ECB intends to be ‘significant’ buyer in commercial debt market March 24, 2020 The European Central Bank intends to become a major buyer of commercial debt when it enters the market, according to ECB policymaker Francois Villeroy de Galhau. In an interview with French website Wansquare, Villeroy said the central bank plans to enter the market for commercial paper — a type of short-term unsecured debt issued by [...]
How coronavirus could change our working lives (and the climate) March 24, 2020 | City Talk financial markets. The epicentre of the shock is clearly being felt in travel related industries, as people cancel or put holiday plans on hold, and businesses cancel conferences and move to remote working. Remote working tools widely available As an investor looking at climate change trends, these changes in working practices are interesting in an [...]
Coronavirus sparks record collapse in Eurozone output March 24, 2020 The coronavirus pandemic caused the biggest collapse in Eurozone business activity ever recorded in March, preliminary survey data has shown, in an early sign of the havoc the virus is wreaking on European economies. IHS Markit’s Eurozone purchasing managers’ index (PMI), a closely watched gauge of private sector output, crashed to 31.4 in March from [...]
FTSE 100 slumps despite massive Fed intervention March 23, 2020 FTSE 100 and global stocks tumbled today despite a massive intervention by the US Federal Reserve to try and stabilise coronavirus-ravaged markets. Britain’s blue-chip stock index closed nearly 3.8 per down at 4,993 points. The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed down 4.3 per cent, Germany’s Dax closed down 2.1 per cent and France’s CAC 40 ended [...]
US Federal Reserve announces unlimited bond-buying to tackle coronavirus slowdown March 23, 2020 The US Federal Reserve has pledged to buy a potentially unlimited amount of government debt and ramp up lending support to businesses in its latest massive intervention in an economy ravaged by coronavirus. “Aggressive efforts must be taken across the public and private sectors to limit the losses to jobs and incomes and to promote [...]
US stocks drop despite massive coronavirus stimulus from Federal Reserve March 23, 2020 US stocks have fallen once again despite the Federal Reserve unveiling another huge package of measures to try to boost the economy throughout the coronavirus pandemic. Wall Street’s S&P 500 was down 1.1 per cent in early trading, the Dow Jones was 1.3 per cent lower but the Nasdaq index had gained 0.2 per cent. [...]
Former BoE governor Mervyn King: Coronavirus crash worse than financial crisis March 23, 2020 Former Bank of England governor Sir Mervyn King has said the impact of the coronavirus outbreak will be much worse than the 2008 financial crisis. King, who led the Bank during the crisis, also said the country should be prepared for much higher borrowing as a result of economic policies to limit the fallout from [...]
UK job security perception plunges as coronavirus spreads March 23, 2020 Britons are more worried about their employment prospects than at any time since 2011 as confidence in the economy plunges due to the coronavirus pandemic, a survey has shown. UK consumers also plan to slash their spending on major purchases at the fastest rate since 2012, data firm IHS Markit’s household finance index showed today. [...]
ECB board member: Launch common Eurozone bonds amid coronavirus March 23, 2020 A European Central Bank (ECB) board member has called on governments to consider launching a common bond so as to stave off another sovereign debt crisis amid the coronavirus outbreak. Carlos Costa, who is also governor of the Bank of Portugal, said issuing a “coronabond” would stop financial markets from targeting the “weakest link”. There [...]
Coronavirus could drag UK to recession worse than 2008 financial crash March 23, 2020 The coronavirus outbreak could drag the UK into a recession even more severe than the financial crash of 2008, according to new forecasts published today. The UK economy is expected to contract 2.6 per cent this year assuming the pandemic can be contained by the summer, according to KPMG’s latest quarterly economic outlook. However, a [...]