UK economic headwinds cast shadow over Sunak’s cost of living support package May 24, 2022 A slowing UK economy will heap more pressure on the country’s finances, casting doubt over the scale of support chancellor Rishi Sunak will launch to help households through the cost of living crunch. That’s according to economists’ assessments of fresh borrowing figures published today by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). A combination of rising [...]
Geopolitical shock: regime change in inflation and monetary policy May 24, 2022 | City Talk Globalisation is besieged on multiple fronts. Two years after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and amid growing geopolitical unrest, the decades-long disinflationary headwind has reversed. Many multinationals have taken steps to address the disruptions to their ultimately brittle global value chains. These companies are re-orienting to prioritise availability over cost-optimisation. This process manifests in [...]
Wage pressures to persist amid tight jobs market May 24, 2022 Wage pressures emanating from the jobs market are set to persist in a sign elevated inflation may stay around for longer, reveals fresh research published today. Just over 27 per cent of workers in the UK intend to demand a pay rise from their employer over the next year, according to consultancy PwC. Brits, especially [...]
Strong B&Q earnings rebuild investors’ risk appetite to kick off week May 23, 2022 Investors picked up their risk appetite again during the opening trading day of the week as B&Q owner Kingfisher helped mend market sentiment. London’s premier FTSE 100 index jumped 1.67 per cent to 7,513.44 points, while the mid-cap domestically-focused FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, climbed 1.56 [...]
Bailey bats away claims Bank of England has fuelled inflation May 23, 2022 Governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey today snapped back at criticism he and the central bank’s committee of rate setters have fuelled inflation in the UK. The governor dismissed accusations the Bank has contributed to the current living cost spike by over-flooding the UK economy with money during the Covid-19 crisis. “What I [...]
Hong Kong stock exchange to open US and Europe offices May 23, 2022 The Hong Kong stock exchange is planning to set up two new international offices in the US and Europe, in an effort to draw overseas investors back to the City state. Speaking to the South China Morning Post (SCMP) at Davos, Nicolas Aguzin, the head of Asia’s third largest stock market, said the new offices [...]
What does a weaker yen mean for investors in Japan? May 23, 2022 | City Talk Changing economic circumstances could alter the market impacts of currency weakness explain experts Masaki Taketsume, George Brown and Robbie Boukhoufane. It’s a been a difficult first third of 2022 for markets generally, which is perhaps unsurprising given the many sources of uncertainty and discord in the world. A very sharp depreciation in the value of [...]
UK economy to shrink, but avoid recession for now May 23, 2022 | City Talk A combination of a weak March handover and the Queen’s Jubilee in June is set to see the UK economy contract in the second quarter. An easing of coronavirus restrictions resulted in the UK economy growing 0.8% over the first quarter. But this respectable outturn masked a deterioration in the monthly profile. After a 0.7% [...]
Beny Steinmetz’ BSGR bribed dictator’s wife to secure rights to run Guinean iron ore mine, US arbitration ruling says May 23, 2022 Beny Steinmetz’ mining company, BSGR, paid millions in bribes to the wife of Guinea’s former dictator to secure the rights to operate an iron mine in the West African country, a US arbitration ruling has said. The diamond magnate’s firm used “corrupt practices” to obtain licenses to mine Guinea’s Simandou iron ore deposit, the International [...]
ECB’s Lagarde butters up markets for first rate hike in over a decade May 23, 2022 The European Central Bank (ECB) will hike interest rates for the first time in over a decade in July, its chief signalled today. President Christine Lagarde in a blog post on the central bank’s website said the committee of rate setters will take borrowing costs out of negative territory by September. The ECB has trailed [...]