The Great Fire of London made the city an insurance hub – here’s what we need to do to maintain that status September 2, 2016 This week we’re marking the anniversary of one of London’s defining events: the Great Fire of London, which ravaged the city at the start of September 1666. It was started by nothing more than a fire from an overheated oven at a baker’s shop near London Bridge. The damage was immense. The Association of British [...]
Bye bye Brexit slump? Pound jumps on surprise rebound in manufacturing and improved confidence among British businesses September 1, 2016 Britain's post-referendum prospects received a shot in the arm yesterday as new figures revealed a rebound in manufacturing, causing the pound to rise sharply against the dollar. Growth in UK manufacturing smashed expectations in August, suggesting that the sector has weathered the Brexit storm. And new polling figures out on Friday will show that business confidence recovered [...]
Dollar falls as US manufacturing sector shows surprise contraction in August September 1, 2016 We've missed the hat trick: after this morning's purchasing managers' indexes (PMIs) for manufacturing in the Eurozone and UK both beat expectations, this afternoon's US equivalent was a rather damper squib, with the country's factories sector posting a surprise contraction in August. The Institute of Supply Managers' PMI for economic activity in the manufacturing sector fell to [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open September 1, 2016 The pound has leapt against the dollar after the UK's manufacturing sector smashed expectations and China's manufacturing sector has also bounced back. Here's what you need to know before the US market open at 2:30pm London time. Pre-market futures are looking mixed ahead of the open. The S&P is off by 0.1 per cent, while the Nasdaq is [...]
Weathering the Brexit storm? Pound jumps almost one per cent after UK manufacturing PMI smashed expectations September 1, 2016 Growth in the UK's manufacturing sector smashed expectations in August – suggesting the manufacturers are weathering the Brexit storm. Markit's purchasing managers index (PMI) for the sector jumped to 53.3 in August, figures published today showed. That's not only the highest in 10 months, but way above expectations of 49 (N.B. any figure above 50 denotes growth). It's also a [...]
Crisis, what crisis? You can see Brexit everywhere but in the economic statistics August 31, 2016 The American Nobel Laureate economist, Robert Solow, famously said that “you can see the computer age everywhere but in the productivity statistics”. We might want to update that quote to, “you can see Brexit everywhere but in the statistics.” UK broad money supply M4ex rose by 6.9 per cent (year-on-year) in July, up from 6.0 [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open August 31, 2016 Global economic headwinds are increasing and Eurozone inflation data has proven a disappointment. Here's what you need to know before the US market open at 2:30pm London time. US market futures are more-or-less flat ahead of the open. The S&P is down by 0.02 per cent, the Nasdaq is flat, and the Dow is 0.04 per [...]
Ouch: Eurozone inflation misses expectations as unemployment sticks at five-year low August 31, 2016 We're not angry, we're just disappointed. Eurozone inflation stayed decidedly flat in August, rising just 0.2 per cent during the month – missing expectations of a rise to 0.3 per cent. It's a mark of quite how quiet the City is that it had almost no effect on the euro, which held steady at $1.1147 [...]
UK family disposable incomes reached new high in month after Brexit vote August 31, 2016 Average disposable income across the UK reached a new high in July, helping families "shrug off much of the post-Brexit concern that has plagued businesses and financial markets". Families have experienced a 1.9 per cent increase in earnings since July last year, with disposable income reaching £202 a week, according to Asda’s Income Tracker. However, Asda [...]
Brussels and Washington DC must end this silly standoff over taxes and fines August 31, 2016 Transatlantic relations were hardly flourishing even before Apple was slammed with a €13,000,000,000 tax bill by the European Commission yesterday. Such is the awkward standoff between Washington DC and Brussels that the move was pre-empted in America last week, with the US Treasury accusing the EC of becoming a “supranational tax authority”. The tax tiff [...]