Apple tablet computer rumour sends shares up

Apple shares have jumped another 1% as speculation grows that it will launch a new touch-screen computer.

Over the past two weeks the iPhone manufacturer's share price has been pushed up steadily by the rumours.

Apple has booked San Francisco's Yerba Buena Centre on 26 January for a "major product announcement" without giving any further details.

The company has previously used January launches to unveil products including the iPhone and the MacBook Air.

The venue is the same used by Apple's chief executive Steve Jobs when he made his return earlier this year following a liver transplant.

Touch-screen rumours

Blogs and analysts have fuelled rumours that Apple will launch a new touch-screen "tablet" computer - resembling a larger version of the iPhone and variously dubbed the iSlate or the iTablet.

The rumours have already helped Apple shares rise by more than 11% since early December.

But the company's share price has dropped in recent days, amid a continued patent dispute with mobile phone maker Nokia.

Nokia claims that most of Apple's products - from the iPod to the iPhone - make use of its patent-protected technologies.

Irish Republic out of recession as GDP grows

The Irish economy saw modest growth in the third quarter of this year.
Figures just released by the government's statistics agency showed gross domestic product rose by 0.3% compared with the quarter before.

The figure indicates the country has pulled out of what was one of Europe's worst recessions.

The economy shrank by 7.4% compared with July to September last year, although that is better than the second quarter's year-on-year fall of 7.9%.

Harsh cuts

The government recently unveiled sharp cuts in spending to rebalance the country's finances.

The Irish Republic was once one of the fastest-growing in Europe, but it is now among the most heavily indebted in the 16-member eurozone, with a deficit amounting to 12% of GDP.

Its previously-booming property market left it highly vulnerable in the downturn. Its economic woes include a slump in house prices, high unemployment and an enormously expensive banking bail-out.

Caution

The country's budget contained a programme of 4bn euros (£3.6bn, $5.8bn) worth of severe cuts - to social welfare, investment, and even to the prime minister's own pay.

Analysts warned against reading too much into the figures. Eoin Fahy, chief economist at KBC Asset Management, said: "The process is still very volatile. Clearly we shouldn't overstate. It is a good news that GDP is growing rather than falling, but we still have to remain cautious because of the volatility."