was announced just hours after the Federal Reserve ended its stimulative bond-buying programme.

The demise of Quantitative Easing (QE) - which was credited with fuelling record gains for stocks in recent years -  left investors pondering whether shares were over-priced and focused attention purely on the strength of economy.

The Fed has said its first interest rate hike will depend on the recovery.

Fears are growing that stagnation in the euro area and a slowdown in China will damage world prospects.

While Germany, Europe's biggest economy, runs the risk of dipping into recession - partly a result of its links with Russia being damaged by the Ukraine crisis - Spain confirmed on Thursday that its output growth slowed in the past quarter.

Confidence has been shaken in banks in Greece and Italy, as they account for the majority of the 24 institutions which were revealed to have failed European Central Bank stress tests.

US Commerce Department data showed that the deceleration in US growth was mainly due to slower business investment from the second quarter.

Cooling corporate confidence was also evident in consumer spending, the key driver of the world's largest economy, which rose by just 1.8% after increasing 2.5% in the prior quarter.

Disposable personal income growth also slowed to 2.7% from 4.4%.

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is leaning towards appointing the smallest of the big four accountancy firms as its new auditor, a move that would spell the end of its relationship with Fred Goodwin's erstwhile employer.

Sky News understands that RBS is closing in on an agreement to hand EY its lucrative audit mandate, although insiders insisted that a final decision had not yet been made and that a rival could yet emerge as the winner.

KPMG is also in contention for the role, and an announcement is not expected to be made alongside RBS's third-quarter results on Friday.

Sources confirmed that RBS, which is 80%-owned by taxpayers, would set aside hundreds of millions of pounds to prepare for an impending penalty from regulators following their probe into misconduct relating to foreign currency benchmarks.

It will also allocate a substantial sum to other prospective litigation costs, the sources added.

Sky News revealed on Wednesday that Barclays, HSBC and RBS would collectively allocate around £1bn for foreign exchange settlements, with Barclays setting aside £500m.

RBS has worked with Deloitte since 2000, with their relationship coming under close scrutiny in the wake of the bank's £45.5bn taxpayer bail-out in 2008.

Mr Goodwin worked for Deloitte prior to his tenure at RBS, which culminated in the disastrous takeover of Dutch bank ABN Amro and his subsequent ousting by the Labour Government.

If it lands the audit role, EY will probably take it on after next year, a source said.

As well as its Government rescue, the period of Deloitte's audit work included the £12bn rights issue in 2008 that is now the subject of extensive shareholder litigation.

Under new rules aimed at promoting competition, major companies must rotate their auditors at least every 20 years, and conduct a tender process at least once a decade.

FTSE-100 audit mandates command multimillion pound fees for the Big Four auditors, which exert an iron grip on the sector.

RBS signalled in its annual report earlier this year that it intended to tender its audit contract for 2016 onwards.

RBS is not the only major UK bank reviewing its audit relationship, with Barclays undertaking its own review.

These audit changes have, however, fuelled criticism that the sector remains a closed shop which mid-tier challengers find it impossible to break into.

RBS declined to comment.