Steaming US jobs market raises risk of another jumbo Fed rate hike August 7, 2022 The US jobs market is still steaming despite the world’s biggest economy wobbling under the weight of soaring inflation and higher interest rates, figures published last week showed. America added 528,000 jobs in July, pushing the unemployment rate down to 3.5 per cent, below pre Covid-19 levels, according to data from the US Labor Department. [...]
US Federal Reserve’s rate hike cycle takes centre stage in investors’ minds August 7, 2022 Investors are grappling with a mix of challenges they have not faced in years. Tighter monetary policy. Sky-high inflation. Strong geopolitical tensions. These factors have driven volatile swings in asset prices. Usually in times of uncertainty, investors pile into the US dollar and American assets. And that is exactly what they are doing now. US [...]
Gordon Brown says UK needs emergency budget to combat ‘financial timebomb’ August 7, 2022 The government needs to set an emergency budget or millions of Brits will face “a winter of dire poverty”, according to Gordon Brown. The former Prime Minister today said families are facing a “financial timebomb” in October as inflation continues to climb and Ofgem prepares to lift the energy price cap again. There are fresh [...]
Week ahead: City braces for soft economy data and US inflation figures August 7, 2022 Top of City traders’ minds this week will be whether fresh GDP figures reveal the UK is already in the early stages of the drawn out recession the Bank of England forecast last week. Despite the economic doom, London’s FTSE 100 was broadly stable, edging 0.16 per cent lower to close the week at 7,439.74 [...]
A technical recession: How bad will it be? August 7, 2022 It is no surprise that US GDP growth is declining given the slowdown in consumer spending and domestic production recently. However, markets seem fraught with headline risk with the term ‘technical recession’ floating around. Analysts have pointed out the looming risk of a recession given the central bank’s aggressive tightening cycle while Fed chair Powell [...]
Truss warns Bank against ‘talking Britain into a recession’ August 6, 2022 Liz Truss ramped up her criticism of the Bank of England last night as she warned policymakers of “talking Britain into a recession”.
Analysis: Historic day in the Bank of England’s 25 years of independence August 4, 2022 Today was one for the history books. The biggest jump in interest rates since the Bank of England was made independent 25 years ago. A looming recession similar in length to the financial crisis. The first time the Bank has raised rates while forecasting a protracted slump in recent memory. It is a lot to [...]
Brace for another financial crisis style recession, Bank of England warns August 4, 2022 The UK is set to slump into a recession comparable to the financial crisis, driven by the biggest inflation surge in 42 years, the Bank of England warned today. Britain’s economy will shift into reverse in the final three months of this year and stay there until the final months of next year, placing it [...]
More jumbo Bank of England rate hikes on a knife edge if UK tips into long recession August 4, 2022 More super-sized rate hikes in the coming months from the Bank of England are on a knife edge if the economy slumps into a prolonged recession, City economists are betting. Consumers and businesses may struggle to absorb further 50 basis point rate rises, likely prompting the Bank to slowdown its rate hike cycle, experts said [...]
Bank of England signs off biggest rate hike in nearly 30 years August 4, 2022 The Bank of England today ripped up the history books and hiked interest rates by the largest amount in its 25 years of independence. The nine-strong committee of rate setters, including governor Andrew Bailey, backed a 50 basis point rise by 8-1 in a bid to step up their battle against the worst inflation surge [...]