Eurozone inflation hits another record high heaping further pressure on ECB to act March 2, 2022 Prices among the countries that use the euro are accelerating at the fastest rate on record, reveals official figures published today. Inflation in the Eurozone hit 5.8 per cent this month, the hottest print recorded since the introduction of the euro, according to Eurostat, the bloc’s statistics agency. Rapidly accelerating prices is piling pressure on [...]
World’s blue-chips ditch Russia as West ramps up efforts to freeze out Moscow March 2, 2022 More of the world’s top companies are pouring out of Russia as the West ramps up efforts to freeze Moscow out of the global economy. Despite the exodus, French energy firm Total bucked the trend by announcing tepid measures today, stating it will keep doing business in Russia, but not invest in new projects. The [...]
Chancellor fails to respond to MPs’ claims NI hike will stoke inflation March 2, 2022 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has not responded to accusations from a group of MPs that scrutinises the government’s fiscal plans that the national insurance hike will stoke inflation. In a response to the Treasury Select Committee’s report on the October budget, Sunak recognised the UK’s public finances are “vulnerable to changes in macroeconomic conditions such as [...]
UK living standards to drop at steepest rate since WW2 on Moscow energy supply fears March 1, 2022 The surge in energy prices triggered by the Russia-Ukraine conflict will drive inflation beyond eight per cent, generating the worst squeeze on household living standards since the second world war. Sustained elevated prices for oil and gas will heap an additional 1.5 percentage points on to the cost of living, resulting in a 2.2 per [...]
Russian miners to get the boot from FTSE 100 March 1, 2022 Russian miners are set to be booted from London’s top index tomorrow as a rapid investor sell off since Moscow invaded Ukraine has sent their shares spiralling. Evraz, which has operations in Russia and Ukraine, has had more than 80 per cent shaved off its share price since the start of the year, with around [...]
British factories tackle bulging order book as supply chains come back online March 1, 2022 An unravelling in supply chain snarl ups is freeing up materials for British factories to use to clear an enormous backlog of work, reveals a closely watched survey published today. Improvements in the functioning of the global logistics system has restored flows of components used by British manufacturers, allowing them to complete work snowballed due [...]
Spotlight on SPACs: more risk than opportunity? March 1, 2022 | City Talk It is never a good idea to invest in a SPAC just because someone famous sponsors or invests in it or says it is a good investment. While special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) have been around for decades, they have attracted unprecedented interest and investment since the first wave of Covid-19. Amid this recent boom, entrepreneur Richard [...]
Households hunker down finances as they brace for worsening cost of living crunch March 1, 2022 Households are hunkering down their finances in preparation for the cost of living crunch to tighten, reveals official data published today. Brits cut back on spending last month and channeled money into their savings accounts to offset a future deterioration in their budgets caused by soaring inflation. Households added £7.8bn to their savings accounts last [...]
London’s top indexes edge higher as investors mull next Russia-Ukraine developments March 1, 2022 London’s top indexes jumped this morning as investor fears over the potential fallout of economic sanctions levelled against Russia tempered. The capital’s premier FTSE 100 index added 0.2 per cent to rise to 7,473.42 points, while the domestically-focused FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, edged down 0.07 [...]
Reforming fiscal regime is no taxing issue March 1, 2022 Amid the surplus of analysis devoted to improving the UK tax system, debate over whether the government’s current and future level of spending sometimes slips by. With interest rates expected to climb as the Bank of England leans even further into hawkish policy and inflation already hitting near 30-year highs, the cost of borrowing will [...]