Gold hits record high on US rate cut bets, silver follows suit
Gold prices climbed to a record high above $4,100 today on increased US Federal Reserve rate cut prospects, while resurgent US-China trade woes boosted safe-haven bets, including those for silver, which also reached an all-time peak. Spot gold rose 1.7% to a record high of $4,179.48 per ounce, early this morning. US gold futures for […]
What could burst the AI bubble?
Some of the world’s biggest tech firms have soared in value over the last year. As AI evolves at pace, there are hopes that it will improve lives in ways that people could never have imagined a decade ago – in sectors as diverse as healthcare, employment and scientific discovery. OpenAI is now worth US$500 […]
Building activity falls for fifth month in a row, including residential
Building activity, including residential construction, has declined for a fifth month in a row, a monthly survey by AIB has shown. The bank’s sampling of purchasing managers in the construction sector indicated there were falls across housing, commercial and civil engineering. The survey said that a continuing downturn in the sector had gathered pace in […]
Have the low-cost retailers fired the opening shots of a grocery price war?
On Friday, Lidl reduced the prices of its own-brand milk range, claiming to be the first grocery retailer in Ireland to cut the price of the product since 2023. It’s not a major reduction, one litre of Lidl’s milk is now 6c cheaper, with the price of a two litre container coming down by 10c. […]
Are you pretending to work? The slow demise of the corporate job
Analysis: A growing segment of the corporate workforce know their jobs make no real contribution and that what they do each day is meaningless There is an old Soviet joke that conveys the cynicism that helped sink their economy: “they pretend to pay us, and we pretend to work”. In a recent article, Alex McCann […]
Trump announces 100% tariff on US imports from China
US President Donald Trump revived the trade war against China yesterday, ending an uneasy truce between the two largest economies with promises to sharply hike tariffs in a reprisal against China curbing its critical mineral exports. The US president unveiled additional levies of 100% on China’s US-bound exports, along with new export controls on “any […]
Budget measures to result in small income losses next year – ESRI
The measures announced in Budget 2026 will result in small income losses next year, according to an analysis from the Economic and Social and Research Institute. In its post-Budget briefing, the ESRI said the losses will average 2% of household disposable income. The organisation said the withdrawal of temporary cost-of-living measures is “responsible for much […]
Annual inflation rises to 18-month high of 2.7% in September – CSO
New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that consumer price inflation rose to an 18-month high of 2.7% in September, up from 2% the previous month. That marks the highest that inflation has been since March 2024 when the rate of inflation was 2.9%. The CSO said the most significant increases in the 12 […]
ECB eyes keeping rates steady for now – minutes
The European Central Bank believes current interest rate levels are robust enough in “managing shocks”, minutes of its September meeting showed today, fuelling expectations of no further cuts for now. The ECB kept its key rate steady at 2% for a second meeting in a row last month, following several reductions, with inflation having settled […]
Housing asking price growth ‘softening’, report says
The pace of growth in asking prices for houses and apartments appears to be softening, according to the latest report from property website My Home in conjunction with Bank of Ireland. The report for the third quarter of 2025 said asking prices nationally are up 5.7% over the past year, rising by 4.8% in Dublin […]
Cost of petrol, diesel up as some Budget measures come into effect
Some Budget measures announced in the Dáil yesterday came into effect at midnight. Yesterday evening, TDs voted to reduce the VAT rate on the sale of completed apartments to 9% from 13.5%. Also from midnight, around two-and-a-half cent has been added to the cost of a litre of petrol and diesel, while tobacco products have […]
Gold zooms past $4,000 for first time in historic flight to safety
Gold raced past $4,000 an ounce for the first time today as investors piled into a historic rally in the safe-haven asset to hedge against global economic and geopolitical uncertainties, while also betting on US interest rate cuts. Spot gold was up 1.3% at $4,034.73 per ounce today, while US gold futures for December delivery […]
Average mortgage interest rate dips in August – Central Bank
New figures from the Central Bank show that the average interest rate on new Irish mortgages at the end of August was 3.58%, down two basis points from July and down 53 basis points from the same time last year. This compares to the euro area average of 3.36%. At the end of August, Ireland […]
Google launches new AI mode search tool in Ireland
Google has announced the rollout of its AI mode in Ireland. The company has described the new tool as its most powerful AI search experience with more advanced reasoning and multimodality. From today, AI mode will appear as a tab on the search results page and in the Google app for Android and iOS. Google […]
Cost of petrol, diesel up as some Budget measures come into effect
Some Budget measures announced in the Dáil yesterday came into effect at midnight. Yesterday evening, TDs voted to reduce the VAT rate on the sale of completed apartments to 9% from 13.5%. Also from midnight, around two-and-a-half cent has been added to the cost of a litre of petrol and diesel, while tobacco products have […]
Government uses Budget tax changes to try to fix housing
This Budget has a lot of significant measures aimed at addressing the housing crisis. The largest step will be reducing the VAT on sale of apartments from 13.5% to 9%. The idea is that it would kick start stalled projects which have received planning but have not proceeded because they are not currently financially viable. […]
Petrol and diesel to rise 2.5c per litre due to carbon tax increase, no electricity credits in 2026
There will be no one-off energy credits next year while increases in carbon tax will add around 2.5c to the cost of a litre of motor fuels from tomorrow. Between April 2022 and February 2025, Irish households received nine credits to their electricity bills, worth €1,500 and costing the State almost €3bn. However, as expected, […]
Dept of Health budget to provide for 3,300 extra staff
A record level of total funding of €27.4bn will be allocated to the Department of Health for 2026. The overall health budget next year will be over €27.3bn, which includes current and capital spending. It represents an increase of €1.5bn or 6.2%. Day to day spending will be over €25.7bn – an increase of 5% […]