Government announces final details of Lloyds share sale October 7, 2016 Shares in Lloyds Banking Group have dropped two per cent after the government announced it will press ahead with plans to offload its remaining stake in the part-nationalised lender. Chancellor Philip Hammond announced the plans during a trip to Washington this morning as part of his bid to reassure American financial companies that the UK [...]
Sterling barely shrugs against the dollar as US job openings disappoint in September October 7, 2016 The number of new job openings in the US edged up to 156,000 in September, figures published today showed. That's up from 151,000 in August, but lower than the 175,000 expected, suggesting the economy is holding up, despite jitters over the outcome of November's Presidential election. Meanwhile, the jobless rate rose to five per cent, up [...]
Where next for sterling after the flash crash? October 7, 2016 The flash crash rocked currency markets overnight and has spooked investors this morning. Despite some interesting theories as to its cause, the general consensus is it was a freak event triggered by some hasty algorithmic trading in a relatively dried-up markets. Nevertheless, that hasn't calmed nerves. Before the crash sterling was hovering between $1.25 and [...]
The Bank of England is investigating the overnight drop in sterling October 7, 2016 Mark Carney has asked the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) to investigate the cause of a sharp fall in the value of the pound in overnight trading in Asia. BIS, often dubbed the central banks for central banks, has global control for the currency markets, though with no hint of wrongdoing, it is unclear exactly how far [...]
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 [...]