Imports jump and inflation looms as sterling crashes October 7, 2016 The UK's trade deficit widened in August as the value of imports jumped in the face of the weaker pound. In total, the UK bought £4.7bn more from abroad than it exported over the month, a near-doubling of the deficit from the £2.5bn recorded in July, figures out this morning from the Office for National [...]
Sterling smashed in flash crash: Why did it happen? October 7, 2016 Sterling was hit by a freak sell-off overnight as the currency crashed by six per cent seconds after the Asian markets opened for trading. The pound fell from $1.26 to $1.18 almost instantly, before recovering slightly to stand at $1.24 against the dollar. It was the same story against the euro, where the pound sank to [...]
Pound slumps six per cent in two minutes October 7, 2016 How low can it go? The pound has taken another pummeling overnight, falling more than six per cent against the US dollar when currency markets opened in Asia. Sterling sunk below $1.20 to a low of $1.1841, the lowest point since May 1985. The 6.1 per cent drop was the biggest since June 24, the [...]
Don’t kid yourself Hillary will be a good President October 7, 2016 For all the attention lavished on Donald Trump’s many flaws, there’s a deafening silence in the UK media about Hillary Clinton’s own defects as a US presidential candidate. They are not unconnected. Given the Republican’s illiberalism, nobody seems to want to say anything that might undermine the only person standing between him and the most [...]
Back with a bang: Business confidence back to pre-Brexit level October 7, 2016 Business confidence has bounced back to pre-referendum levels, according to a major poll published today. The business monitor of 500 businesses from YouGov and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) climbed to 112.4 in September, on a ranking where scores above 100 signify corporate optimism. The surge in confidence, near to levels last seen [...]
Hammond to decide on more QE “carefully and cautiously” October 6, 2016 Chancellor Philip Hammond said today that future decisions over whether the government will approve another round of quantitative easing (QE) to bolster the economy would be taken "carefully and cautiously". His comments came a day after Prime Minister Theresa May acknowledged super-low interest rates and quantitative easing have "some bad side effects". Speaking during a television [...]
Christine Lagarde hits back at criticism of IMF’s Brexit warnings October 6, 2016 The head of the International Monetary Fund has hit back at criticism of the organisation's warnings about the dire impact of Brexit ahead of the vote. Christine Lagarde, managing director of the IMF, said that its forecasts, which included Britain falling into a recession and a stock market crash, had been mitigated by action central bank worldwide. [...]
Bean counters are weighing digital’s contribution to the UK economy October 6, 2016 Bean counters are weighing up how they could count the contribution of smartphones and the digital content we consume on them – from watching Netflix to reading a newspaper online – to the British economy. Traditional economic measures have failed to keep up with the rise of digital and the online economy created by technology, and experts believe their [...]
The dramatic fall in sterling is a cause for celebration – not depression October 6, 2016 Sterling is now trading at well under $1.30 to the pound, the lowest it has been for 31 years. Is this a cause for gloom or celebration? Most people seem to be depressed by what is happening, but they ought to be rejoicing. The UK’s exchange rate rose massively during the monetarist era in the [...]
ECB restates commitment to €80bn quantitative easing programme October 6, 2016 The European Central Bank (ECB) has reiterated its commitment to its quantitative easing programme following rumours the central bank was preparing to taper its purchases of government and corporate bonds. In the minutes from its September meeting, released today, the ECB said "there should be no doubt about the [ECB's] determination to execute its asset purchases… and [...]