FTSE 100 Close: Standard Chartered pops after shock takeover rumours emerge January 5, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 extended its hot start to 2023 today, helped along the way by Asia-focused Standard Chartered surging after news emerged rival lender First Abu Dhabi Bank has been mulling snapping up the firm. Its shares shot up around a fifth during early exchanges in the City today, before paring back to eventually close [...]
The verdict: Experts react to Keir Starmer’s plan for the economy January 5, 2023 Keir Starmer is right to harness the power of government and business working together to fix the UK economy, but “time will tell” whether Labour sticks to sensible spending, economists judged after his maiden speech of 2023 today. Speaking in East London, the opposition leader promised to work side by side with private firms to [...]
Britain slides into recession that risks lasting whole of 2023, City analysts warn January 5, 2023 Britain has slid into the early stages of a recession that risks burning on for the whole of this year, a closely watched survey published today reveals. S&P Global and the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply’s (CIPS) final purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for December hit 49.9, a slight rise from 48.8 from November, the [...]
Cost of living crisis: UK lawyers braced for talent war and surge in fraud cases January 5, 2023 Lawyers working in top British companies are anticipating a hike in fraud, disputes, and debt recovery cases over 2023 as the UK’s economy takes a turn for the worse, a new survey shows. In-house lawyers expect they will be forced to deal with the fallout of the UK’s cost-of-living crisis as the economic downturn sets [...]
Recession in “full swing” as inflation puts small businesses in “critical” state January 4, 2023 Recession in Britain is now in full swing with experts warning of a “critical” situation for small businesses up and down the country, according to fresh data, as the economy turns sour to start 2023. Brits are reining in spending to withstand the impact of record-high inflation on their budgets, resulting in one in four [...]
Federal Reserve signals more rate hikes to slay inflation and warns against market optimism January 4, 2023 The US Federal Reserve needs “substantially more evidence” proving inflation is falling quickly from red hot levels before ending its aggressive interest rate hike campaign, minutes from its latest meeting reveal. Officials at the world’s most influential central bank unanimously agreed to slow the pace of rate increases to 50 basis points in December from [...]
FTSE 100 jumps as China zero Covid u-turn sends investors pouring into Burberry January 4, 2023 The prospect of a rebound in Chinese tourism after Beijing dismantles its tough zero-Covid policy has sent luxury fashion firm Burberry to near top of the FTSE 100 today. The more than five per cent share price kick helped drag London’s FTSE 100 index up 0.41 per cent to 7,585.20 points. The gain extends yesterday’s [...]
Mortgage approvals collapse to early Covid-19 crisis levels after mini-budget chaos January 4, 2023 Mortgage approvals in the UK have skidded to their lowest level since the early days of the Covid-19 crisis, pushed down by prospective buyers retreating after Liz Truss’s botched mini-budget sent interest rates flying, official figures out today show. The number of mortgage approvals tumbled a fifth over the month to November to their lowest [...]
Food prices continue to skyrocket despite easing UK shop inflation January 4, 2023 UK inflation is beginning to ease, but food prices are still accelerating at one of the fastest paces on record, new research out today shows. Annual shop price inflation, calculated by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and NielsenIQ, dropped slightly to 7.3 per cent last month from 7.4 per cent in November. Despite the drop, [...]
FTSE 100 shakes off January blues to pop on first trading day of 2023 January 3, 2023 The FTSE-100 shrugged off fears of industrial unrest and a slowdown across Asian markets this morning as it jumped beyond 1.5 per cent at market open.