General Election 2015: Shares, bonds and the pound all end higher after shock Tory win May 8, 2015 Shares, bonds and the pound all rallied today after the Tories swept to a shock win in the General Election, sparing investors from the inevitable uncertainty which would have come with a round of coalition negotiations. The FTSE 100 closed up by 2.2 per cent at 7,035 points this afternoon as the Tory party prepared [...]
UK house prices: Growth slows for the first time in 2015 May 8, 2015 UK house price growth has fallen on a three-month basis for the first time in 2015, according to Halifax. The figures For the three months to April 2015, house prices in the UK grew 2.2 per cent, lower than the last three months, when it was 2.6 per cent. On a monthly basis prices rose [...]
General Election 2015: Shares close down and and sterling falls as Britain heads to the polls May 7, 2015 Nervous investors sent shares in London lower today, while the pound also suffered, as Britons began to head to the polls in what's been repeatedly dubbed the most uncertain election in living memory. The bluechip FTSE 100 index closed 0.67 per cent down, at 6,886 points – although at one point in mid-morning trading it dipped [...]
Bank of England “clerical error” mis-states gilt purchases by £13bn May 7, 2015 Officials over at the Bank of England have admitted a clerical error meant data on the sale of UK government debt had mis-stated sales to the tune of £13.4bn. Figures out last week showed foreign investors were ignoring uncertainty surrounding the General Election, despite repeated warnings it could rile the markets, buying a record amount [...]
Greece’s creditors deny a split as Monday deal hopes fade May 6, 2015 Greece’s creditors yesterday hit back at claims they were obstructing negotiations with the cash-strapped country, while officials cast doubt on an agreement being reached at a meeting of finance ministers on Monday. The Greek finance ministry also denied reports it was about to tax bank transactions or wealthy families to alleviate its fiscal position. “The [...]
Record grocery deflation hurts sales at Tesco, Asda and Morrisons and Sainsbury’s May 6, 2015 All four of Britain’s major supermarkets saw sales fall over the last 12 weeks, while the discounters continued to slow, as grocery price deflation reached another record low, figures released yesterday show. Sainsbury’s was the strongest performer among the big four despite a 0.2 per cent fall in sales thanks to its increased focus on [...]
US economy set for lift after slow start to 2015 May 5, 2015 An expansion in the US trade deficit suggests that economic growth is likely to have been negative at the start of the year, when second estimates are released at the end of May. The first official estimate last week showed that the US economy slowed to near-stagnation in the first three months of the year. However, [...]
Construction growth drops on General Election uncertainty May 5, 2015 Growth in the building sector fell to its slowest pace in almost two years in April, according to an influential study from Markit yesterday. The purchasing managers’ index fell to 54.2 from 57.8 in March – still firmly above the 50-mark that indicates growth, but a sharp slowdown in the pace of rising output. The [...]
European Union GDP growth to hit 1.8 per cent this year – as Greek forecast is slashed to 0.5 per cent. May 5, 2015 The European Commission expects GDP to rise 1.8 per cent across the European Union, and by 1.5 per cent across the euro area as a whole. It's expected to benefit from low oil prices cutting business costs and giving consumers more disposable income, stronger exports as a result of the weak euro, and loose monetary policy [...]
European markets shrug off jitters over Greece as IMF pushes for debt relief May 5, 2015 European markets kept calm this morning, despite more jitters as the Greek government entered yet another round of talks with its creditors. The FTSE 100 rose 0.43 per cent in mid-morning trading, suggesting market uncertainty over the election is muted, while Germany's Dax fell 0.23 per cent and France's Cac edged down 0.03 per cent. [...]