The Federal Reserve's interest-rate tightening policy will rely on a lot of talk and selling some assets before any actual hike in rates, Dennis Gartman, founder of The Gartman Letter, told CNBC Thursday. "The economy is in fact doing better," he added.
"Corporates are increasingly saving and paying down debt," Sonja Schemmann from Schroders said. "The corporate bond was very helpful, so we might have seen a lot of companies replacing bank debt with corporate debt." "If companies are not investing now, that tells us that they might not be as optimistic for the future," she added.
UK software firm Sage Group said business conditions stabilized in the second half of its fiscal year, but it will continue to focus on cost cutting. CEO Paul Walker told CNBC that small and medium sized businesses remain very cautious.
London-listed travel operator TUI Travel said it was confident of meeting its 2010 earnings expectations Tuesday. "It's a very different place to where we were a year ago," CEO Peter Long told CNBC.
Compass Group beat expectations with its full-year earnings Wednesday after an extensive cost-cutting strategy helped the catering group's bottom line. "The revenue outlook is flattish … but we would expect to grow the margins again," CEO Richard Cousins told CNBC.
Recession-wary consumers are regaining their appetite for ready-meals, according Greencore. Patrick Coveney, CEO of Greencore, told CNBC the outlook for the Irish food company was improving.