Trade tensions the biggest threat to markets in 2020, say traders January 30, 2020 Traders are worried about the impact international trade tensions will have on the markets in 2020, but only see Brexit as a minor concern, a new survey from JP Morgan has found. Despite the “phase one” deal between the US and China lessening tensions, 50 per cent of the 650 online traders surveyed by JP [...]
City economists urge Bank of England to avoid interest rate cut January 29, 2020 For the whole of 2019, the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee (MPC) held interest rates steady despite a slowing economy as parliament wrestled with Brexit. Yet with Britain now leaving the EU, there is a real possibility the MPC will cut rates for the first time in four years tomorrow, in what will be [...]
DEBATE: Should the Bank of England cut interest rates this week? January 29, 2020 Should the Bank of England cut interest rates this week? Simon Ward, economic adviser at Janus Henderson Investors, says YES. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) keeps making mistakes because it ignores monetary trends. It hiked rates in August 2018 even though 12-month broad money growth (as measured by non-financial M4) had slumped from 6.5 per [...]
Want to level up the UK? Look at disparity within the regions, not just between them January 29, 2020 It is a truth which has rapidly become universally acknowledged (to borrow Jane Austen’s famous phrase) that the government must deliver for its new supporters in the regions. This is a massive challenge. The gap in income per head, for example, between London and other areas of the country is obviously large. But the firm [...]
UK hiring confidence climbs after election January 29, 2020 UK businesses’ confidence in their hiring decisions grew in December, according to new survey data, in another sign that firms have been buoyed by the General Election outcome. Confidence among employers in the economy rose to minus 31 on the Recruitment and Employment Confederation’s (REC) scale in the October to December period from minus 33 [...]
Brexit and IR35 rules weighed on recruitment last year, says report January 28, 2020 UK financial services firms were reluctant to take on new employees last year as the fog of Brexit hung over the sector and new tax rules limited temporary roles, a report by recruitment firm Morgan McKinley has found. Yet despite the political turbulence, the tax, public practice, risk, investment management, and legal professions remained largely [...]
UK retail sales flatline again after bruising Christmas January 28, 2020 UK retail sales flatlined for the third month in a row in January, survey data showed today, as Britain’s high street braces itself for “another tough year for the sector”. The CBI’s distributive trends survey said sales were also expected to be flat next month, marking a disappointing start to the year for the UK’s [...]
From climate change to the Iran crisis, we need to bring back the experts January 28, 2020 The EU Referendum set in motion a debate the nation had rarely seen before. Among the first casualties of the divisive and brutal campaign were the “experts”. As Michael Gove famously said, the country had had enough of experts getting it wrong. The public rejected advice from academics, business leaders and prominent politicians, and voted [...]
German business morale takes surprise hit in new year January 27, 2020 Morale among German businesses dropped unexpectedly in January, a survey has shown, weighing on hopes that Europe’s biggest economy would have a strong start to the year. The business climate index from the Ifo Institute think tank fell to 95.9 in January from 96.3 in December, falling well short of expectations that it would rise [...]
UK mortgage approvals surge in December January 27, 2020 British banks approved the most mortgages in four years in December, data from banking body UK Finance has shown, in the latest sign of green shoots in the UK economy. Yet mortgage lending in the UK fell in 2019 overall as the Britain’s housing market struggled under the weight of Brexit uncertainty, according to the [...]