Saving: Reforms needed to extend benefits of UK tax breaks beyond wealthier ‘top 10 per cent’ January 16, 2023 A shake-up of incentives to help people save is needed to help more households build resilience against financial shocks, according to a think tank. The struggle to save is a particular problem for low to middle-income households, with those in the bottom half of the income distribution typically having £3,000 of savings per adult, the [...]
London outperforms UK economy again in sign capital could swerve recession January 16, 2023 London is outperforming the nationwide economy, indicating the capital is on course to avoid what experts think will be a long recession in the UK, a new survey out today shows. An index of business output in London compiled by NatWest jumped to 50.2 last month, up from 48.2, meaning the capital’s economy is growing. [...]
House prices back on upward march to race past £667,000 in London January 16, 2023 House prices are back on an upward march, sending the cost of the average home in London to over £667,000, a new survey out today shows. Search site Rightmove said today house prices in the capital jumped 0.2 per cent over the last month and 6.1 per cent annually. On a nationwide basis, prices climbed [...]
What could a recession mean for the pound in 2023? City analysts have their say January 15, 2023 The pound is on course for another tough year with the UK likely experiencing the worst recession of all major economies, analysts have told City A.M. The risk of sterling tumbling to another record low against the US dollar, as it did last year, is slim, analysts think, mainly due to the low likelihood of [...]
Recession to end City’s legal sector pay war, recruiters warn January 15, 2023 A drop in legal sector revenues is likely see the end of the pay war that has played out between the City’s top law firms over the past two years, legal sector recruiters have said. Falling revenues off the back of a slowdown in new business will likely see lawyers’ salaries plateau or even go [...]
Week ahead: First data dump of 2023 to reveal whether UK tipped into recession January 15, 2023 The first big data dump of 2023 in the coming week is set to unveil more clues on whether the UK economy entered a recession in the final months of last year. City traders are hoping fresh inflation figures out on Wednesday from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) will show price pressures are still [...]
UK economy shockingly grows in November on back of World Cup pub boost, raising hopes of shallow recession January 13, 2023 The UK economy expanded in November, smashing downbeat market expectations and signalling the coming recession could be short lived, official figures out today reveal. Gross domestic product (GDP) climbed 0.1 per cent in November, defying analysts’ bets on a 0.2 per cent contraction, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said today. The expansion was driven [...]
FTSE 100 close: ASOS and Centrica pop to crystalise strong start to 2023 January 12, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 built on gains yesterday that propelled to its highest level since 2018 after a series of British bellwether retailers posted a decent set of results this morning and the owner of British Gas skyrocketed. The capital’s premier index closed up 0.89 per cent at 7,794.04 points, while the domestically-focused, mid-cap FTSE 250 [...]
Bank of England makes £3.8bn profit from Liz Truss mini budget bond sales January 12, 2023 The Bank of England has trousered £3.8bn in profits from ditching bonds it hoovered up to stem financial chaos caused by Liz Truss’s calamitous mini-budget, the central bank told City A.M. The Bank announced today it has ditched all the £19.3bn of gilts purchased last autumn to stabilise the UK debt market. Governor Andrew Bailey [...]
How We’re Trading US CPI This Week January 12, 2023 | City Talk Not much action to kick off the week unfortunately, but US CPI on Thursday is probably the reason for that. With markets lying in wait, hopefully that means there are some opportunities to be taken advantage of as we head into it tomorrow. Bigger Picture In the lead up to the release we need to [...]