The Olympic games are over – but Asia is still where the growth is to be found August 26, 2008 It was Aztec Camera who once sang “Summer in the City and the air is still”. I don’t know about the air, but the equity markets have been relatively quiet over the last week, except for a Warren Buffett induced bounce on Friday. Thank goodness – I don’t think any of us needed another August [...]
Turmoil is as bad as the 70s, warns deputy governor August 26, 2008 The current financial downturn is at least as bad as the 1970s, according to the Bank of England’s new deputy governor who has warned that there is no end in sight to the downturn. In an interview with the BBC, economist Charlie Bean, who took over as deputy governor earlier this year, said the current [...]
Eurozone fall raises global slump fears August 15, 2008 Fears of a global recession heightened yesterday as the eurozone economy recorded its first contraction since the single currency was introduced ten years ago. In the three months to June, gross domestic product (GDP) in the 15-country region fell by 0.2 per cent, according to Eurostat, the European Union’s statistical office. The contraction marks a [...]
It’s chilly in the summer air August 14, 2008 It could just be the weather, but it was a decidedly grumpy Bank of England governor who chaired the central bank’s quarterly inflation report yesterday. Looking thin-lipped and put-upon, Mervyn King gave an impassioned explanation of why it was not his or the Bank’s fault that inflation is high, and rising. Not since Pontius Pilot [...]
US assets are back in vogue August 14, 2008 Investors are seeking safety in US assets as the economic downturn spreads to Europe, research revealed yesterday. A majority, 53 per cent of fund managers, expect the dollar to appreciate and 38 per cent plan to overweight US equities during the next 12 months, according to Merrill Lynch’s monthly fund manager survey. Both readings are [...]
King predicts more pain as growth dives August 14, 2008 Unemployment and inflation on the rise; growth, houses and sterling on the slide Bank of England (BoE) governor Mervyn King yesterday refuted claims he had lost control of the economy as the central bank issued its darkest assessment of the UK economy since it gained its independence in 1997. In its quarterly inflation report, the [...]
Jury out for interest rate August 13, 2008 Analysts were divided yesterday on what the unexpected leap in inflation would mean for the direction of interest rates. The 4.4 per cent annual inflation rate is more than double the Bank of England’s two per cent target. Normally such a sharp increase would lead to an automatic rise in official rates, but with the [...]
Sterling slumps as inflation surges to a 16-year record August 13, 2008 Today’s Bank of England quarterly report will slash UK economic growth forecasts A surge in inflation sent sterling tumbling to a 21-month low yesterday as City economists warned that the chances of recession are increasing. Consumer price inflation (CPI) jumped by 4.4 per cent in the year to July, fuelled by rocketing food and oil [...]
China’s uncertain markets makes it a long term play August 13, 2008 The eyes of the world are on China this week, as the Olympics gets under way. Last year the Chinese stock market tried to break the high-jump record, as the Shanghai Composite hit its highest ever level in October – rising more than 400 per cent in two years. But this year, it seems to [...]
Triple blow for battered UK economy August 12, 2008 Retail sales and housing market suffer as struggling consumers rein in spending Britain’s battered economy will be dealt a triple whammy today, with fresh evidence that the housing market and consumer spending are continuing to contract and that manufacturers are being hammered by soaring costs. This summer has been the worst on the high street [...]