Eurozone construction sector held back by Germany in July August 6, 2019 The Eurozone construction sector grew marginally in July despite activity falling in Germany for the first time in nine months. Read more: Investor confidence in Eurozone hits five-year low The construction purchasing managers’ index (PMI), a gauge of the sector’s health from data firm IHS Markit, rose slightly to 50.8 in July from 50.6 in [...]
Free ports could turn Brexit to our economic advantage August 6, 2019 One of the most exciting shifts in policy under the new government has been its whole-hearted embrace of free ports. But many people are still puzzled by what they are. In a nutshell, free ports are areas which are within the UK, but outside its customs borders. So you can bring your goods into the [...]
Tumbling Chinese currency drags down stock markets on trade war fears August 5, 2019 China’s currency the renminbi today slumped against the dollar to a level not seen since the financial crisis, sparking an equities sell off due to fears of a further escalation of trade tensions. Read more: Donald Trump accuses Beijing of currency manipulation The currency, which the Chinese government lets fluctuate two per cent either side [...]
Investor confidence in Eurozone hits five-year low August 5, 2019 Eurozone investors were at their gloomiest since October 2014 in August, according to a survey from finance data firm Sentix, which called a German recession “inevitable”. Read more: Eurozone economy slows as German weakness continues Sentix’s economic index of investor confidence fell by 7.9 points to minus 13.7 in August, significantly below the minus 7.7 [...]
Donald Trump accuses Beijing of currency manipulation August 5, 2019 US President Donald Trump has accused China of currency manipulation and said the Federal Reserve should act to lower the value of the dollar. Read more: Markets in turmoil as Chinese currency falls to financial crisis levels Trump tweeted: “China dropped the price of their currency to an almost a historic low. It’s called “currency [...]
Why has the weaker pound failed to turbocharge the economy? August 5, 2019 | City Talk The sharp fall in the pound in the wake of the 2016 Brexit referendum would help “rebalance the UK economy”, in the words of Mervyn King, former governor of the Bank of England. But since then, the UK has struggled to improve its trade position and has certainly not seen any boost to GDP growth. [...]
UK service sector posts modest growth but economy ‘skirts recession’ August 5, 2019 Activity in the UK service sector edged up to a nine-month high in July, a closely-watched survey has shown, but stayed well below the post-financial crisis average. Read more: UK manufacturing sector ‘suffocating’ amid Brexit and a global slowdown Growth in the service sector, which makes up over 70 per cent of the UK economy, [...]
Eurozone economy slows as Germany weakness continues August 5, 2019 Growth in the Eurozone economy softened in July as German output fell to a six-year low and the manufacturing sector continued to struggle, a closely-watched survey has shown. Read more: German investors grow gloomier over Iran and trade tensions Yet the area’s services sector posted solid growth as employment grew and pay rose, highlighting a [...]
Markets in turmoil as Chinese currency falls to financial crisis levels August 5, 2019 China’s currency the renminbi has fallen to its lowest level against the dollar since the financial crisis, crashing through the seven-per-dollar threshold after an escalation in the US-China trade war. By 8.30am UK time the onshore traded renminbi had fallen 1.3 per cent to 7.030 per dollar. The drop prompted investors to sell so-called risk [...]
US employment reaches new high as country adds 164,000 jobs in July August 2, 2019 The United States added 164,000 jobs last month, suggesting the economy is cooling but not as much as analysts had feared. The gain was well down on June’s figure of 224,000, but was roughly in line with economists’ forecasts of around 165,000 for July. Read more: FTSE 100 sinks into red on Trump’s threat to [...]