UK exports hit by strong pound as trade deficit widens August 7, 2015 The UK's trade deficit widened in June as the strong pound hit exporters – although the £1.6bn figure was still considerably lower than the March's six-month high of £3.2bn. Exports fell £300m to £24.9bn, while imports rose £500m to £34.1bn, a release by the Office for National Statistics showed today. As the Eurozone continued to [...]
Bank of England deputy governor Ben Broadbent says “no urgency” to raise rates; would be “foolish” to pre-announce interest rate hike date August 7, 2015 Bank of England (BoE) deputy governor Ben Broadbent has played down expectation that there could be a rate rise by the end of 2015. Mark Carney's second-in-command this morning said his boss's speech "did not say we can expect a rate rise around the turn of the year", adding it was "impossible" and "foolish" to pre-announce [...]
New car registrations climb in July for 41st month in a row August 6, 2015 UK car sales grew for a 41st consecutive month in July, new data shows, but market analysts expect the purchases to decelerate toward the end of the year. UK firms and consumers bought 178,420 new cars in July, according to figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). It is 3.2 per cent more [...]
Traditional banking needs to act fast to survive Google’s predictive power August 6, 2015 The options we have for our everyday bank accounts are increasing. Virgin Money, Tesco Bank and the Post Office have recently entered the personal current account market, and prospective entrants include Atom, Starling, Civilised Bank and OakNorth. But could the biggest competition to our traditional banks be hiding in plain sight? There are various factors [...]
Super Thursday: Five key takes from the Bank of England’s inflation report August 6, 2015 The Bank of England's first data dump landed with a thud today after both the minutes from its monthly interest rate meeting and its inflation report struck an unexpectedly dovish tone. Analysts had been expecting at least two members of the nine-strong monetary policy committee to vote for an interest rate rise for the first [...]
UK industrial production falls on oil and gas as manufacturing output shows modest growth August 6, 2015 UK industrial output has unexpectedly fallen by 0.4 per cent in June, led by oil and gas output falling. Industrial output fell compared to an increase of 0.3 per cent in May and compared to expectations of a 0.1 per cent rise in June, according to figures from the Office of National Statistics. The fall [...]
Bank of England: Taylor Wimpey, Persimmon and Barratt Developments share prices rise after not-so-super Thursday August 6, 2015 Shares in housebuilders were boosted today after the Bank of England's historic "data dump" struck an unexpectedly dovish note. Taylor Wimpey shares rose 2.19 per cent to 200.5p per share, while Persimmon was 1.22 per cent higher at 2,079p per share and Barratt Developments was 1.4 per cent higher at 650p per share. Read more: Mortgage [...]
Why widening the Suez Canal might not boost trade between Asia and Europe August 6, 2015 Egypt has just spent a huge $8bn (£5bn) on widening the Suez Canal – the fastest trade route between Asia and Europe. Read more: Egypt to build a new Suez Canal for $45bn By adding a new 21 mile long bypass along the 120 mile canal, Egypt hopes to transform its economy by [...]
Super Thursday: Interest rate rise by the Bank of England could end the buy-to-let boom August 6, 2015 It looks like momentum to raise interest rates could be building over at the Bank of England (BoE), however a legal advice service has warned this could spell disaster for the UK's booming buy-to-let market. Minutes due to be released later today are expected to show between two to three members of the nine-strong rate-setting [...]
Bank of England Super Thursday: Which monetary policy committee member could vote for an interest rate rise? August 6, 2015 Economists, analysts and investors think the minutes of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting due out at midday could show the first minority dissent among the Bank's policymakers so far this year. But which members of the nine-strong MPC who could be itching to pull the trigger and hike rates? Martin Weale [...]