UK trade deficit shrinks in November on oil price slump January 8, 2016 Britain's trade deficit shrank in November, as cheaper imports on the back of the oil price rout helped offset a record goods trade deficit with other EU countries. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the UK's total trade deficit narrowed to £3.170bn in November, from £3.507bn a month earlier. The deficit in goods alone narrowed [...]
Five factors behind this week’s Chinese stock turmoil January 8, 2016 Chinese shares had a tumultuous start to the new year with the benchmark CSI 100 index closing down 10 per cent. So what were the main factors behind the turbulence? The slowing Chinese economy China is trying to move away from export-led growth towards a more sustainable, domestic consumption-led economic model. Nevertheless, fears over the pace of its [...]
Chinese shares rise two per cent after day of volatile trading – but end the week 10 per cent down January 8, 2016 Chinese shares closed mixed today, ending a week of volatile trading, following mounting fears over the pace of the country's economic slowdown. After a day of wild swings, China's Shanghai composite index closed up 1.97 per cent at 3,186.41 points. Meanwhile, the Shenzhen composite index ended the day 1.05 per cent higher at 1,978.721 points. The CSI 300 index, tracking [...]
Pay growth falls to two-year low despite jobs rise January 8, 2016 Pay growth has slowed to its lowest rate in over two years, new survey figures show this morning. The slowdown comes despite an increase in job vacancies in December, according to the data compiled by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and financial services firm KPMG. The survey’s pay gauge slid to a score of 58.7 [...]
UK house prices: Number of tenants in serious rent arrears rising January 8, 2016 The number of tenants falling seriously behind on rent went up by 13.8 per cent between the three months to June and the three months to September, according to figures released this morning. There were 84,200 tenants more than two months behind on their payments between July and September – the most for two years, the [...]
Danish central bank raises interest rate (but it’s still negative) January 7, 2016 The Danish central bank has raised one of its key interest rates – but it's still in the negative. The bank said today it was hiking its deposit rate to minus 0.65 per cent, up from minus 0.75 per cent. It's not exactly earth-shaking – but it is one of the first European central banks to [...]
China Securities Regulatory Commission scraps stock circuit breaker rule as FTSE 100 and global markets tumble January 7, 2016 We learned yesterday morning that Chinese market circuit-breakers are like buses: you wait ages for one and then two come along at once. But clearly two of the country's largest stock exchanges have had enough: China Securities Regulatory Commission stock exchanges issued a statement saying it is scrapping the circuit-breaker, which has halted trading on the country's stock markets twice [...]
Brent crude oil price slides below $33 after PBOC depreciates renminbi January 7, 2016 Brent oil crashed to an almost-12-year-low today, after a Chinese stock market sell-off caused trading to be suspended for the second time this week. Brent crude, the global benchmark, was down five per cent at $32.16 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude, the US benchmark, slumped 3.53 per cent at $32.77. Earlier today, the People's [...]
Eurozone economic confidence at its highest since 2011 as unemployment edges down January 7, 2016 Consumers and businesses in the Eurozone are feeling more confident on the economy, according to figures released this morning. The European Commission's economic sentiment indicator climbed 0.7 points to a score 0f 106.8 in December – the highest since 2011. Its average since 1990 is 100. Consumer confidence is being helped by a falling unemployment rate, which [...]
Sterling drops to five-year low against the dollar January 7, 2016 The pound hit a five-and-a-half-year low against the dollar today, as markets tumbled in the wake of turbulent trading in China. The pound was buying $1.4568 in mid-morning trading, after falling 0.42 per cent. It was also 8.2 per cent below its 2015 peak of 1.5883. Sterling was also down 1.16 per cent against the euro and [...]