Britain gets ready for rollout of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine this week December 6, 2020 By Estelle Shirbon and Alistair Smout LONDON (Reuters) – Britain is preparing to become the first country to roll out the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine this week, initially making the shot available at hospitals before distributing stocks to doctors’ clinics, the government said on Sunday. Footage posted by the National Health Service (NHS) showed boxes containing [...]
EU’s Barnier says still looking for a way to do UK trade deal December 5, 2020 The European Union’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier said earlier today he would continue to look for a way to do a trade deal with Britain, but was non-committal on the chances of bridging the current impasse in the Brexit talks. “We keep calm, as always, and if there is still a way, we will see,” [...]
Savings shortfall: 41% worry they won’t have enough to retire December 4, 2020 | City Talk If you are worried you will not have enough saved for your retirement, you are not alone, a major new study has found. Figuring out how much you should save for your retirement is never easy. Your needs change over time, just as your income fluctuates. If you knew exactly how much you would earn [...]
Bank of England can cut rates below zero, Saunders says December 4, 2020 By William James and William Schomberg LONDON (Reuters) – The Bank of England can probably cut interest rates slightly below zero, and it should be ready to pump more stimulus into the economy quickly if needed to recover from the coronavirus crisis or a Brexit hit, BoE policymaker Michael Saunders said. “In my view, there [...]
Italy’s Eni joins North Sea wind power grab with Dogger deal December 4, 2020 By Nerijus Adomaitis and Stephen Jewkes OSLO/MILAN (Reuters) – Italy’s Eni is buying a 20% stake in the Dogger Bank Wind Farm project from Norway’s Equinor and Britain’s SSE as it seeks to gain expertise in the sector and cut its greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050. The project off the northeast coast of England [...]
UK construction industry sees biggest rise in orders since 2014 – PMI December 4, 2020 By David Milliken LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s construction industry grew faster than expected last month, boosted by the strongest orders since 2014 amid a boom in house prices, a survey showed on Friday. The IHS Markit/CIPS construction Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 54.7 in November from 53.1 in October, its strongest since July and [...]
ALL 27 EU member states must still approve any UK trade deal, warns Council president December 4, 2020 European Council President Charles Michel warned today that any agreement between UK and EU negotiators must still be approved by all 27 member states. Michel said the 27 leaders – meeting remotely on 10 and 11 December – will take a position on the latest developments, as a deal on future relations between the EU [...]
EU will launch €750bn Recovery Fund regardless of vetoes if necessary: EC December 4, 2020 The European Union will push on with its €1.8trn financial package to revive the bloc’s Covid-hit economy even if Hungary and Poland continue to try to veto the project, Economics Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said earlier today. Budapest and Warsaw have vetoed the adoption of the €1.1trn 2021-2027 EU budget and the €750bn Recovery Fund because [...]
Before the bell: Markets muted as US jobs report in focus December 4, 2020 It was a mixed bag for European equity markets yesterday as the FTSE 100 closed modestly higher while the indices in mainland Europe posted losses. The same old themes were in the mix as the health crisis is playing on traders’ minds but at the same time, the news surrounding vaccines is doing the rounds [...]
Biden names top economic advisers as Arizona, Wisconsin certify vote results December 3, 2020 Biden officially names Janet Yellen as Treasury secretary, setting stage for a more diverse White House